Anuhea

Rylee Anuheake'alaokalokelani Jenkins (Anuhea) was born in 1985 on the island of Maui. 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 part of the award winning contemporary Hawaiian music trio, Na Leo Pilimehana. Anuhea's mother, an Oregon native, comes from a musical family as well... her father is a jazz and blues guitarist. A self-taught guitarist and song writer, Anuhea began showcasing her talents while boarding at Kamehameha Schools in Honolulu. ''I started writing songs... I was discovering my talent and passion while discovering how to deal with emotions every teenager has to go through." Anuhea excelled in the spotlight. She was the head anchor for the daily campus-wide news, hosted a variety of TV shows for OCI6, and acted in school musicals. After attending film school in Orange County for a year, Anuhea realized music was more her calling. She returned to the islands and immediately got into the scene, performing at local coffee shops which turned into paid restaurant gigs. Anuhea's skills improved with every gig, and successes came steadily and deservedly. She took the initiative to market herself as a musician, and until this point has acted as her own manager, booking agent, and music producer and distributor. She took recordings from a live taping for a public radio station and turned them into her 22-track demo CD "Rough Cuts" which she sells "out of her trunk" and through her MySpace page to fans across the globe. After years of graciously turning down offers from local labels, Anuhea decided to sign with indie music label OneHawaii Music LLC. Co-founded by former Atlantic Records rep, Warren Wyatt and her aunty Nalani of Na Leo Pilimehana, OneHawaii is poised to get Anuhea heard, with major distribution through Koch Entertainment. In 2009, she released her self-titled debut album. 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." Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.