Daily specials include Manoa DNA on Saturdays

Since the release of his "Hawaiian Man" CD, Brother Noland has stepped out from the shadows to become a primo player on the Waikiki club circuit, owning Sundays at the new Kani Ka Pila Grille between the porte cochere and pool at the Outrigger Reef on the Beach.

He symbolically dons a blue Primo beer-print shirt — "I have two," he said when I asked if more than one hangs in his closet since he wore the same print at a Kahala Mall promo gig recently — and therein lies the point: he's the primo man, behind those dark glasses.

He's taken primo tunes  like "I Want to Go Back to My Little Grass Shack" and "Mr. Sun Cho Lee" - and is helping to make Kani Ka Pila Grille a primo place to unwind and indulge.

When he sang "Grass Shack" at a noontime Aloha Friday program earlier this month, a tutu type stood up and did an  improv hula. Same thing happened at Kahala Mall — though it was a guy who pranced like a happy camper to the beat while folks smiled approvingly.

Kani Ka Pila is primo turf for musical haps. Its sheer home-spun hospitality — wait-help eager to serve a menu that's equal parts finger food, burgers, salads and backyard barbecue — is part of the appeal. The swimming pool and mini-ponds remind you you're in Hawai'i. But Kani Ka Pila's roster of players, sharing simple pleasures, is why this is a hot destination.

Noland, who rarely frequents lounges or the show circuit, has been a valuable element for this oasis of comfort food and comfy music. When his Sunday slot is pau after this weekend, his fellow Mountain Apple Records peers will share the spotlight.

At the Aloha Friday gathering, Amy Hanaiali'i, Troy Fernandez and Kaukahi shared the bill hosted by Billy V and Bruddah Wade.

Couldn't ask for a nicer primo roster, since Hanaiali'i remains the No. 1 songbird even if her " 'Aumakua" CD didn't cop this year's Grammy.

Fernandez is on the ascent with his "Ride Time" album and Kaukahi, a former Na Hoku Hanohano Award winner, is in the studio preparing its next contender.

Staging was different from the nighttime slot, where the performers face the bar and assorted clusters of tables 'neath umbrellas. It all feels and plays like happy hour.

The noon show included a buffet lunch, with the acts facing the opposite direction, where a dozen or so so1o-seat tables were assembled as visitors with wheelers whisked by. The motif easily could be done nights, too.

Manoa DNA, which has the Saturday slot, is the kind of act developing an expanding crowd at Kani Ka Pila; dad Lloyd Kawakami and sons Alex and Nick have just the right measure of folksy pop faves and Hawaiian tunes to appease both a resident and visiting audience.

Their mana'o yields an 'ohana flavor. The overall mix works to the club's advantage, spiced by variety: you hear one act, you may want to return for another dose. Primo idea.

Read more of Wayne Harada's "Show and Tell Hawai'i" blog at http://honoluluadvertiser.com/blogs, and check out our other bloggers. Harada's blog appears in TGIF, and his Show Biz column runs Sundays in Island Life.