Hawaii's biggest reggae star bringing country show to Tucson

Since he started making music 17 years ago, Maui-born Glenn Awong has infused country, rock and R&B into his reggae.

He and his band Maoli add reggae grooves to country covers or write their own country-leaning reggae songs like “Country Reggae” — “I’m a little bit country (I’m a little bit country)/I’m a little bit reggae (I’m a little bit reggae)/Sometimes I listen to Marley (ooh, ooh)/While I sip on my whiskey” — that pretty much spells out Maoli’s musical philosophy.

They call it island country.

In June, the Maui-based singer/songwriter — who has tens of millions of Spotify streams and YouTube views and is considered one of Hawaii’s biggest reggae stars — took his band full Nashville country.

Maoli, on June 25, released “Last Sip of Summer,” Awong's 10th independent release and first country album since his 2008 debut."

We’re talking three-chord pop country musings about drinking to forget, losing yourself in a Friday night bar or reminiscing about a summer romance, with a little island groove slipped into a toes-in-the-sand homage and a waiting-in-the-wings love song.

“It’s something I always wanted to do, but I just had to find the right time,” Awong said last month from a tour stop in Reno; the band comes to Linda Ronstadt Music Hall on Thursday, Aug. 7. “I guess that this was the time.”

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Maoli recorded the album in Nashville with powerhouse Music City producers Dann and David Huff (Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, Thomas Rhett, Kane Brown). Awong said he wrote two of the album’s dozen songs — the rocking “Damn Good Night” and the twangy ballad “Leaving Here Lonely” — and collaborated with Brett Young (“In Case You Didn’t Know,” “Mercy”) on “Broke Heart Break.”

Awong has been enamored with country music since he was young, a side effect of growing up in a rural area of Maui where his grandfather and stepfather were farmers.

“I grew up all around that stuff,” he said. “Where I’m from is a lot of country living. I was raised by cowboys and stuff like that so the storytelling of country music is just like so relatable to me in Hawaii.”

Hawaii’s melting pot of different cultures, food and music is similar to country music’s inclusion of rock’s scorching electric guitar riffs, hip-hop’s rapped lyrics and reggae grooves; country superstars Kenny Chesney (“Beer In Mexico,” “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem”) and Zac Brown Band (“Toes,” “Jump Right In,” “Tie Up”) scored some of their biggest hits from songs that celebrated life in bare feet on sandy beaches.

“Country’s gone ... all over the place — hip hop, pop; I’m just bringing in the reggae,” said Awong, who last September brought his country-reggae fusion concert “Boots On the Ground Tour: Part II” to the Rialto Theatre. “I’m just doing this for me, you know. I always loved country since I was little and I’ve been doing reggae for a long time. I just want (fans) to see that this is a part of me that I want to share.”

Thursday’s concert begins at 8 p.m. at the Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave. Tickets start at $50.90 through ticketmaster.com.