Looking Back ...

Mackey was born on August 13, 1955, the fourth child of Bryant Mackey Sr. and Regina (Chong) Feary. His interest in music started very early and he began playing at around the age of 7. His father bought him his first guitar when he was 11. Mackey was very active in bands throughout his school years - mostly rock.

In 1973, he was performing as a solo act at The Oar House in Hawaii Kai and then joined up with Malani Bilyeu, D. J. Pratt and Kirk Thompson to form the group Kalapana. And while Mackey was the youngest member, he penned some of the groups biggest hits, including "The Hurt" and "Nightbird".

In 1975, just shy of his 20th birthday, Mackey and his bandmates played a 3-night sellout performance at the Waikiki Shell. Kalapana was now the hottest group in Hawaii - their popularity fueled in part by Mackey's songs which were full of heart and soul ... songs we could identify with.

Sometime around early 1977, Mackey left Kalapana and formed his own group, The Mackey Feary Band. As a solo artist, Mackey maintained a very large and loyal following of fans - demonstrating just how firmly established he was in the island music scene. He continued to write the music we all loved and entertain us with steady appearances.

Kalapana reunited (except for D.J. Pratt) in 1982 to perform a reunion concert at the Waikiki Shell and pooled their talents to write and record once again. Gaylord Holomalia and Kenji Sano joined the group and Kalapana has remained one of Hawaii's favorite groups ever since.

Mackey still continued to play solo gigs which made for great opportunities to see him perform when he wasn't playing with Kalapana. As the years slipped by, one thing remained constant: Mackey still had the amazing musical talent that first captured our attention all those years ago. Listening to him perform in the later stages of his career could transport an audience back to those wonderful Kalapana days of the 70's. Mackey made it seem as though time had stood still ...