You may know Jon Rauhouse as the string section (okay, make that the pedal steel guitar-and-banjo section) behind Neko Case. Or maybe you've heard his dynamic duo of solo records on Bloodshot, where some of alt-country's finest vocalists accompany the virtuoso on classic tunes from the last 70 or so years of popular music. Then there's always the chance you saw him playing alongside Sally Timms, Kelly Hogan, Calexico, Giant Sand, the Mekons and countless others at various venues across the nation. It's becoming apparent: if you sing and have any amount of musical taste, you'll probably want Jon Rauhouse backing you up on guitar. Which begs the question: does this guy ever slow down? The answer is apparently not.

Hawaiian Guitar Expedition is what happens when Rauhouse decides to take a "vacation." Shirking the aforementioned responsibilities, holed up in a tiny cabin on the Northwest corner of Washington State and goofing off with some music pals, the guitar maestro puts a proverbial grass skirt around a half-dozen new instrumentals. From the John Fahey-goes-to-a-luau inspired "Dusty Canal" to the introspective "Jen's Tenor," to the otherworldly "Sweet for Hawaiian Guitar & Saw," this is music-making at its finest. Rauhouse flavors the rest of this disc with some of his best-loved tracks from his solo recordings. The result? Pure instrumental bliss. No, not the John Tesh/Zamfir kind, the good, pass-me-a-mai-tai kind.
- Jason Verlinde of Seattle

"(Y)ou'll feel like you're attending a luau at a funky Pacific Northwestern coffee shop." George Zahora, Magnet

"The Neko Case sideman cooks up an exotic mixture of balmy instrumentals and languid waltzes in this imaginary soundtrack to some '50's surf shack paradise." Uncut UK