[1] His mother, Winona Beamer ("Auntie Nona") was one of the most important figures in the revival of Hawaiian culture.
[9] His debut recording in 1972 was headlined "Jack de Mello presents Keola Beamer" and titled "Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar in the Real Old Style",[10] followed in the same year by an album with his brother Kapono in 1972.
This second album was headlined "Jack de Mello presents Keola and Kapono Beamer" and titled "This Is Our Island Home - We Are Her Sons," and subtitled "Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar in the Real Old Style".
Keola and Kapono performed as a duo, mixing traditional materials and styles with mainland pop influences.
After several pop-oriented albums, Keola connected with George Winston's Dancing Cat recording project for five releases between 1994 and 2002, emphasizing slack key guitar and Hawaiian lyrics, but without abandoning "contemporary" influences.
Since 2001, he has run a series of "cultural immersion" workshops dedicated not only to slack key but other aspects of Hawaiiana.
The same year the musical soundtrack for the motion picture movie Descendants was nominated for the Grammy Awards.