the Nashville Ukulele Society Blog

Nashukes Tonight Jan 16th 2012, 6-7:30pm

2012-01-16T11:21:00.000-08:00

Hello Nashukers,

It's time for our monthly meeting of the ukulele minds. Bring your favorite uke and some songs to share. I will not be there tonight (I'm sick), but don't let that stop you from coming out and jamming with some like-minded ukulele folks.

Happy Strumming!

Fellow Nashuker Is Selling Vintage Banjo Uke

2011-12-11T09:51:00.000-08:00

Have you been longing to get your hands on a banjo ukulele? Well now is your chance to treat yourself to an early Christmas gift - fellow Nashuker John K. is selling his vintage (1920's) Tonk Bros. banjo ukulele. You can see the add on Craigslist HERE. It's a sweet little banjo uke at a really nice price.

No Nashukes Meeting in December

2011-11-28T20:48:00.000-08:00

There will not be a Nashukes meeting for the month of December so strum on through to the new year and we'll meet again the third Monday in January 2012.

November Meeting

2011-11-22T14:41:00.000-08:00

Oops. I forgot to post this before this month's uke meeting. The turnout was kind of thin - I think a lot of people are out of town for the Thanksgiving holiday - but it was still fun.

Nashukes Meeting Tonight 10/17/2011, 6-7:30pm.

2011-10-17T04:00:00.000-07:00

Next Nashukes Meeing is Oct. 17th

2011-09-21T07:13:00.000-07:00

Hello Nashukers!

Our next Nashukes uke jam will be on October 17th at Fanny's House of Music, 6 to 7:30pm. If the weather is nice we will be meeting on the front porch of the shop.

The theme for October will be songs from the 1980's and songs in the spirit of Halloween.

Fanny's House of Music's Website Has A New Look

2011-08-22T15:49:00.000-07:00

The Nashville Ukulele Society's sponsors, Fanny's House of Music have recently updated the look of their website. Check them out on the web and also check them out in person - they have ukuleles, guitars, strings, picks and straps, vintage clothes, local hand-made items and unique musical themed art. And once per month they let the Nashukes come in and take over half of their shop for a little ukulele infused fun.

Songs in the key of Barry Manilow

2011-08-22T13:59:00.000-07:00

It was suggested at our last Nashukes meeting that the theme for September's meeting be songs by (or made famous by) Barry Manilow. This would include any of the numerous commercial jingles he wrote as well. It should be an interesting jam session.

Kokolele

2011-08-15T18:23:00.000-07:00

At tonight's Nashukes meeting Greg Davis showed off his new tattoo - Kokolele! Greg is clearly dedicated to the ukulele, let's hope that his love of the uke never wears off because that tattoo certainly never will.

Another interesting thing about Greg is that he drives all the way from South Carolina just to attend these Nashukes meetings and we sure do appreciate that kind of ukulele spirit.

Next Nashukes meeting/Uke jam 8-15-11

2011-08-10T20:22:00.000-07:00

It's HOT out there so get yourself inside at Fanny's House of Music for another uke jam with The Nashville Ukulele Society. The theme this month will be songs in the key of Hot. Anything to do with or even remotely related to heat, being hot, or places that are hot. And in honor of this month's Tomato Fest any songs about the mighty tomato are welcome as well. Whatever songs you bring please bring a few printed copies to share and a music stand if you think you'll need one.

See you there.

Ooops! Forgot to post the July meeting

2011-07-18T19:38:00.000-07:00

This easy summer pace has me so relaxed that I didn't remember the July meeting until the day of the meeting. I'm sorry I didn't get the word out sooner. I'll try to be more diligent in the future.

The Cicada!

2011-05-24T14:40:00.000-07:00

A new original song by The Ukedelics (and a dance sensation!) celebrating the 2011 cicada invasion. I had the idea for the song during the last cicada swarm 13 years ago, but didn't get it finished before they went dormant. This time around I managed to get it finished and make this little animation. Having a little too much fun with it, probably.

The Walking Bass

2011-05-08T09:04:00.000-07:00

Do not fear for our old friend the washtub bass--it will always have a place in The Ukedelic's instrumentation--but there's an exciting, new addition; Tim Davies' Walkingbass. It's electric, bringing a new energy to the rhythm section, plus it has a rich tone that fits in great with the ukulele. You can find out more about them at the Walkingbass website. (The band is currently featured on the homepage!)

Next Nashukes meeting/Uke jam 5-16-11

2011-04-27T10:04:00.000-07:00

I've been remiss in keeping this blog updated. That's life in the fast lane. Fortunately things are slow enough at the moment to get this thing updated.

Our next Nashukes Meeting/Uke Jam is scheduled for May 16th at Fanny's House of Music 6 to 7:30pm.

The focus will be on T.V. Theme Songs and songs from movies. We have done this once before and it was a lot of fun. Please bring at least a couple of songs to share (about 10 printed copies).

Hope to see you there.

Andy

January Nashukes Meeting

2011-01-15T08:40:00.000-08:00

Time for our monthly Nashukes meeting. Bring a couple of songs to share (10 printed copies of each) and a music stand if you have one.
When: Jan 17th 6-7:30pm
Where: Fanny's House of Music

See you there!

Aloha from old friend of NashUkes!

2011-01-14T08:54:00.000-08:00

Hi folks. I haven't been able to make the meetings in well over a year, but I wanted you all to know I still keep posted and I'm still strumming daily (almost).

Also wanted to share a couple of drawings I recently did:

This was for a thank-you note I sent to my brother. I guess I wasn't content to simply write "thanx for all the stuff" in a blank greeting card.

This one was also for a thank-you note. I bought a Kamaka t-shirt with some Christmas cash. So this is me in my new shirt.
Aloha to you all!

Bright - Little - Field

2011-01-11T13:35:00.000-08:00

A ukulele tribute to The Replacements featuring two local singer/songwriters, one of whom (Tom Littlefield) is a member of the Nashukes from it's Z's Deli days. Great uke and vocal work on this album.

Nashukes Christmas Party!! Dec. 4th

2010-11-29T06:41:00.000-08:00

It's time for the Annual Nashville Ukulele Society Christmas Party Blowout!! This means there will not be a regularly scheduled meeting at Fanny's House of Music for December - the party is the meeting!

When: Saturday, Dec. 4th, 5pm
Where: At my house. If you're on the Nashukes email list then you know where, otherwise email me if you need directions.
What: bring a dish (or two) to share, bring your ukulele and a couple of Christmas songs (10 printed copies) to share with everyone.

HERE is a video clip from last year to give you an idea of just how much fun we have at these parties (please ignore the shouting children in the background).

Hope to see you there.

Fluke For Sale

2010-11-17T12:46:00.000-08:00

There's a green Fluke for sale on the Nashville Craigslist. Just wanted to point this out in case you were looking for a really great ukulele. I have one just like this and it's one of my favorite players.

HERE's the posting on C'list.

I have no financial interest in this uke selling - I'm just spreading the word since these don't often come up for sale used in the Nashville area.

Nashukes Meeting Nov. 15th

2010-11-14T07:31:00.000-08:00

Hey Nashukers,

The next Nashukes get-together is on Monday, November 15th. Please bring at least a couple of songs to share (ten printed copies) and a music stand if you have one.

Where: Fanny's House of Music
When: Nov. 15th, 6-7:30pm

See you there,

Andy

Next Nashukes Meeting Oct. 18th

2010-09-21T15:52:00.000-07:00

Lets try for some Halloween themed songs at the October meeting.

