Fo’i Brings Songs (and Mismatched Earrings) to Story Keepers

At first glance, it might look like a simple coffee shop gig. A Friday night at Kawha Coffee, a guitar, and a singer-songwriter from Orlando. But Fo’i doesn’t do “simple.”

“I really enjoy bending genre,” they said. “My pop music will be imbued with R&B. It’ll be imbued with country, pop punk. It’s just whatever comes out of me.”

Fo’i calls themself a “soft art boy,” a Filipino-Samoan-American artist who refuses to squeeze into the molds of genre or gender. Their mismatched earrings aren’t just an accessory — they’re a declaration. “Jewelry became a way that I felt like I could make myself known,” they explained. “When I realized that I didn’t have to wear very much like gender norms…that I could switch it up. Open several doors in my brain. Open several beautiful roads to walk.”

It’s fitting, then, that Fo’i is the first featured musician in Story Keepers Acoustic Sessions, a new series from the nonprofit Story Keepers, dedicated to site-specific, community-rooted art.

“Story Keepers fosters artists who tell authentic stories in new ways — stories grounded in community, curiosity, and care,” said David DiGioacchino, board chair. “We began with a simple belief: stories have the power to bring people together. Rooted in creativity and community imagination, we create experiences that move beyond the stage, page, or screen and into the spaces where people live, work, and gather.”

For Fo’i, that alignment feels natural. Their music isn’t just about sound, but about service: “Whatever you need from my music, I hope that you get it,” they said. “I always ask people if they want to hear anything in particular. If I can give that to them, it would make me so happy. I want my music to help.”

That openness has carried into deeply personal moments. Fo’i recalled audience members approaching them after gigs: “Hey, that was me and my husband’s wedding song, and he passed away this year, and it meant a lot for you to sing that.” For Fo’i, these are reminders that music isn’t just performed — it’s shared, exchanged, held.

The choice to launch Story Keepers’ new music series with Fo’i is intentional. This is an artist whose whole existence, as they put it, is “driven by supporting and upholding my community.”

And while Kawha Coffee might not look like a traditional venue, that’s the point. “We’re not a stage,” DiGioacchino said. “We’re a space — for artists to experiment, stretch, and grow into what’s next.”

Fo’i steps into that space on Friday, Oct. 17, from 5 to 7 p.m. The show is donation-based, open to anyone who wants to pull up a chair, sip a coffee, and be part of something that feels a little bigger than just a gig.

Because for Fo’i, mismatched earrings and all, music is about creating exactly that: a moment that belongs to everyone in the room.

📅 Friday, Oct. 17🕔 5–7 PM

📍 Kawha Coffee, St. Pete, 204 2nd Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701

💸 Donations at the door

Editor's Note: Story Keepers is a non-profit organization. Avery Anderson serves on the board of directors.