L.A., The Troubadour - Cecilio and Kapono (Part 4)

After several weeks at the IronWorks we were invited to audition in Los Angeles at the Troubadour. At that time the Troubadour was the place to play. Well, we knew nothing about how popular this place was, but we were excited to be there in L.A.. We did know that L.A. was where it was all happening. That night was audition night for new up and coming artist like Rick Springfield, Bruce Springsteen, Roger McQuinn (of the Byrds) and more. By the way Rick Springfield was dressed like a cave man and his guitar was rigged so he could spin it around. I looked at that and questioned whether we were in the right place. Well, this night was Record Company night. Every major record company executives were there. And every band had 15 minutes. Backtrack...before we got to the club we had been “wined and dined” by this Hawaii group, who had been banking on us. We enjoyed and appreciated their intent(more on this to come). We had a good time and feeling good and headed to the Troubadour. We did our 15 minutes. It was exciting to be in that situation with all these groups. Who’d a thunk I would be auditioning for a record deal. I couldn’t believe it!!! I local Hawaiian boy does good...WOW!!! We had no idea as to how we or anyone did, but excited to know that this was a major opportunity. Next day we flew back to San Fran and continued our gig at the Iron... A few days went by and our manager told us that there were three major labels that were interested. We were totally blown away. The record company’s interested were Capitol Records, Warner Brothers and Columbia Records. Well, we excitedly waited for the final decision and couple weeks later we got the news...Columbia Records!!! At the time Columbia Records was thee biggest Record company in the World. Wow!!! This was SUPER EXCITING!!! We continued doing our gigs until we got the word to come to L.A.. Of course we were happy just to be with a company like Columbia, but more so the opportunity to record our first album. I remember walking in that building and in the, Presidents, Don Ellis, office. It was so surreal, but it was the real deal. We were going to record an album with Columbia Records. What a feeling!!! I am so grateful. Even now as I reflect on it. This changed our lives. We had the songs and the talent and this was a dream come true...the journey continues.