 Historian John W. Troutman, Curator of American Music at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, stated that the entire family moved to Laie, Oahu, Hawaii in 1919, near the Mormon Laie Hawaii Temple.Troutman speculated that it was more likely the 1918 flu pandemic, rather than religion, that motivated the move.Born into a family grounded in church music, Tau was influenced by the "kīkā kila" – the lap steel guitar – also known as the Hawaiian guitar.