Fleabag

2010-09-21T15:30:00.000-07:00

Hey Nashukers,

The meeting on Monday was a lot of fun. A passerby on the street heard us playing inside and came in to investigate and before he knew what was happening he had an ukulele in his hand and was playing right along with the rest of us.
If you were at the meeting you probably saw the printed copy of The Fleabag songbook that I brought along with me. This is a songbook of public domain songs that is available to download free at www.ukulele.org
The songbook has ten songs in it and they are all tabbed for ukulele with chord diagrams. You can find it here. Print it out and bring it to the next meeting.

Andy

Next Uke Meeting Sept. 20th, 6-7:30pm

2010-09-15T11:31:00.000-07:00

Hey Nashukers,

Dust off your ukes and get ready for another Nashville Ukulele Society jam session, meeting, get-together. We'll play our ukes and talk about our ukes. If you don't have an ukulele that's okay, there are usually a couple of extras floating around and our most gracious hosts at Fanny's House of Music sell a variety of ukes and I'm sure they would be happy to help you pick one out that's right for you.
Please bring a couple of songs (at least ten printed copies) to share with everyone and a music stand if you have one; there are usually a few of these scattered around and we don't mind sharing.

Hope to see you there,

Andy

Tweet Tweet

2010-08-18T20:42:00.000-07:00

Follow The Nashville Ukulele Society on Twitter HERE. You can also find us on Facebook by following THIS link.

August Meeting Ooops!

2010-08-18T06:09:00.001-07:00

Sorry Folks!
I forgot to post an announcement on here about the August meeting. Well, we did meet as usual on the third Monday and had a great time learning some new songs and meeting some new ukers who were brand new to the Nashukes. If you were one of these folks and you would like to get on the email reminder list just send an email to nashukes@gmail.com and ask to be added. You can also follow us on Facebook here. I am going to set up a Twitter page for the Nashukes as well for those of you who tweet instead.

See you in September.

The Ukedelics: Dr. Sketchy's & Facebook

2010-07-24T12:49:00.000-07:00

Hijacking the Nashukes blog for The Ukedelics again. Wanted to share this video from our recent show at Dr. Sketchy's 1st Annual Luau. (John's flip camera ran out of memory during the last verse, but it is OH SO worth watching what he did capture!)

It was our first time playing at The 5 Spot in East Nashville and we really had a good time. The evening started with their tiki-themed drawing class and the place was packed with a lot of talented artistic types and lovely hula hula maids.

Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School is what happens when cabaret meets art class. On the THIRD SUNDAY of EVERY MONTH @ The 5 Spot - They have gorgeous women and spectacularly costumes charatcters. Then you can draw them for three hours! Grab a seat. More info here.

A 21st Century Ukulele Band:

Also, we're excited about all the wonderful fans that have joined us on Facebook. We want to encourage everybody to follow this link and join our group. It's a great way to keep informed about what The Ukedelics are up to: where we're playing next; see new videos that have been posted; and you can join the conversation. We love hearing from you.

You can also follow us on Twitter at this link. We'll usually post about upcoming events and maybe link to a photo or video or two.

Nashukes Meeting Tonight

2010-07-19T06:55:00.000-07:00

Time again for our monthly ukulele meeting. Come on out to Fanny's House of Music for some ukulele fun. Bring a song or two to share and a few printed copies to pass around. If you're stumped for song ideas check out the post below this one - follow the link to hundreds of great songs that have already been tabbed out and are ready to print.

Meeting starts at 6pm and goes until 7:30ish.

Great Ukulele Tab Site

2010-06-30T19:44:00.000-07:00

Check out this great Ukulele Tab site, it's chock full of great songs with chord charts, transposing tables, "secret" ukulele chords and lots of other fun uke stuff.

Richard G's Uke Songs

Nashukes Tonight 6-21-2010

2010-06-21T11:25:00.001-07:00

Hey Nashukers,

Our monthly uke meeting is tonight at Fanny's House of Music. We begin at 6pm and go until 7:30ish.
Bring a song or two to share (10 printed copies) and a music stand if you think you'll need one.

Hope to see you there,

Andy

Ukedelic Lapel Pin!

2010-06-08T19:46:00.000-07:00

Tim (the entrepreneurial Ukedelic) went and got these nifty lapel pins made of The Ukedelics logo. They came out pretty sweet. (we all love shiny objects!) Check out the website if you want to get one for yourself.

Wine Country Ukulele Festival

2010-05-11T18:51:00.000-07:00

If you're going to be in California this September, or you're looking for a ukulele themed vacation idea you might want to consider the Wine Country Ukulele Festival in St. Helena, California.
There will be plenty of uke music, contests, ukulele builders, and workshops. You can uke til you puke and then have a glass of wine.

Visit the website for more information: www.winecountryukefest.com

Next Nashukes Meeting: May 17th

2010-04-30T12:29:00.000-07:00

Hey Nashukers! The next meeting of Nashville's one and only ukulele social club is just around the corner. If the weather is nice we'll be strumming on the porch at Fanny's, so bring a song or two to share and a music stand if you have one.
Things get started at 6pm and we go until 7:30ish.

Next Nashukes Meeting Monday April 19th

2010-04-09T12:32:00.000-07:00

Hey Nashukers - Our next meeting is coming up on the 19th. I don't have a "theme" for this months meeting but we won't let that stop us from kickin' out the ukulele jams. Just bring a song or two to share and about 10 printed copies to pass around. We meet at Fanny's House of Music - meeting starts at 6 and goes until about 7:30ish.

I would also suggest bringing a music stand if you have one. See you on the 19th.

Andy

March 15th Meeting at Fanny's House of Music

2010-03-09T14:58:00.000-08:00

We're scheduled to have out next meeting of The Nashville Ukulele Society on March 15th and we'll be holding it at our new home: Fanny's House of Music!! The great folks at Fanny's have invited us to meet at their shop. Thank you Fanny's!
Bring a song or two - preferably something that is in the spirit of the St. Patrick's Day holiday. An Irish tune or any tune that has an Irish connection (i.e. U2, Van Morrison) is the idea. Whatever you bring please make sure you print out about 10 copies to share.

Feb 22nd Meeting Canceled

2010-02-22T06:26:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry to have to do this twice in one month but due to illness I'm canceling the Feb 22nd meeting. We'll resume "normal" Nashukes activities in March.
You can still bring any songs you had prepared for the February meeting to the March meeting but be sure to add an Irish song or two as well.

See you in March.

February Meeting - Meeting Canceled!! See Post Above.

2010-02-10T20:10:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines Nashukers! Yes, the Nashukes are still having monthly meetings and Yes we had a January meeting, it was on the 18th and I forgot to post any information on here about it. Sorry for that but sometimes this blog slips from my mind.
The February meeting is GO for launch; however, due to scheduling conflicts I am going to have to push it out a week. The next meeting will be Monday, Feb. 22nd at my house from 6 - 7:30. The "theme" will be Love so bring a song or two (or three or four or a hundred or a thousand) that has something to do with Love - or not. This is just a suggestion. But please do bring something to share and at least 10 printed copies to pass around to other folks.

If you'd like to be added to the Nashukes email updater list just send an email to:

nashukes@gmail.com

See you on the 22nd.

Jingle Bell Jam at the Nashukes Christmas Party 2009

2009-12-24T06:00:00.000-08:00

Nashukes Annual Christmas Party

2009-12-15T20:05:00.000-08:00

It's time for the Nashville Ukulele Society Annual Christmas shindig. The festivities are set for December 19th at 6pm. It's a potluck affair so bring a dish or two to share (one savory, one sweet or one of each). Incidentally, there will be no regularly scheduled Nashukes meeting this month since we're having the Christmas party. But be sure to bring your ukulele because there will be some uke playing happening. RSVP with an email to the founder (that's me, Andy) - nashukes@gmail.com

Happy Holidays!

