In Hawaii, reggae is the bigger sound, and that's where Glenn Awong made his name first. As Maoli, which loosely means "native," the upcountry Maui singer spent nearly 15 years as an island-pop and roots-reggae draw across Polynesia and the West Coast, with nine independent albums and, by his own account, more streams than any other artist in the state.
Country was always underneath it. His grandfather was a cowboy and farmer who loved country music, and Awong grew up on George Strait, Alan Jackson, Willie Nelson and George Jones. He's quick to point out that Hawaii's cowboy history goes back to the late 1700s. It was in Texas, in 2018, that he started leaning on that side of himself.
Covers did the early work with mainland country fans: Brett Young's "Mercy" has passed 18 million Spotify streams, "In Case You Didn't Know" more than 10 million. Then came Last Sip of Summer, his first record made in Nashville, with producers Dann and David Huff.
He kept working with the Huffs on MMO3, billed as the last installment of his MMO series. Back home he has sold out back-to-back nights at Honolulu's Blaisdell Arena. His 2027 calendar runs from Kingston Calling in New Zealand to Two Step Inn in Texas, the weekend before Indio.