King Benny Nawahi

King Benny Nawahi (Benjamin Keakahiawa Nawahi) was an American steel guitar master from Hawaii, well-known throughout the country in the 1920s and 30s. He performed well into the 1970s, when a stroke left him partially paralyzed. Nawahi learned to play in the parks of Honolulu with his brother's band, the Hawaiian Novelty Five, playing on a passenger liner that sailed from Honolulu to San Francisco. The group began touring and Nawahi left for a solo career in the early 1920s.