Pucker Up - A Ukedelics Original

2009-11-17T07:44:00.000-08:00

The Ukedelics show off their ukulele skills on this original song written by band members Todd Elgin & Andy Hudson.
The Ukedelics are the performing extension of The Nashville Ukulele Society; quite possibly Nashville's only, but most certainly Nashville's biggest, ukulele band.

A Kiss From a Rose

2009-11-08T09:41:00.000-08:00

Instrumentalist Kalei Gamiao playing his arrangement of Seal's "Kiss From a Rose" from the movie Batman Forever.

I just stumbled onto this guy and think he's really good and wanted to spread the word. Crazy old internet is full of hidden treasure like this. Go to his youtube channel and check out some of his other videos.

Next Nashukes Meeting Nov. 16th

2009-11-04T12:02:00.000-08:00

The theme this month will be T.V. theme songs and even catchy commercials, so start googling the internet for your favorites.

If you can't think of or find anything, try to pick songs about T.V., or at the very least, bring a song or two to share with everyone. And don't forget to bring a few printed copies to pass around.

The meeting place might be the same place (my house) but I will let you know if that changes as we get closer to the 16th.

Dent May

2009-10-28T11:42:00.000-07:00

How did I miss this one? Dent May and his Magnificent Ukulele live at The End this past Monday night. Oh well, even if I had known about it I had the Nashukes meeting to host. Maybe we could get him to show up at a Nashukes meeting the next time he's in town.

October Meeting

2009-10-13T14:02:00.000-07:00

Due to scheduling conflicts I am moving the October meeting to the fourth Monday of the month - that would be the 26th. Please be sure to bring a song or two to share (and a few copies to pass around). And since it's Fall and Halloween is just around the corner let's learn a few songs of the season - Spooky and Monster Mash come to mind.
We will be meeting at my house again so just email the Nashukes folks for the address if you haven't been here before - nashukes@gmail.com

See you on the 26th!

Andy

Wedding Ukes

2009-10-09T08:57:00.000-07:00

The Ukedelics played a wedding at Cheekwood a couple of weekends ago. The ceremony was held in the herb garden at sunset. It's a beautiful spot styled like an old ruin, surrounded by remnants of Greek columns.

It was an honor to be asked to be a part of the young couple's very special day. We played a few songs from our regular set while guests were arriving, then performed The Beatles' "I Will" and, of course, the version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" made famous by Israel Kamakawiwo Ole'.

It was also the first time we played "Fly Me to the Moon" out. A great addition to our set list. Todd Elgin on vocals & killer uke solo. Andy & Anita notice the birds a-chirpin' a bit into the song. The rhythm section drives this song. A jet flies over at the end. It was so much fun. Hope we bring them good luck.

"Fly Me to the Moon" is a popular standard song written by Bart Howard in 1954. It was titled originally "In Other Words", and was introduced by Felicia Sanders in cabarets. The song became known popularly as "Fly Me to the Moon" from its first line, and after a few years the publishers changed the title to that officially.

No Meeting for September

2009-09-18T11:26:00.000-07:00

Aloha!

I'm sorry to say that The Nashville Ukulele Society will not be meeting this month due to a very heavy Ukedelics schedule. The performing extension of the Uke Society has been extra busy and with two big shows coming up fast we have to squeeze in a few extra practices where we can. And since I'd like to keep my marriage from falling apart due to too many ukulele related interruptions, I think it would be best to take a month off and reconvene in October.
Be thinking of songs that might be in the spirit of Halloween - 'Spooky' comes to mind. Feel free to get creative with that theme and next months meeting will be a lot of fun.

See you in October.

Andy

Play Ukulele By Ear

2009-08-27T19:15:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting and helpful site.
www.playukulelebyear.blogspot.com

Nashukes Website is Temporarily Down

2009-08-17T21:11:00.000-07:00

Hey there uke enthusiasts - the Nashville Ukulele Society website is currently (and temporarily) down while we iron out a few kinks with the web hosting. I'm attempting to transfer the domain to a new web hosting service but have run into a bit of a snag. It looks as though the domain has been locked by either the old web host or the registrar and I'm awaiting a response from the former as to the status and future of the aforementioned domain.
I hope to have the website back up and running as soon as possible; however, if you need or want information about the Nashukes or you would like to be added to the Nashukes email update list please send an email to nashukes@gmail.com.

Night Out Against Crime

2009-08-10T10:48:00.000-07:00

It was a real crime if you missed the Ukedelics performing at Night Out Against Crime in Green Hills on August 4th. (but we'll pardon you if you did.)

The Green Hills event was organized by Keller Williams affiliate broker Marcie Sweet, and was part of National Night Out, a program designed to bring civic groups, citizens, law enforcement and communities together. In addition to music from the Ukedelics, there was face painting for the kids, martial arts/self-defense demonstrations and free food from local favorites such as Donut Den, Kalamatas, Nero's Grill, Noshville Deli, Roma's Pizza and Zoë's Kitchen.

Despite thunderstorms looming on the horizon, the rain held off just long enough and everyone had a really fun night out. Let's do it again next year!

Blue Hawaii

2009-06-25T05:56:00.000-07:00

The Ukedelics featuring the vocal stylings of John Krauss doing Blue Hawaii. There is a special magic that John brings to the Ukedelics. Let the music speak for itself.

McKendree Luau

2009-06-17T05:02:00.000-07:00

Great Ukedelics gig at McKendree Retirement Village! An elderly lady in a wheelchair sang along to several of our songs. Afterwards she told us, with a twinkle in her eye and song in her voice, that it was the best time she had had in months. It was a good day.

It was our most ambitious set list to date. For the first hour we plowed through 15 Hawaiian tunes and then moved inside for our standard set list. It was great to have an audience that grew up with many of the songs we do. A few got the urge to get up and hula dance with us. Fun!

The Hawaii State Society Ukulele Workshop

2009-04-19T19:52:00.000-07:00

The Hawaii State Society of Washington DC presents a Slack Key Guitar and Ukulele Music Weekend Workshop featuring Grammy artists Keoki Kahumoku (slack key), Herb Ohta, Jr. (ukulele), Grammy nominee Keale (music and culture), and Hawaiian language, voice, and hula artist Darci Baker (Hawaiian mele and voice). Here are some details: Workshop classes include Basic and Intermediate instructions in Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar and/or Ukulele, private one-on-one or one-on-small group sessions, and Hawaiian jam (kanikapila) sessions with the artists. Singing and understanding Hawaiian music is important, so there will also be workshops in voice and the culture behind some of the music where you will gain a deeper appreciation of Hawaiian culture through its music and stories. Open to teens and adults. Date: Friday, Saturday and Sunday, October 9-11 Place: Northern Virginia Community College, Ernst Cultural Community Center Cost: $425 Includes 3 days of workshops, jam sessions, 8 meals, and front row concert ticket. Details on registration and complete schedule can be found at The Hawaii State Society website: Go to The Hawaii State Society website

Wish You Were Here! --Rockfish Stu

2009-04-12T15:13:00.000-07:00

A tropical postcard comes to animated life as a happy-go-lucky beach comer has a run-in with a crabby local.

This is a short I've been working on for longer than I want to admit (off and on, of course ... I'm sure everyone is familiar with the way that goes.) It started as a way to experiment with combining 2D animation with claymation and photographic backgrounds. It's animated in Flash and edited in Final Cut Express.

Rockfish Stu is a character loosely based on my friend Sid. (I don't even know what that nickname means, but I've always thought it had a ring to it.) He recorded his VO sitting in on the commode at his house on Maui then emailed the files to me here in Nashville. Bless the internet!

Rockfish's ukulele is actually a vintage 1930' Hilo that I purchased on eBay several years ago. I photographed it without the strings so I could put animated strings on it.

I believe that is koa wood on the front and back and mahogany on the sides. It has a great sound but the frets are kind of tall and it's a little harder to play than some of my other ukes. I LOVE the logo though. It was worth it just for that. (this was another era of Hilo's history--they don't make them like this anymore.)

