Growing Up

Bud Cerio was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. His Hawaiian name is Keali'i O' Kalani.At the age of one, he and his family moved to Laurel, Maryland. His mother Melanie danced hula in a halau and his father Melvin played Ukulele, Steel Guitar, Bass, Tuere and Auto Harp. After moving to Maryland they performed in a Hula troop, entertaining at Luaus (Hawaiian Style Parties) up and down the east coast. Although his father a mechanic by trade he continued playing Hawaiian music along the east coast for over 30 years.

When Bud was five, his parents divorced. His mother met his step father Rudy, and he and his family moved to San Ramon, CA. (San Francisco Bay Area). Rudy played a variety of Hawaiian and contemporary music on guitar and ukulele, his mother and step father played every weekend.

He adopted his family's love of music and at the age of 15 he started learning guitar. He learned his first Hawaiian slack key about 6 months later while visiting his cousin in Hawaii. His musical tastes up to this point were mostly rock and roll, but at the age of sixteen a friend took him to a Grateful Dead concert and his entire outlook on music changed.

He started appreciating Blues, Jazz, Country, Bluegrass, Reggae, Classical, African Drums, Indian Sitar and just about every other conceivable type of music and started to go to all types of concerts. He also started to practice like crazy and that spring, he and a few friends put together their own group called "Aries" (which included Dave Ojeda) and entered the high school talent show. They formed the band a week or two before the talent show so they weren't that tight, but raw talent must have come through because the second night's performance earned them a standing ovation as well as the wrath of the principal after they disregarded the time limit and launched into an extended jam and forced the people in charge to unplug their amps in order to get them off stage!

Musical Path

Bud has played with a number of groups over the years. He had a band in the early eighties called The Kundalini Express and it's sister group The Blues Express based out of the San Francisco Bay Area. When he moved to Hawaii in the early-mid Nineties he had a group called Blue Shift which one reviewer called "peerless". He then joined The Piranha Brothers and played on Michael Piranha's solo release "Silhouette Artist" which went on to win The Hawaii Music Award for "Best Rock Album". He also played on Jeff K's solo release "Guava Skies".

After leaving The Piranha Brothers he started "The Now" and started doing gigs under his own name as well! He is beginning to gain quite a bit of notice for his guitar skills as well as his vocal performances and song writing.
Bud Cerio & The Now have shared the bill with Blues legend and Grammy winner B.B. King, 5 time Grammy winners The Robert Cray Band and 4 time Grammy winner and guitar virtuoso Buddy Guy. He has also share the stage with numerous local Hawaiian and international stars.

Albert Collins, Al DiMeola, Albert King,, Andreas Segovia, B.B. King, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Babatunde Olatunji, Buddy Guy, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Dave Mathews, The Doors, Eric Clapton, The Grateful Dead, George Benson, Janis Joplin, Jimmy Cliff, John McLaughlin, King Crimson, Led Zeppelin, Mahuvishnu Orchestra, Michael Hedges, Merl Saunders, The Moody Blues, Pat Matheny, Paul Simon, Peter Moon, Pink Floyd, Phish, Ravi Shankar, Robert Cray, The Rolling Stones, Santana, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Steve Morse,Van Morrison, Yes ( This is a partial list of influences and is alphabetical and not in any order of importance)

Recordings

Michael Piranha's Silhouette Artist
Hawaii Music Awards Best Rock Album 2000

Jeff K's Guava Skies
Kamananui Records 1998

Jim Hubbard's Noisy Dreams