Few of us could identify with Opetaia Foa'i's early life.

Foa'i (say Fo-wah-hee) was born and raised in a grass hut in a Tokelau village on one of the tiny volcanic islands that comprise the South Pacific nation of Samoa. When he was nine years old, his family relocated to the Samoan community in Auckland, New Zealand, a move that took some getting used to.

"Putting on shoes for the first time was part of the culture shock," recalls the man who is today bandleader of Te Vaka.

While things in Samoa were somewhat more primal than in the outside world, the presence of music in everyday life was taken for granted.

"Music was natural to our way of life, nothing special. Everybody did it and if somebody sang out of tune it wasn't even noticed. It was more important to the spirit of the community to celebrate, and everyone who arrived or left was celebrated, so I was exposed to all this amazing traditional music."

As a consequence, he found the conventions of musical performance in New Zealand a bit confusing at first.

"Coming from that background, to see people encouraged to go onstage was a bit foreign. I wondered, 'Why is that? -- shouldn't we all go up there?' "

He was also introduced to electricity and amplified instruments in Auckland, and to the notion that making music could become a regular career. Foa'i made up for the culture shock quickly enough. From his schoolmates he soon learned the difference between fixed and open tunings on the ukulele, picking up on rock 'n' roll and reggae music. Then a friend traded him a copy of the Jimi Hendrix record Electric Ladyland and "it blew me away," he recalls. He practised guitar every day for a few years and by 15, he had a residency in a local night club.

From that point, Foa'i spent most of two decades playing various shades of what was essentially Western commercial music.

"We still had these traditional dances and songs in the local community but I was playing popular music as a job. It wasn't until years later that I got back to my roots, where I really wanted to be musically. It was like a learning curve for me and eventually, I had had enough. It suddenly dawned on me that I could try to combine them both."

After recording in his own home studio, Foa'i was surprised to find there was genuine interest in the music of his own people. When his wife (now manager) Julie sent tapes to England, it resulted in the formation of Te Vaka and the group's first CD release in 1997 on the ARC label. That same year, they put in their first overseas tour, spending three months in Europe.

After some 15 years and six albums, Te Vaka has toured much of the world and much of the band are members of his family. Their music is essentially a mix of cultures, drawing on the mythology, stories, songs and rhythms of his Samoan upbringing, but mixed with the popular dance grooves of the world beyond. Their latest CD Haoloto (Free) is subtitled South Pacific Fusion.

Lyrics reflect poetry of love

"Sometimes I listen to it and wonder if I've gone a bit too far," Foa'i admits, "but it's probably a fear of the influences I've had since I went to New Zealand. The most important part to me is the language, and I take a long time to come up with the words to the songs. Unfortunately, not a lot of people understand the language (Tokelauan), but it's quite poetic."

If you read the lyrics translated from Foa'i's mother tongue, you will find the poetry of love, imagery of the sea and stars, themes of individual empowerment, tributes to his ancestors and the natural environment.

"If it wasn't for that inspiration, Te Vaka wouldn't exist. My inspiration started with these original pioneers and their fantastic accomplishment of conquering the Pacific in a canoe. Thinking about those achievements just about put me in tears."

The band's name Te Vaka literally means "the canoe," the ancient means of travel from one island to another. At 54, Foa'i is still taking his own canoe and his infectious, positive grooves around the world to let the rest of us in on a unique way of life, which seems increasingly in danger. Some of his recent songs take on an urgent discussion of the ecology and issues like global warming, especially as they relate to the islands of Samoa.

"I'm asking how we can save this beautiful culture without these islands, because the islands will disappear. I've been back there and I've seen the amount of land that's been claimed by the ocean already."

The multi-award-winning band has now been based out of Sydney, Australia, for four years. On their current tour, Te Vaka features seven performers on guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals, drums and percussion, including the Samoan log drum. This marks their first tour to Canada, the 38th country they've visited.