I got fed up with having so much done on this short and yet it would still be another year, at the least, to finish the entire story as written, so I found a convenient stopping point and called it done. Not the most satisfying solution since there's a lot of cool stuff that was going to happen in the second half but life and other projects were pushing this further and further into the distance. Ah well, one day I'll either finish the entire "vision" or absorb some of those ideas into something else.

Moonlight In Vermont (in TN)

2009-02-18T13:14:00.000-08:00

A fireside serenade: A lovely rendition of Moonlight In Vermont by The Ukedelic's secret weapon, Michael Timme (the Shy One). I can only dream of playing this well. (I'd play even worse in that setting since I'd have to be wearing my mittens.) His ukulele camping adventures have always seemed like a lot of fun, but that's a little cold for me.

Ukulele Lady

2009-01-22T08:08:00.000-08:00

Well, although this is not a great performance--and not even the entire song--it is kind of fun. Plus, we're always struggling to come up with interesting blog posts so I'm throwing it up here. This is a video birthday card for my friend Dana. If the hula moves look familiar, that is Betty Boop's body lifted from one of her cartoons. (in fact, the one which contains the very first appearance of an animated Popeye.)

For the big uke nerds out there, I'm playing a Kala Pineapple Ukulele. It was a gift from a client of mine; one of the nicest presents I've ever gotten. I think it has a nice sound and it's a lot of fun to play.

And while I'm on the topic of this song, I've got to give some love to one of my favorite versions of Ukulele Lady; it's from the Muppet Show:

Ukedelics at Eastwood Christian

2009-01-05T10:31:00.000-08:00

The Ukedelics were asked to perform some Christmas songs at Eastwood Christian Church on January 4. At first we were puzzled, thinking that we would get a lot of strange looks from people for playing Christmas music in January, but then Pastor Jay reminded us that for the Church the Christmas season extends to Jan. 6. (so we had time to spare.)

We played Mele Kalikimaka followed by What Child Is This at the start of the service. Then we performed Silent Night Hawaiian-style for the Offertory music. That song featured our newest member, Casey "Bliss" Dugan, in her Ukedelics debut.

Eastwood has a beautiful sanctuary (with GREAT acoustics, ideal for ukuleles) and the congregation was a great audience, rewarding us with warm applause and positive comments after the service. We enjoyed being there and I'm sure we'll do it again.

Christmas Show at the Downtown Library

2008-12-15T12:16:00.000-08:00

We really enjoyed playing in the main rotunda at the downtown Nashville public library this Saturday. The acoustics were amazing--this might have been the best we ever sounded. (Maybe the architects didn't know it but they designed the place for the ukulele.) It's always fun when there are kids around. They get into it and dance around, even to the old songs (which is most of them).

It was a short show so, once again, it went by too fast. This event prompted us to work up some Holiday tunes on semi-short notice, but we had such a good time with it (let's face it, Christmas songs are really fun) that I expect we'll have an extended program ready to go next year and you can look forward to Christmas Ukedelics-style.

Ukedelics.com

2008-10-10T11:42:00.000-07:00

Oh, yeah, I'm not sure if we've mentioned this here on the blog yet or not, but there is now an official Ukedelics website, www.ukedelics.com. It's our home on the web where people can find out more about the band, listen to some sample music, view photos and video and keep informed about upcoming events. Click on Contact to send us a message and, if you want, sign up for the e-mailing list. See you there!

New Book on the way!

2008-08-31T11:49:00.000-07:00

I just saw an announcement on Amazon that a new Beatles songbook for Ukulele will be released soon: Click HERE to pre-order.
I'm pretty excited about this (even though I'm sure most of the songs are available on the internet... and I think they could have done a much better job with the cover art!)

The Ukedelics visit Springwater again.

2008-08-20T14:40:00.000-07:00

The performing extension of The Nashville Ukulele Society - The Ukedelics - once again took to the stage at Nashville's premier supper club and musical venue, Springwater. We started things off with a middle eastern influenced, psychedelic jam while we waited for one of our members to arrive. Not sure how the audience liked that number. They were very quiet, but maybe they were, like, one with the universe man. It's hard to say since we couldn't see their faces due to the blinding stage lights and we jumped right into All of Me without stopping - so what were they clapping for? At least no one got up and left. It was a bit of an odd mix - jaw harp, a wash tub bass made to sound like a Tabla, and three ukuleles all doing something different (but in the same key).
We had to make some last minute changes to our set list due to time constraints, but we rallied and plowed ahead without complaint. [I don't have a copy of the altered set list and my memory is failing me at the moment - so I can't offer a "blow by blow" of the ukulele show].
After the show one of the regulars who saw us perform there in July commented that we sounded much stronger this time than we did last time. He said we were more confident and played with authority. He also said we were totally awesome and that he had never heard anything so great in his entire life and he might as well just rip off his ears now because everything else he listened to from this point on was just total dirt in comparison. Well, it might have been the beer talking, but I think that fella really liked us. That was just enough to swell our heads and cause everyone to have another round of Yuengling.

While there were no shouts for an encore this time there was certainly a lot of positive comments from the folks in there after we finished our set (and a pretty good sized crowd had settled into what was an almost empty room).
We'll be back Springwater!

Mr. Fancy Pants

2008-08-11T15:34:00.000-07:00

Another Youtube discovery: this girl (don't know her name) obviously realized that the many takes of her struggling to get the song right were more entertaining than the actual song (although, it's a cute song). Despite the flubs, you can tell that she's really very talented.

Ukedelics on the Lawn

2008-08-02T13:46:00.000-07:00

The Ukedelics opened the Music on the Lawn event this past Thursday, held at Woodland Presbyterian Church in East Nashville. The set was short but sweet. This might have been the last one in the series for the Summer, but it will be back next year and so will we.

It was one of the most enjoyable performances we've done so far; the weather cooperated and the rain stayed away. It's a great way to hold a concert: a lawn full of families relaxing on blankets; kids playing (and dancing to ukulele music); and you can't argue with free ice cream!

Per a late request (I guess we DO take requests), Andy sang Dr. Seuss's Happy Birthday To Little Sally Spingle Spungle Sporn for Luke, a little audience member who just turned five. He seemed to dig it and didn't notice that some of us were faking knowing the song.

Captured here (from the grassy knoll) is a little video of Todd doing his thing. Don't let anybody tell you a ukulele can't swing.

Nashville Downtown Library

2008-07-27T08:50:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, July 19th, The Nashville Ukulele Society presented The Ukedelics at the downtown library. We played a little concert outside in the courtyard--a beautiful open space up on the 2nd floor. It already looks like a resort out there; the sweet and gentle sounds of a ukulele serenade completed the illusion.

There isn't a formal stage out there, so we were standing on the same level as the audience. This led to children walking among us, but it was o.k. with us as long as they were dancing to the music. The breeze also took off with our sheet music a few times. It was fun overall!

It was great to have our fearless leader Andy back from vacation--tanned and in tune. This was our longest show yet and we pushed beyond our core set with a few surprises. I liked getting Ukulele Lady out there--we haven't practiced that one as a group, but everyone jumped on it and I think it sounded great. My favorite, though, was probably Todd and Anita's swinging version of Girl From Ipanema. That has got to become a regular part of the set.

Many thanks to Anita's friend Carol for the photos. (there are more on her shutterfly account--I'll post a link to them later if I get clearance.)

More shows are coming up this Summer. You can keep up about dates for performances and other Society meetings at www.nashukes.com.

"Ukedelics" at The Springwater

2008-07-13T12:21:00.001-07:00

The Nashville Ukulele Society presents The Ukedelics!
A group of us performed out at The Springwater in Nashville this weekend. (we sorely missed Andy but we understand that the beach takes priority.) We adopted the name Ukedelics for the night, just to try it on for size. Who knows who we'll be the next time out?

