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Clip from a performance at Taps and Apps Brewpub in Mililani, HI

I asked the house for suggestions for an improvised song and this happened. 

Aloha, 

I'm Jeh, pronounced "J", like Jam. (Instagram @JehLikeJam) 

I'm a local of Makaha, on the West side of Oahu. I have been singing since I was a kid at family parties on karaoke like most other Filipino children were in the 90s. My first influences were Boyz II Men, Shai, Jodeci, Coulour Me Badd, and all the other stuff that the radio played back then. Later I got into rap. I had a lot of fun making up raps and making friends laugh. 

In 2010 I met JamFam. We would meet every Sunday night at the Starbucks in Waikele and jam for hours. Dozens of us would just be there with guitarists, ukulele players, percussionists, singers, rappers, and dancers just enjoying music and friendship. They had a heavy influence on my music preferences. They introduced me to artists and styles of music I had not previously known. It was JamFam that got me into playing the guitar towards the end of 2012. We were hanging out on new years eve and they played a video of Ed Sheeran playing "Give Me Love" with a guitar and loop pedal. I saw the potential for that combination to be fun and started practicing away. 

In 2011 I started playing open mics all over Oahu. Then I started busking on the Waikiki Strip. I feel like I grew the most over the year that I did that. I was playing nightly between open mics and the strip. I found my confidence playing on the street. I learned quickly that people would not notice me and pay attention until I found a way to make them. I learned how to do more than sing to people, I learned how to connect and entertain. 

I also donate my time playing music for a local non-profit, (www.makeemsmilehawaii.com) that brings musicians into hospitals to play for patients (initially children, but has expanded to many others over time) and their families. This experience  expanded my view on the power and influence that music has over people and its ability to make a difference. I still play for Make 'em Smile. It continues to blow me away, how much something so simple as a song can influence a persons day in the midst of the heaviest circumstance. 

I am still on the first steps of my journey to find my place in this music thing but I am having the time of my life every step of the way. Thanks for stopping by the site, and if you actually took the time to read up to here, thank you... thank you... thank you. Please check out the video section for footage from shows I've played and street performances. Please take a listen to some of my original music. If you'd like to check out my blog or podcast that would be great. Feel free to contact me with comments, suggestions, questions, to maybe work together, or just to say howzit.