Kariyushi 58 -- Anmaa（アンマー）

 

Some firsts were achieved last night. For one thing, for the first time since they joined "Kayo Kyoku Plus" several years ago, my fellow co-administrators Noelle and Marcos and I were finally able to meet up for an online chat together, so we were able to talk about music and our local situations. Also, last night's "Uta Con"（うたコン）featured some interesting songs that I have yet to cover on the blog and that includes singers that I hadn't even heard before.

One such act is Kariyushi 58（かりゆし58）, an Okinawan rock band that started up in 2005. Consisting of vocalist/bassist Shingo Maekawa（前川真悟）, guitarists Yukihiro Shinya（新屋行裕）and Naoki Miyahara（宮平直樹）, and drummer Hiroki Nakamura（中村洋貴）, according to Wikipedia, the origin of the band's name came about from putting together the Okinawan word for "harmony" or "happiness" and the number from National Route No. 58 which courses through the prefecture.

"Uta Con" wanted to give some residual tribute to Mother's Day which had occurred the other Sunday so Kariyushi 58 performed their debut single from July 2006, "Anmaa" which was created by Maekawa. The title is the Okinawan word for "mother", and it's a happy, folksy number giving tribute to Mom throughout the good and bad times. Apparently, the band went through some tough times getting recognized to the point that their contract was on the verge of being cancelled after which Maekawa realized how difficult life could be and then also knowing how hard it was for his mother having to raise a hellraiser during high school. Thus, "Anmaa" was made.

"Anmaa" only got as far as No. 99 on the Oricon charts and since then, Kariyushi 58 has come up with higher-ranking hits including their 5th single "Sayonara"（さよなら）from February 2009 which ranked in at No. 10. However, I think that "Anmaa" has become a sentimental favourite at the concerts. The song is also a part of their 2nd mini-album "Uuji no Uta"（ウージの唄...Sugar Cane Song） which was released in September 2006 and got as high as No. 56.