The Springwater is an unassuming little joint tucked away behind the McDonalds next to Centennial Park. It's home to cold beers, a couple of pool tables and a small stage where you can sometimes stumble upon some amazing writers and performers. Saturday night was one of those typical open mic nights where the audience is mostly regulars--other performers waiting their turn to get up and do their sets. Everybody that went on ahead of us--all of whom sounded great--were the usual guitar-driven band arrangement. They also all seemed to know one another. A ukulele band was a new experience for them.

We had no idea what that crowd was going to think of us. Like you might expect, we started off with a Hawaiian number; Keep Your Eyes on the Hands. (my apologies guys for deciding to change the ending five minutes before we went on! But it worked.) The audience really got into it; hooting and cheering. Next, we switched gears and Michael gave them his swinging instrumental version of The Lady is a Tramp, with Todd backing him up on bass. I could hear a few people in the audience go, "Whoa!" That's when the crowd realized they were getting something more than just some cute and corny Hula songs.

We ended with Tonight you Belong to Me, which features Jill, Karen and Anita, but we heard shouts of "more!" so we encored with The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. We were having so much fun and the crowd was so warm and enthusiastic that the whole set went too fast. (I almost fell off the stage, but didn't, so that was great, too.)

Someone told me afterward, "The Ukedelics have a new home at the Springwater...please come back!" Nice to know that we're welcome. I have a feeling we'll take them up on the offer.

Frankie and Johnny

2008-05-07T11:31:00.000-07:00

More from the Lockland Fiesta. Wish I'd started recording sooner...I missed the first verse. My apologies for the video quality--this was shot with my still camera in video mode, which isn't that bad in the original first generation, but youtube compresses the ying-yang out of it. The wind noise is also a problem for the little built-in microphone, but otherwise I think the guys sound darn good, jamming on something they never played before.

The Lady is a Tramp

2008-05-04T19:06:00.000-07:00

Just a little taste of the Nashville Ukulele Society in action (or some of us) performing at the Lockland Elementary Fiesta. The weather was beautiful, and although we were the best kept secret there (we were a little off of the beaten path), it was still a fun day and I'm looking forward to coming back next year.

UkuleleBrit

2008-05-01T10:20:00.000-07:00

Go figure those logarithms these sites use to "figure you out". Youtube suggested this to me as a video I might be interested in. It was right. (like I needed another ukulele phenom to make me feel bad about my own playing.)

This is Brittni Paiva, from Hilo, Hawaii. Although, Over The Rainbow belongs to the incomparable Iz, (sorry Judy Garland) this version is a different approach and so nicely done that you might find you can't live without both versions.

Check out her other videos, too. I've been impressed with everything so far.

RIP Nona Beamer

2008-04-11T09:58:00.001-07:00

One of the great proponents of Hawaiian music and culture has passed away. Nona Beamer was the mother of slack-key guitarist Keola Beamer and the founder of the Aloha Music Camp.

http://www.comcast.net/music/articles/2008/04/11/Obit.Beamer/

Blue Red and Grey

2008-03-26T06:44:00.000-07:00

Pete Townshend has long been one of my heroes, and I've always especially loved this song, even before I ever thought of learning to play the ukulele. (I'm charmed AND dismayed by his having to wear reading glasses...AND that he has to be reading the music, but it is an old song.) I have some chords for this somewhere that I can dig up (they're in a different key than he's playing here--again, with age, he's not singing as high as he used to--but I'm keen to try out the on-line transposer from the previous post).

Update: I did try the transposer--which works, except I think Pete has altered the chords a bit so it's not an exact transposition; it was close, but didn't match perfectly. I'll probably mess around with it eventually so I can post a version that will play along with the video better. In the meantime, here's the version I already had, which is in the key that the Who originally recorded it:

Blue Red and Grey

Automatic Chord Transposer

2008-03-11T09:23:00.001-07:00

Andy recently found this handy online tool for transposing songs into different keys. I thought it should be posted here for easy reference:

Chord Transposer

This can really help when you find that song you've been searching all over the net for but when you find it, it's not in a key that's comfortable for you (or that matches they key your harmonica is in).

I thought I should also add this link I found a while ago:

Chord Slide Rule

This is a pdf file you can print, cut out and have a transposing slide rule to carry around with you. It's also got a very informative chord builder on it.

ALERT: all MST3K Fans!

2008-01-21T10:59:00.000-08:00

Not exactly uke-related, but I believe it's pretty likely that fans of the ukulele are also going to be Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans (or should be)...and the other way around. Cinematic Titanic is something new from the original cast and writers of MST3K. (same concept, of course: they watch bad movies and make jokes about them.) They've just come out with their first release, The Oozing Skull. You can read more about it and see the trailer by clicking the image.

Because I am a huge MST3K enthusiast, and I like to support underdog types of ventures like this, I couldn't help contributing to their effort with some grassroots marketing. (I am just a fan and not connected to them in any way.)

Check it out, if this is your sort of thing. If you're unfamiliar with the concept, then look up MST3K episodes on YouTube and try it out.

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-20T17:53:00.000-08:00

This is an animated card I did for my office. I figured it's relevant to post it here because there's a uke in it. It's supposed to be elf versions of everyone in my office. (I'm the one with the...well you can figure it out.)

Click on the image to view the interactive version. Click on each band member to turn them on and off and play around with different instrument arrangements. (the uke, bass and sax work well together.)

Island Elves

2007-11-28T22:29:00.001-08:00

These must be very small Santa's helpers. Look at their scale compared to this concert 'Ukulele.
(More about the story here: http://starbulletin.com/2007/11/28/news/wild.html)

My Ukerific Vacation by: Terry Kinakin

2007-11-11T14:46:00.000-08:00

Hey Everybody - Terry emailed me this little story of his summer (2007) ukulele adventure and I thought you all might enjoy reading it as well. -haptown

My Ukerific Vacation

A year ago my wife, Lisa, had been talking with our friends Rae and Rob and had cooked up a Hawaiian vacation plan that would come true this summer of ’07. My best friend, Rob, is a guitar player from Yakima, and we had not seen them for a few years so we decided to do a cruise on board the “Pride Of Hawaii “that would last a week sailing around Hawaii and stopping at certain Islands.

Being a ‘uke player I immediately got on the internet to research the choices of “little instruments” available, can’t come home empty handed from one of the best places to buy ukuleles…Now this may sound like an easy task, but believe me it was a major undertaking. Of course when you are looking on line there are choices galore, but I really wanted to play them to hear that sweet Koa sound. The anticipation of being in Hawaii was intense, but finally the big day came and we were there boarding the ship in Oahu- No time to shop. The first night was spent on board sailing to Maui where I knew of a few stores (Bounty Music) that would carry some top name ‘ukes that I just had to try. As we de-boarded the ship I soon found the day to be full of “other things to do”, while you are in a group dynamic the world does not revolve around ukuleles to my surprise… What’s wrong with these people? I did find a prominent Uke shop on the way back to the ship and eventually played some great instruments but not the one that I was hoping would jump right out, slap my face and say, ” buy me”. To tell you the truth it was nice to keep looking since it was only the second day. We sailed for Hilo on the “Big Island”, there we took a bus tour and didn’t have enough time to explore ukeable possibilities. Oh well, “Good things come to those who wait” ran thru my head and the anticipation started to kill me…When we arrived in Kailua-Kona (same island, just around the other side), I had heard of a store that would carry lots of small wonders so I went by cab to check them out… again, nothing special, but good ukes none the less. The cab stayed so Rob and I could jump back in and head off to yet another store.

