Joe Witkin

Joe Witkin started piano lessons at age 6, and picked up guitar and bass in junior high, playing along with every Beatles album. Growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y, he rotated through various high school bands until fortune brought him to the right time and place (1968, Columbia University) to become a founding member of the infamous fifties group “Sha Na Na”. Joe played piano with Sha Na Na at the original Woodstock festival in 1969, and became a Billboard #1 Artist for appearing on the Woodstock movie soundtrack album.

After moving to San Diego in 1975, Joe created and played in several musical groups, including an all-Beatles band complete with costumes and accents, and an 8-piece fifties-sixties revue, The Corvettes, which also featured his wife Carol. The Corvettes, in which Joe played keyboards and keyboard bass, had a successful run of 23 years.

In 2021, Joe and Carol joined the Hawaiian music duo Slack Key Ohana that had recently been formed by their son Brian Witkin and his friend/slack key guitar teacher, recording artist Kamaka Mullen. With over 100 shows in 2023, Slack Key Ohana has quickly gained a foothold in its genre.

Joe discovered the Kala U-Bass at a Makaha Sons performance , and quickly discarded his keyboard for what he feels is the greatest musical thing since "well, The Beatles".