Jordan T has always been surrounded by music. He was born into a musical family, his mom was a piano teacher and his dad had jam sessions with his guitar.
But looping — a musical device that records sounds adding real-time layers — has always been his thing.
"I didn't have a band at the time," he said. "So instead of waiting around for people to come and play with me, I just bought these pedals and learned how to do it."
It started with playing the guitar, and then he learned to beatbox. He added more instruments and vocals into the mix.
Jordan T's day job was with a sailboat company in Maui. He took visitors snorkeling and whale watching. By sunset, he would jam on the ukulele. By night, he would play at bars across the island.
His versatility caught the attention of Maoli, a local country-reggae band.
He said it was a surreal moment that the band offered him to tour and be their lead guitarist.
"They're hometown heroes in Maui, so it was an honor to jam and tour with them," he said.
Touring with Maoli introduced him to the Maori reggae group Katchafire, of which Jordan T was also the lead guitarist.
Jordan T has toured at music festivals worldwide, including Riddu Riddu Musical Festival in Norway, the Summerjam in Germany, California Roots Festival in the U.S. and more.
"Having a chance to play guitar with them and sing vocals and play all my favorite songs with them on stage at all these big festivals around the world — man, that's a dream come true for me," he said.
His desire to make his own music prompted him to go solo. He's not signed to a record label, but he made it work.
"The music career is just a challenge," he said. "But if you put in the work and stay true to yourself, you can make it."
Jordan T said the most challenging part about going solo is finding time to rest. Since he's an independent artist, he has a small team to handle the logistics and delegate tasks.
He released his first album, "Bridges with the Vibes," in 2016 with support from his fanbase. His fans raised $30,000 for his crowdfunding campaign. The remaining money was donated to Habitat for Humanity in Nicaragua to build housing.
Jordan T's recent single is "I Feel It Could." He primarily writes love songs.
"There's a lot of people out there that feel alone because they don't feel love," he said. "And one of the motivations for writing songs about love is to put my experience out there and see if anybody has gone through what I've gone through."
He said his goal is to perform at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado and the Hollywood Bowl in California.
Jordan T said he's currently working on an EP, which he hopes to release by next year.
As much as he loves touring, he said he hopes to remain rooted in Maui.
To find more of Jordan T's music, go here.
