i was recently introduced to hawaiian music w/this great compilation: hawaiian slack key masters, vol. 2. it's available here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000JJMW/qid=1011417563/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_14_2/103-1137379-7998220
the sonics are supurb, but there's an import version for almost 3 times the price, perhaps it's better? ;~) the nice thing about the disc is it has songs from many different artists, some whose names are mentioned in this thread. if ya like what ya hear, you can then search out music from the different artists...
doug s.