Anuhea (pronounced Ah-New-Hey-Ah) is a self-taught guitarist and song-writer born on the Hawaiian island of Maui.  She began showcasing her talents while boarding at Hawaii's Kamehameha Schools in Honolulu. "We would print out guitar chords to Bob Marley and Jack Johnson songs at school then skip water polo practice to go back to the dorms and jam them.  Once I got the basic idea of guitar I then started writing my own songs."  Anuhea enjoyed the spotlight. She was the anchor for the daily campus-wide news, hosted a variety of TV shows for local television stations, and acted in school musicals.

After attending film school in Orange County for a year, Anuhea realized she wasn't heading in the direction she was most passionate about, music.  So she abandoned her scholarships and embarked on a soul-searching odyssey to Australia for 3 weeks.  She returned to the islands and immediately got into the scene, performing at a local coffee shop. These gigs turned into paid restaurant gigs and she eventually put a band together using friends from around the island. 

In 2006 Anuhea competed for a crown in the Miss Maui Scholarship Pageant, the preliminary to the Miss Hawaii and Miss America Pageants.  Not the pageant-girl cliche by any means, Anuhea walked away from the competition with a trophy for Miss Congeniality and 2nd Runner Up. ""I ran for Miss Maui for the challenge. I thrive off of challenges. I had hit a point where I was pretty stagnant, and I had some student loans I really wanted to pay off. Plus you see pageants on TV and stuff as a kid, and I just always wanted to try to be that girly girl for once in my life." 

Anuhea's musical and performance skills continued to improved with every performance, and successes came steadily.  She took the initiative to market herself as a musician initially acting as her own manager, booking agent, music producer and distributor.  Anuhea even took recordings from a live taping for a public radio station and turned them into her first real demo CD "Rough Cuts" which through her myspace page got her discovered by manager / record label co-owner Warren Wyatt.   

With a delicate balance of fragility, strength and sass, Hawaiian born singer/songwriter Anuhea blends engaging lyrics, acoustic soul, pop and reggae into a style that has earned her a reputation as Hawaii's newest rising star.  Anuhea's signature guitar rhythms, sultry vocals and honest song writing weave acoustic soul, R&B, jazz and blues with pop appeal reminiscent of a female version of multi-million selling Hawaii based Jack Johnson.

A naturally gifted songwriter, Anuhea's word choices are a clever balance of emotions where each song tells a unique story, each story a lesson learned.  "I'm influenced highly by R&B and Soul, Hip Hop and Funk, but my instrument is acoustic guitar.  I tend to write most of my songs during the craziest parts of my life.  I'll write pages and pages in my notebook in no order then go back with my guitar in my hands and sing the words as lyrics to some chords.  That's how most songs start for me."  Anuhea wants to be a part of a new generation melding the melodic traditions of her island upbringing with modern beats and influences.  

Music has been in Anuhea's family for generations, so it was inevitable that her seeded passions would reflect the same. Anuhea's father is from the North Shore of Oahu in the surfing culture of Haleiwa. His younger sister, Nalani is a founding member of the most popular female group in the history of Hawaiian Music, Na Leo Pilimehana.   Anuhea's mother, an Oregon native, comes from a musical family as well, her father is a popular country guitarist. 

The future is bright for this Maui songbird. Anuhea's determination, passion, optimism and raw talent are the foundations for the success that is to come. "I just feel lucky that I've found my dream and am able to pursue it... My main goal as a music-maker is to help people find theirs, whatever it may be."   Fluent in Hawaiian Anuhea is proud of her island roots and plans to honoring her heritage by utilizing her growing fame for the good of her land and people.

She's on the positive freak flow. My conversation with Anuhea was peppered with references to inspirational speeches by Nelson Mandela and excerpts from Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist. Even her MySpace blog reads like an affirmation from Chicken Soup for the Anti-Beauty-Pageant-Turned-Songwriter Chick Soul.

"I encourage you to think about your life, your goals, and realize what exactly it is that's preventing you from achieving them. It's probably yourself. And frankly, that's just dumb. That idea is the inspiration for my song 'Endlessly.' 'You trust that you won't make it, 'cause you hate to make mistakes and your life has been nothing but struggles in this silly rat race... But on and on, endlessly you try.' And keep trying, you! Keep focused on your goals and thinking positive. The power of the mind is amazing. "

This is Anuhea’s first release on the OneHawaii label. Produced by Drew K, and mastered by Grammy winner Gavin Lurssen, the album arrived April 21st, 2009.

25 Random Things About Anuhea:

1. I'm from Maui but I've never been to Lana'i.

2. I am THE oldest in my generation in all my family.. both sides, all cousins and siblings.

3. I never had a voice or guitar lesson in my entire life.

4. I bought my senior prom dress from Savers.

5. I know every single word to many old school rap songs like Bust a Move, Baby Got Back, Ice Ice Baby and Humpty Hump.

6. I hold a persons sense of humor in higher importance than anything else when it comes to guys/friends.

7. I'm obsessed with sushi- could eat it for breakfast lunch and dinner.

8. I was president of my high school Video Club.

9. I'm terrified of jumping off high things.. bungee jumping?  Sky diving?  NO thank  you.

10. My brothers are named Michael and Jordan after Michael Jordan.

11. I make my bed every morning.

12. I'm the most car-accident prone person I know.

13. I would like to someday have my own reality TV show.

14. I'm super into mixed martial arts but am scared to train myself

15. I'm part Chinese

16. My first job was at The Pet Shop (Maui)

17. I suck at cooking.

18. I used to raise Jackson Chameleons

19. I played the trumpet in Intermediate

20. I can recite every line from the movie "Liar Liar" verbadum.

21. I'm obsessed with Spam Musubis

22. I never had the chicken pox.

23. One wall of my bedroom is covered in a collage made from magazine clippings and photos.

24. I want to dye my hair black but I can't till I sell a million records.

25. My alter ego is a tatted up, Kat Von D type, motorcycle riding bad ass!