That is basically how the whole trip went until we got back to Oahu and our cruise part of the trip was over so we had to say farewell to our friends Rob and Rae…until next time. Our time on the “Pride of Hawaii” was truly an unforgettable experience, but no “on board” ‘uke shop…can you believe it?

Lisa and I stayed overnight in Honolulu and we had some time before our flight to Maui for one week of feet up R&R…No tours, just the good stuff, food! We rented a cab and had him take us to all the stores until we found one inside the Hyatt called, “Aloha Ukulele”. Here is where I told the cab driver not to wait. I saw a Koaloha Pineapple Sunday ‘uke and it was calling me by name. It was behind glass, all locked up and the lady was a little apprehensive to open it to just anybody as she asked if I played the ukulele. As soon as I heard the first chord on this wonderful instrument I knew it found me as much as I found it. The shop was full of great brands and I would highly recommend going there to avoid all the leg work I did (but that part is still a ton of fun). The next week in Maui was filled full of sand, sun, food and ukulele. When we got back to Honolulu I had wanted to go to the Koaloha factory to get Pops Koaloha to sign the inside of my Pineapple. When I got there he came out and graciously played a few tunes with me and signed my baby. He and his wife are so friendly, we had much conversation and laughter. Alvin wanted to show me the next ‘uke he was working on, The Sceptre”. This prototype he let me play was amazing, loud, tone, playability…it had everything! I asked if he was taking orders for them yet and he said I could even pick out the Koa wood! I was able to have him sign it on the raw inside and that it was the 1^st of the 1^st batch of Sceptres…Timing is everything! I had no idea I would be going home with a Pineapple and a Sceptre to follow.

The whole trip was a huge blessing we and our friends will never forget and to wrap it up with the “Koaloha” experience put it over the top. I was thinking about the word “overjoyed” as I was on my way to pick up the Sceptre as it just came in last week. “Joy” is one emotion that I feel at times but “overjoyed” is rare.

As I opened the box that the Sceptre was packed in, I opened the case and truly was amazed when I read on the small square note hanging from the neck, “I am overjoyed to present His instrument and perfect gift to us. Enjoy Sceptre”, Alvin ”Pops” Okami.

If you are looking for a ‘uke, it is a fun and truly adventurous time, don’t rush it, enjoy every moment, I wish you much joy in the journey! Remember, let the uke find you as well!

Ukely,

~Terry Kinakin

Visit Terry's MySpace page to hear him play "Pineapple Sunday" on his Pineapple Sunday.

A Visit From Manuel

2007-09-24T14:24:00.001-07:00

At last Wednesday's NUkeS meeting I was chatting with John and eating a sandwich when we were both approached by a tall friendly stranger. The stranger turned out to be Manuel Delgado, a third generation Luthier who recently moved to East Nashville from Los Angeles. I had heard it through the grapevine that he had moved here and I was hoping that I would get a chance to meet him so I could ask him if he makes ukuleles. Well my question was answered without having to ask it because Manuel just happened to have two recently completed ukuleles with him. I wish I had had my camera so I could post pics of them here because they were beautiful. One was solid, dark Mahogany and looked just like an old Martin and the other had some incredible inlay work and rope binding around the body - it reminded me of those lovely old Nunes, Dias, and Kumalae ukuleles of long ago.
Manuel hung around for a bit to chat but he had other things going on that evening so he couldn't stay and play uke with us, but hopefully he'll come back another time.
His web address is: www.delgadoguitars.com

Keep Your Eyes on the Hands

2007-09-05T10:50:00.000-07:00

Since it's been quiet on the blog lately, I thought I'd share this:

I want to be able to do THAT!

I grabbed this info from youtube:

Carl Ray VillaVerde, a Native Hawaiin has played ukulele and guitar for most of his life. He is a premier ukulele player that has performed with many groups over the years. He currently performs in a duet called Mango with wife Joannie and they have produced a number of audio productions. Downloads and CD's are available at CDBaby.

Mahalo!

2007-08-11T11:08:00.000-07:00

A big shout-out of thanks to Ted for pulling together the Luau at the Library. There were four of us there, mostly backing Ted's sonorous tenor vocals, and as someone who's got a standing conflict on the night of NUkeS's monthly meetings, I really appreciated getting to play with Ted, John and Carol. I think the kids and families enjoyed it, as they even got the chance to strum a few untuned, out-of-the-box ukes with us.

As a wise philosopher once said, "Keep your eyes on the hands!"

Aloha,
Shelton

Froggy Goes a Cutting

2007-07-18T11:32:00.000-07:00

An animated birthday card for a friend of mine (she likes frogs).

Click the image to see it.

I performed this on my new 6-string Pono. Honestly, I love the sound of it (not my singing, necessarily) but it came with a wound G string, tuned an octave down. I kind of miss the high G; it doesn't sound as much like a uke without that. I might try replacing the string and tuning it high (not sure how that will work with the 6 string arrangement--I'm unfamiliar with them. Can anybody out there (with experience with 6-stringers) offer thoughts/advice, etc...?

Shameless Self Promo: Ukulele Monkey!

2007-06-28T13:20:00.000-07:00

Okay, since nobody's posted in a couple of weeks, I thought I'd throw this one out there. I designed a couple of t-shirts and stuck 'em on Café Press.

Buy one if you like it, send me angry emails if you don't.

Mahalo!

- T

Maui show and tell

2007-05-31T16:53:00.000-07:00

I've dreamed of going to Hawaii for most of my life and my wife and I finally made the trip last week! We immediately took to calling it our "first" trip. We are lucky to have friends there to play tour guides (and be our own personal paparrazzi). It's great having someone to steer you to some sweet snorkeling spots the tourists can't find. If it weren't for my shiney, white legs, we could've passed for locals.

The weather and the ocean were beautiful and warm. We swam with turtles; munched on the freshest fruit in the world (ate guavas right off a tree growing wild out in a field)...and we saw a topless photo shoot on a hidden beach!!! (sorry, didn't get any pics of that ;>)

We hated to leave, but I have this to remind me of our adventure; a Pono 6-string tenor. I was in heaven at the music store. There were a hundred ukuleles hanging from the rafters. I played a lot of them but this one just caught my eye and ear. It really sings. (I'm new to a 6-stringer so I'll have to really practice and hopefully be worthy of it one day.)

A short bit of video, shot in the back yard of the place we stayed. Nice view, huh? (That's my buddy, Sid. He's playing guitar here, but since he just got a new uke--and he's originally from Nashville-- I consider him a long-distance member of the Nashville Ukulele Society.)

Oprah's Uke Club?!?

2007-04-17T13:38:00.000-07:00

I read this today on Ukulelia and I thought I would post it here. Grab your ukulele surfboards, the third wave will be cresting soon. and when the wave has crashed on the beach and the hords of 'would-be' ukesters have abandoned their ukes for the 'next thing', I'll still be holding onto my uke, ready for the next wave. -Andy

The entire ukulele community is abuzz with the news that Emmy Award winning TV host Oprah Winfrey has announced the launch of Oprah's Uke Club. According to the Oprah Alert announcement (registration required) made today, Oprah was inspired by the recent appearance of actor and uker William H. Macy on her show (see our previous story here).

Evidently, Macy was teaching Oprah a few basic chords on his Flea Ukulele after the show and happened to mention that TV pioneer Arthur Godfrey played, and how his 15 minute on-air uke lessons resulted in the ukulele's skyrocketing popularity in the 1950s (what is affectionately known as the "second wave" of the ukulele). Oprah was intrigued, and immediately got the staff at Harpo Productions to work on a concept.

Oprah's Uke Club will premiere in the fall, giving Winfrey's massive marketing machine time to ramp up for the big launch (she'll be giving away ukuleles to her studio audiences for the entire first week--book your tickets now!). Patterned after the phenomenally successful Oprah's Book Club, the Uke Club will feature Winfrey and guest performers (Macy will be back first, natch) performing duets, and Oprah will teach basic chords and strumming. It's currently only slated to be be a once-a-week feature, but if it proves popular, who knows!

