Sonny Lim

Hawaiian musician and slack key guitar player. Born in 1960.

Sonny Lim has been performing and recording for more than 43 years. At age 17, he was included as a musician on Skippy [With] The Makaha Sons Of Ni'ihau, "Kahea O Keala" and a year later on Makaha Sons of Niʻihau, "Keala." He is a literal member of the Lim Family and a member of the recording group The Lim Family which from 1979 through 1987 or 1988 consisted of Sonny on Lead Guitar, his father Elmer Lim Sr. (who passed away in 1988) on Rhythm Guitar, his mother Mary Ann Lim (Ukulele and Vocals), and sisters Nani Lim (now Nani Lim Yap) (Tipil and Vocals) and Lorna Lim (Bass and Vocals). Sonny Lim's instruments include Guitar, Ukulele, and Bass, and he is a master of slack key guitar styling. As a youth, one of his mentors was a man named Fred Punahoa Konanui, who went by Fred Punahoa, and who was the uncle and mentor of another slack key artist, Ledward Kaapana. Sonny's use of name variations may have been due to Sonny being Elmer Lim Jr. and performing with his father Elmer Lim Sr. It is possible that the Kohala nickname came from the Makaha Sons of Niʻihau musicians whose roots are the Leeward coast of Oʻahu, in contrast to Sonny's roots in the Kohala area of the Island of Hawaiʻi. Sonny is one of the musicians on the Grammy Award winning "Slack Key Guitar Volume 2" and Grammy Award nominated album "Slack Key Guitar: The Artistry of Sonny Lim."

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