Makana

Who is Makana?

Makana, born Matthew Swalinkavich, is an American slack-key guitar player and singer. He was second runner-up in the 2008 Guitar Player Guitar Superstar competition, and has contributed songs to two Grammy-nominated albums.

On November 12, 2011, Makana, who had performed previously at the White House, turned a gig performing at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation dinner in Honolulu, attended by President Barack Obama and the leaders of 18 other nations, into a political protest by opening his suit jacket to reveal a t-shirt reading "Occupy With Aloha" and singing his song, "We Are the Many," for 45 minutes, in support of the Occupy movement.

Makana's cut "Deep in an Ancient Hawaiian Forest" was included in the soundtrack of the 2011 film The Descendants.