John Cruz and Faith Ako

John Cruz grew up in Hawai‘i in a home immersed in music. He performed with his father and brothers from a young age and moved to the East Coast in 1983 to develop his own style as a singer songwriter. He performed everywhere from New York’s coffeehouses and bars to clubs and local haunts from Martha’s Vineyard to the Boston area, as well as venturing into both theater and dance. He was leading member of the prestigious New World Theater. Returning to Hawaii, John released his first album, Acoustic Soul, in 1996. It was followed by radio hits “Shine On,” “Sitting in Limbo,” and “Island Style,” which won two Na Hoku Awards, including one for “Most Promising Artist,” and has become iconic in Hawai’i. In 2005, John added a Grammy Award® – the first to be awarded for Hawaiian music – to his list of honors, as part of the compilation CD, Slack Key Guitar Volume 2.

John’s touring has included Byron Bay Bluesfest in Australia, Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Tennessee, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Summerstage in New York’s Central Park, Carnegie Hall, and prominent venues up and down both coasts. He played 14 shows at the prestigious SXSW (South by Southwest) music festival. He has collaborated with such artists as Jack Johnson, Jackson Browne, Eddie Vedder, Jimmy Buffett, Lisa Loeb, and Phish frontman Trey Anastasio.

In October 2006, a documentary film on his life, Made of Music – The Story of John Cruz, debuted at the Louis Vuitton Hawai‘i International Film Festival in Honolulu. He was named Best Singer Songwriter by Hawaii Magazine in 2008. His second album, One of These Days, debuted at #2 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart and #6 on the Billboard World Chart, earned the Na Hoku Award for “Contemporary Album of the Year,” and was named one of the “Top 25 Greatest Hawaii Albums of the New Century” by Honolulu Magazine in 2012. He won his most recent Na Hoku Award in 2022 for the music video of his song “It’s Time to Build a Bridge.”