Macy himself connected Oprah with ukemeister Jim Beloff, who suggested a collaboration with his brother-in-law's Magic Fluke Company, maker of the Flea and Fluke Ukuleles. If you're lucky enough to own a "Poi-ple Fluke," our guess is that you're now in possession of a genuine collector's item, as it will now be retired and soon re-released with a custom faceplate as the Oprah Fluke (shown above). Beloff will also be supporting the show with a co-branded songbook, Jumpin' Jim's Jammin' With Oprah, featuring songs from the Broadway musical adaptation of The Color Purple, which Winfrey also helped produce.

I'm sure it's too much to ask, but it would be cool if Wesley Willis's paean to Oprah was one of the tunes!

This might very well prove to be the catalyst the brings about the true resurgence of what has been, at least twice in the last 100 years, America's favorite instrument. More information at the Harpo Productions site. And here.

Good-Bye Don Ho

2007-04-17T13:32:00.000-07:00

From the Associate Press:

HONOLULU — Legendary crooner Don Ho, who entertained tourists for decades wearing raspberry-tinted sunglasses and singing the catchy signature tune "Tiny Bubbles," has died. He was 76.

He died Saturday morning of heart failure, publicist Donna Jung said.

Ho had suffered with heart problems for the past several years, and had a pacemaker installed last fall. In 2005, he underwent an experimental stem cell procedure on his ailing heart in Thailand.

Ho entertained Hollywood's biggest stars and thousands of tourists for four decades. For many, no trip to Hawaii was complete without seeing his Waikiki show — a mix of songs, jokes, double entendres, Hawaii history and audience participation.

Shows usually started and ended with the same song, "Tiny Bubbles." Ho mostly hummed the song's swaying melody as the audience enthusiastically took over the familiar lyrics: "Tiny bubbles/in the wine/make me happy/make me feel fine."

"I hate that song," he often joked to the crowd. He said he performed it twice because "people my age can't remember if we did it or not."

The son of bar owners, Ho broke into the Waikiki entertainment scene in the early 1960s and, except for short periods, never left. Few artists are more associated with one place.

"Hawaii is my partner," Ho told The Associated Press in 2004.

Donald Tai Loy Ho, who was Hawaiian, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and German, was born Aug. 13, 1930, in Honolulu and grew up in the then-rural countryside of Kaneohe.

In high school, he was a star football player and worked for a brief time in a pineapple cannery. After graduating in 1949, he attended Springfield College in Massachusetts on an athletic scholarship. He grew homesick, returned to the islands and ended up graduating from the University of Hawaii in 1953 with a degree in sociology.

Inspired by the U.S. military planes flying in and out of Hawaii during World War II, Ho joined the Air Force. As the Korean War wound down, he piloted transport planes between Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu and Tokyo.

When he returned home and took over his parents' struggling neighborhood bar, Honey's, he put together a band and started performing at his father's request.

"I had no intention of being an entertainer," Ho said. "I just played songs I liked from the radio, and pretty soon that place was jammed. Every weekend there would be lines down the street."

Honey's became a happening place on Oahu, with other Hawaiian musicians stopping in for jam sessions. Ho began to play at various spots in Hawaii, then had a breakout year in 1966, when appearances at the Coconut Grove in Hollywood helped him build a mainland following, and the release of "Tiny Bubbles" gave him his greatest recording success.

Soon he was packing places such as the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. Stars such as Lucille Ball, Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra were known to be in the audience for Ho's shows.

Ho also became a television star, and hosted the "The Don Ho Show" on ABC from 1976-77. One of Ho's most memorable TV appearances was a 1972 cameo on an episode of "The Brady Bunch."

"I've had too much fun all these years," he said in the 2004 interview. "I feel real guilty about it."

Gov. Linda Lingle said Ho created a legacy that will inspire future generations of musicians in Hawaii.

"Hawaii has lost a true island treasure," she said. "He laid the foundation for the international prominence Hawaii's music industry enjoys today."

Besides "Tiny Bubbles," his other well-known songs include "I'll Remember You," "With All My Love," and the "Hawaiian Wedding Song."

In the final years of his life, Ho's heart problems couldn't keep him away from the stage. He was back performing at the Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel on a limited schedule less than two months after his heart procedure in Thailand. His final performance was Thursday, Jung said.

Altered Baritone Part II

2007-04-11T14:10:00.000-07:00

I just wasn't satisfied with my baritone as it was (go here for Altered Baritone part I) and so I decided to make a few more changes to my $20 junk shop find.
As you can see from the photo I stripped the old finish off and refinished it - I used Beechwood Casey Tru-Oil gun stock finish. I also made a new nut and saddle for it (Honduran rosewood) and stripped the black paint off of the bridge (which I think is maple).
I added a birds eye maple veneer to the headstock and Grover Champion Banjo friction tuners (used - given to me by a friend) to replace the ugly El cheapo geared tuners that once resided there. I added a strap button to the bottom and a strap (mandolin strap).
I also added the pickgaurd. I had some extra pickgaurd material left over from a repair job I did on my Grandfathers old Gibson J50 (which I recently inherited), so I made this from the leftovers. I wanted to go bigger but I just didn't have enough material. I really wanted to have it up nearer the shoulder and extended down to where you see it in the photo. It's really just an affectation on this uke as I don't play with a pick and the pickgaurd is not in line with where I strum the uke - but it looks cool.
At some point in the not to distant future I'm going to take the top off of this uke and replace it with a solid mahogany top, or perhaps a solid western red cedar top.
This uke used to be a Hilo, but you'll never find a Hilo that looks like this, and since I have altered this uke to the point where it is no longer recognizable as a Hilo, by sight or by sound, I have pasted my own label inside the sound hole.
It looks pretty darn good in this photo but there are a couple of little flaws that occurred during the refinish process. They do not affect the sound or playability but they do make me kick myself for having made those mistakes. Oh well. It's alright, I'm going to alter it again, I'm sure.

Oh yeah, I also just finished building my ukulele side bender.

Due to many other things going on in my life, this project was repeatedly put on hold, but it's finally finished and I am almost ready to start production of my second ukulele (the first was done in Indiana under the guidance of my former uke building instructor Geoff Davis of Hoosier Maid Ukuleles).

why am I posting this?

2007-04-07T18:44:00.000-07:00

It was just before midnight. I was feeling like I should acknowledge my friend's birthday and if I posted before 12 I wouldn't technically be late. I ran through it once and seemed to remember all the words, but when I started recording, my brain turned to tofu.

I suppose I could have done it one more time and edited a little, but the clock was ticking and I decided it was funnier this way. It also can serve as a lesson: another uker friend has repeatedly told me this, "practice slowly, again and again until eventually the song will be programmed in your mind (the chord progressions become second nature--you're basically playing them without thinking). If you practice too fast, you will program in the mistakes." Guilty.

Jake's Nashville Tix on Sale!

2007-04-01T18:44:00.000-07:00

In a follow up on the post from a few months ago, the tickets for Jake's concert in Nashville are now on sale.

Click here to purchase your seats!

Hope to see you there!

Ukulele Bringing Peace to Uganda

2007-03-20T06:47:00.000-07:00

This story was in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin. It's about how one woman, Davida Price, goes to war-torn areas of Uganda and teaches music to children who know nothing except war.

Read the full article here.
Very Inspiring.

Uke on Oprah.

2007-03-14T05:58:00.000-07:00

I found this via the blog for Fretboard Journal, an acoustic-instrument quarterly magazine. Enjoy!

