There was a day a few years ago when suddenly the sky got a little bluer, the air smelled a little fresher, the birds trilled a little sweeter. You may have paused for a moment, wondering if you were imagining things… or you may have just gone about your business, smiling a little bit, without realizing that the world had just changed. Not a lot, just a little, but definitely for the better.

That day, halfway around the world from sunny California, The Sweet Hollywaiians had gotten together. Thank goodness for that.

I got to see The Sweet Hollywaiians perform last night at an impromptu show at Forbidden Island. The Sweet Hollywaiians hail from Osaka, Japan, and they play hapa-haole Hawaiian music in a Hollywood style. They are dashing, they are darling, and they are really effing good. I might even call them pipin’ hot. It was transporting music, played pitch-perfectly, and it got the whole room swaying.

The Sweet Hollywaiians are Tomotaka Matsui, Nobumasa Takada, Takashi Nakayama and Kouichi Tsutsumishita. They’re touring California right now, but if you miss them here, you can pick up their music at the Sweet Strings website.

• The Sweet Hollywaiians [MySpace]
• Sweet Strings website