Born and raised on Maui, Conner Snow was 14 when he saw a YouTube video of Jake Shimabukuro playing “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” Snow had an ukulele; Shimabukuro’s video opened his mind to what he could do with it. Four months after seeing the video, Snow had taught himself how to play the song.

When Shimabukuro came to Snow’s high school, Seabury Hall, for a concert and asked if there were any questions, one of Snow’s friends asked Shimabukuro if his friend (Snow) could play a duet with him. It was an afternoon Snow will never forget.

Fast forward to the present, and Snow is 25, lives in Los Angeles, plays several instruments, and is celebrating the recent release of his debut album, “If I Knew Then What I Know Now,” with concerts at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the McCoy Studio Theater at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, and at 7 p.m. Saturday at WorkPlay in Kakaako.

Let’s start with that day at Seabury Hall. It sounds like lots of pressure — and you just happened to have your ukulele with you?

I was shaking when I got up to him, but he was the nicest guy ever. He handed me his ukulele, and I gave him mine, and we played “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” That was a big moment for me. I had my ukulele with me because I wanted to get it signed by him, and he actually did.

There’s a song on your album about a relationship between a man and a “girl” that “defies the law of the land.” About the only relationships that defy the law of the land in Hawaii these days are when adults 20 and older get involved with people who are under 16. Am I reading too much into the lyrics?

It was more about a movie I saw about a white girl and an African American man. I have never been in a situation where there are concrete societal reasons for me to not be with someone, so I was hashing out what that would feel like. What if someone’s family didn’t want me to be with them?

With another song, “Trace of You,” you describe the torment of being constantly reminded of the person who broke your heart. The lyrics — and the way you sing them — capture the pain and the obsession involved very convincingly.

I wrote it in the middle of a relationship, and at that point I was actually very happy, but I always knew that at some point that song would become very valid. When that relationship ended it was like, instantly, everything that I wrote about in that song became reality.

A third song, “Diamond,” is about as far from “Trace of You” as you can get — and sounds like a song Bruno Mars could have written.

Bruno is a big inspiration for me, yes, and I have a side to me that is kind of rambunctious. I even had this conversation with my manager about making an active choice (with this song). Does this song (also) represent who I am as a person? For me it does.

What do you like to do that is not related to music?

I’m a big outdoorsman. My brother and I will go to Big Sur and backpack for three days, or drive up to Tahoe and ski for a week.

What is something that might surprise people who know you only through your music?

I’m kind of a big nerd. I’m a huge bookworm, and I love video games, science fiction and fantasy.

What would you like to be doing 10 years from now?

I’d still like to be performing music, but I’d like my focus to shift toward producing music for other artists, developing young artists, and particularly providing more opportunities for young artists in Hawaii who want to make pop music.