Biography
Bill Monroe's energetic bluegrass approach drew admirers across the globe, among them Maro Kawabata in his native Japan. While still a young boy not yet in his teens, Kawabata first encountered Monroe performing with the Blue Grass Boys during a 1974 television broadcast in Kyoto. The music gripped him in a way no other style had, leading the youngster to purchase Monroe's recordings and, as an adult, to issue his own bluegrass album, Carolina Blue, on the Copper Creek label in 2001.
Alongside his brother Takaharu Kawabata, he assembled the Riverside Brothers, whose name came from an English rendering of the family surname. The siblings brought the band to numerous bluegrass festivals, delivered appearances on Japanese television and radio, and performed on various Kyoto stages.
In 1996 bluegrass travels took Kawabata to Canada, where he toured with Tim Dishman, Kenny Stone, and Kaz Inaba. The following year he traveled to Oklahoma for the International Bluegrass Festival. That same year he joined the International Band alongside Inaba, Missy Raines, Don Rigsby, and Randy Howard. Further associations include Buzz Matheson & the Family Pride.
Kawabata also writes original songs, among them the Carolina Blue track titled “Samantha” after his daughter. The album showcases Inaba and Raines as well as Butch Baldassari, Raymond McLain, Jim Hurst, Ron Stewart, Bobby Hicks, Keith Little, and Sammy Shelor. He attended schools in the United States before returning to Japan, where he met his future wife, an American named Sandra. The couple later crossed the Pacific to settle in the U.S., and Kawabata and his family now reside in Ohio.
Alongside his brother Takaharu Kawabata, he assembled the Riverside Brothers, whose name came from an English rendering of the family surname. The siblings brought the band to numerous bluegrass festivals, delivered appearances on Japanese television and radio, and performed on various Kyoto stages.
In 1996 bluegrass travels took Kawabata to Canada, where he toured with Tim Dishman, Kenny Stone, and Kaz Inaba. The following year he traveled to Oklahoma for the International Bluegrass Festival. That same year he joined the International Band alongside Inaba, Missy Raines, Don Rigsby, and Randy Howard. Further associations include Buzz Matheson & the Family Pride.
Kawabata also writes original songs, among them the Carolina Blue track titled “Samantha” after his daughter. The album showcases Inaba and Raines as well as Butch Baldassari, Raymond McLain, Jim Hurst, Ron Stewart, Bobby Hicks, Keith Little, and Sammy Shelor. He attended schools in the United States before returning to Japan, where he met his future wife, an American named Sandra. The couple later crossed the Pacific to settle in the U.S., and Kawabata and his family now reside in Ohio.
Albums