The Girlas profile picture

The Girlas

Candy, Kelli, Carly, & Ernie

About Me

UPDATE: We had a blast guest appearing at this year's 2008 Kokua Festival with Paula Fuga. Keep posted, we've got news songs and we're playing them at gigs. So see ya around! Love, The Girlas

"Tease" LIVE from Kokua Festival 2008 - The Girlas, Ernie Cruz Jr, & Paula Fuga from takoshabba on Vimeo .
The Girlas - Now or Never AVAILABLE ON ITUNES!
click the button below for a complete preview of the entire album
CDs are also available via CD Baby or Island Mele (mele.com)
Album reviews: Honolulu Advertiser or Starbulletin
The Girlas consist of 3 women working together to perform original music with a mix of folk, acoustic, blues, soul, and bluegrass. Of these women are:
Candy Diaz Yasuda: a singer/song writer with a penchant for old torch jazz
Carly Smith: a singer/song writer with a heavy background in bluegrass as well as the daughter of reknown bluegrass musician Ty Smith
Kelli Heath: a singer/song writer with amazing talent for guitar composition, slack key, and witty lyrics.
Under the collective title, The Girlas, Kelli, Candy, & Carly began collaborating amongst one another to create a genre of music that incorporates all aspects of their individual skill.
The debut release of “Now of Never” was met with much appreciated enthusiam. Jamie Winnpenny of the Honolulu Weekly wrote, “Their lyrical content is poignant rather than preachy, their instrumental prowess is informed rather than forced and their harmonies are inspired.” Wayne Harada of the Honolulu Advertiser said, “"The harmonies are sweet; the lingering passions sweeter. Think Na Leo with attitude and soul. The Girlas are great because they're both unpredictable and prolific." John Berger of the Star Bulletin had this to say, “Each introspective composition seems more exquisite than the other. Whether they're singing of heartbreak, troubled relationships or an enigmatic encounter with angels, the Girlas are an enchanting discovery for fans of smooth pop music.”
Blessed to have shared the stage with names like Hapa, Herb Ohta Jr, Maki Ohguro, Don Carlos, Johnny Winter, Victoria Vox, & Ernie Halter, The Girlas recently participated in Jack Johnson’s 2007 Kokua Festival alongside Matt Costa, Ernie Cruz. Jr, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, and Jack Johnson as well as Paula Fuga’s 1st Lilikoi Fair alongside Tempo Valley, LAWA, Anuhea Jenkins, Climbing PoeTree, Sparlha Swa, and Paula herself (in hopes to raise money for The Lilikoi Foundation, a to be erected support system for women in transition) They are currently recording material and can be found gigging and touring in Hawaii & the continental US.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 5/13/2005
Band Website: thegirlas.com
Band Members: Candy Diaz-Yasuda: Vocals/Guitar/Bass
Kelli Heath: Vocals/Guitar/Bass
Carly Smith: Vocals/Guitar/Bass
Ernie Cruz Jr: Vocals/Percussion/Guitar
Influences: Patty Larkin, Patty Griffin, Lori McKenna, Tristan Prettyman, Leonard Cohen, Daniel Lanois, Sam Cooke, Ray LaMontagne, Damien Rice
Sounds Like: Acoustic folk with heavy slack key, bluegrass, indie, blues, and jazz influences.
Record Label: Kototama Productions
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Kokua Festival picture gallery up

Kokua Festival Girla GalleryPhotos (c) BigFacePhotography & CJ Leilikis unless noted otherwise.Take a peek!
Posted by The Girlas on Tue, 22 May 2007 12:32:00 PST

Something to do this Saturday Night.

Join us this Saturday night, May 19th, at Pipeline Cafe forLocal Vocal Schools Out Edition featuring 3 Hot Bands, The Girlas, Epic Session and Hot Rain. DJ Mikie D. will be spinning hip hop in the si...
Posted by The Girlas on Fri, 18 May 2007 03:01:00 PST

Check out some new songs!!!

Three new tracks have been posted in honor of The Girlas gearing up to record album number 2. Look for fresh new tunes from Candy, Carly, and Kelli and enjoy the stripped down scratch tracking that is...
Posted by The Girlas on Tue, 15 May 2007 09:13:00 PST

"Now or Never" reviewed in the Starbulletin

John Berger, Star Bulletin"Now Or Never"The Girlas(Kototama Productions)This new group of six "solo artists and artisans" embraces the popular and proven tradition of soul-baring female singer/songwri...
Posted by The Girlas on Sat, 15 Apr 2006 03:33:00 PST

Now or Never reviewed in the Honolulu Advertiser

Girlas offer sweet harmoniesBy Wayne HaradaAdvertiser Entertainment WriterThe Girlas are twentysomethings with plentysomething to offer including fresh sounds and fresh views on the many layers of lo...
Posted by The Girlas on Mon, 03 Apr 2006 04:36:00 PST

update: November 28, 2005

The Midweek: For those of your that didn't catch The Girlas in the Midweek, check out this link: Hot Ticket - Prime. Kelli and Candy also got a little mention reviewing Prime in The Starbulletin. T...
Posted by The Girlas on Tue, 29 Nov 2005 09:42:00 PST

update: November 10, 2005

The Album: Today marks the last day of The Girlas in studio. After that, it's mixing and mastering, pressing and shipping, and we're good to go. Look for the album out this December. The Midweek: L...
Posted by The Girlas on Thu, 10 Nov 2005 01:10:00 PST

update: October 4, 2005

More news for wondering minds. The Honolulu Weekly: Tomorrow (Oct. 5) The Girlas will be featured via a small profile in the weekly. Thank You to Jamie Winnpenny of Doolin' Rakes fame for getting u...
Posted by The Girlas on Tue, 04 Oct 2005 01:27:00 PST

update: September 22, 2005

Here's the latest news for those wondering about THE GIRLAS The website: http://www.thegirlas.com has gone through a site make over. Up and running, new features on the site include picture galleri...
Posted by The Girlas on Fri, 23 Sep 2005 02:46:00 PST