News from Kona

2007-03-12T18:14:00.000-07:00

From the Honolulu Advertiser. Sat. March 10:

Kona robbery leads to 3 arrests

Three men are in police custody in connection with a robbery Thursday night in Kailua-Kona.

A 14-year-old boy reported at 1:20 a.m. Friday that he had been robbed about three hours earlier at the Coconut Grove Marketplace on Ali'i Drive.

Preliminary investigation by Kona patrol officers determined that three men confronted the boy at 11:30 p.m. Thursday and forcibly took an 'ukulele and a small amount of cash.

Shortly after police responded, they located the suspects on Kuakini Highway near Kalawa Street and recovered the 'ukulele.

Police arrested two men ages 20 and 22 — both from Kaimuki, O'ahu — and a 19-year-old man from Hayward, Calif.

The three men are being held at the Kealakehe police cellblock pending charges while Kona detectives continue the investigation.

Interview with Jake

2007-03-10T08:48:00.000-08:00

Here is an interview with Jake Shimabukuro.

Some great insights, yeah? It was done at that same famous session where he introduced us to "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" in Central Park. If you want to hear that bit, just do a search on YouTube.

And here he is playing "Close to You".

Excuse me now. I have to go practice.

A Few Minutes With A 'Blockbuster' Ukulele Player

2007-03-06T20:29:00.000-08:00

BY JIM SCHAEFER

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

So you have a job hawking videos at Blockbuster. You could trudge to work and daydream about the career you'll start once you get a college degree.

Or you could bring a ukulele, and wander store aisles strumming perky songs, whistling along when not answering questions about the latest Bond movie. You could be grateful for the health care the part-time job provides as you work a second job, raise a family and chase that degree.

We caught up with Paul Keiser, 32, at a Woodward Blockbuster in Royal Oak.

QUESTION: What's your deal, man?

ANSWER: I brought in the ukulele on a night that it was slow. I just dug it out of my closet after having it hidden for a while. And figured I'd play around with it and see if I could come up with any songs.

Q: What's the reaction of customers?

A: I would say 99.9% really, really like it. Then there's the .1% of more quiet, reserved customers who just want to get in, get their movie and get out.

Q: Has anyone, straight up, told you to shut the hell up?

A: No. I've gotten relayed a couple of comments from one or two customers.

Q: Like what?

A: Just basically calling me obnoxious. And one or two have called me annoying. Obnoxious I can take and I'll admit to ... I just write it off to people who have had a very long work day.

Q: What would you do if your high school sweetheart walked in and saw you doing this?

A: Actually, I went to Dondero (High School), just down the street. I get a lot of my classmates coming in here from time to time, and it's not my favorite thing. (Laughs).

Q: Do you have any favorite songs?

A: Generally, stuff from comedy movies. I'll do Monty Python stuff, "Blue Shadow" from "Three Amigos" ... I even learned how to play "Dancing Queen" by Abba.

Q: You play "Dancing Queen"?

A: It's pretty pathetic. ... I'll get a couple of chuckles and a couple of rolled eyes.

Q: Tell me why you do it?

A: The chance to just come in here and be myself, and have fun. ... I know a lot about movies. And it's fun to be appreciated for that knowledge.

Q: So what famous ukulele player have you dedicated your life to?

A: Oh, to be honest, the only ukulele player that comes to mind is Tiny Tim. ... And, yes, I can sing "Tip Toe Through the Tulips."

Terry Kinakin Gets An Ukulele Gig!!

2007-03-01T10:20:00.000-08:00

One of NUkeS own, Terry Kinakin, will be performing on his ukulele in Brentwood at a private party March 3rd!! And it's a real paying uke gig!!
I was contacted by a woman yesterday who was looking for a uke player - thankfully she found my contact information posted on the Fleamarket Music website - and I was able to get the word out to everyone on my mailing list.
Terry - please let us know how it goes. And don't forget to spread the word about the Nashville Ukulele Society :)

‘It’s like a little friend’

2007-02-27T17:57:00.000-08:00

Once seen as uncool, the ukulele enjoys mainstream resurgence.

Andrew Dansby

HOUSTON CHRONICLE

HOUSTON — For a little instrument, the ukulele carries a lot of baggage. The four-stringed member of the guitar family was tuned for decades to the most uncool connections and connotations in popular culture: dwarfed by the 1960s novelty act Tiny Tim, blinded by the bright Hawaiian shirts worn by Don Ho and smothered by the cleavage of cheesecake models posed on postcards. In short: It wasn’t considered a utensil for hip musicians.

The uke, though, is in different hands now — and enjoying a peculiar renaissance:

• Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam has an entire album of ukulele music (although he doesn’t plan to release it).

• The uke is heard on recordings by acts such as Jack Johnson, Jens Lekman, Nickel Creek and Andy Partridge.

• Family-oriented artist and former rocker Dan Zanes sells a uke on his Web site.

• Stephin Merritt, frontman for the alt-pop Magnetic Fields, plays only a uke on tour. Their albums, too, make great use of the ukulele, which has inspired a pair of Merritt songs — Ukulele Me! and This Little Ukulele.

• Bruce Springsteen is known to have recently played a uke onstage.

"It’s not perceived as a silly instrument anymore," said Jason Verlinde, editor and publisher of the Ukulele Occasional (with two issues printed in the past three years) and the more regular Fretboard Journal.

"You’re seeing it at more music stores. And the nice thing about it: The ukulele is the one instrument at a music store that you’re never too intimidated to pick up."

The most popular uke lore pinpoints the instrument’s birth as 1879. Traditional Portuguese stringed instruments mutated into the uke in Hawaii by immigrants who worked in sugar-cane fields.

The most popular account pegs the word ukulele as the native term for "jumping fleas" — an observation made about how one of the immigrants played the uke.

The instrument caught on stateside about 1915 and became a favorite with Tin Pan Alley songwriters.

The uke’s popularity waxed and waned, dropping in the 1930s, coming back in the ’50s with TV host Arthur Godfrey, then drifting into novelty songs in the ’60s.

Martin, the instrument company that once made more ukeleles than guitars, eventually ceased ukulele production.

But the uke never became uncool in Hawaii, where it remained the basis for lovely music largely untainted by mainland pop.

And even at its lowest points, the instrument made shy appearances in mainstream pop culture.

At least half the Beatles were uke enthusiasts. Three songs on George Harrison’s final album featured ukulele, and Paul McCartney, whose 1971 album Ram proudly showcased the instrument on a few songs, did a uke tribute to Harrison on his 2002 tour.

Harrison loved the uke.

"It sounds kind of corny, but (playing ukulele) gave him so much joy," his friend Tom Petty told Rolling Stone in 2001. "I was there when he first discovered it. The rest of his life was ukulele. He played the hell out of the thing."

Years after leaving the hardrocking Del Fuegos, Dan Zanes found a second life making family music. His main instrument is mandolin, but he also plays ukulele.

The uke’s simplicity and price — a starter model costs less than $50 — make it appealing, he said.

The Guinness Book of Records once cited the ukulele as the world’s easiest instrument to learn — a point that Zanes echoed.

"It only takes 10 minutes to learn how to play Sloop John B or Jamaica Farewell."

Something about the uke’s simple, small shape and simple, sweet sound is endearing. Unlike the guitar, it lends itself to strumming as you walk around the house; it doesn’t smother conversation.

"It’s like a little friend," said Nickel Creek’s Sara Watkins, who played a custom-made uke nightly on a 2006 tour.

"You can hide in a corner and play, it’s so unintrusive. It’s really useful for those kinds of songs when you’re hiding within yourself."

In the uke’s pop revival, that sadness comes through; its current vogue is distinctly different from the novelty peaks of its past.

Vedder’s album was, according to a source who heard it, largely informed by his split from his wife.

Merritt’s songs fuse big melodies with romantic melancholy.

Similarly, Harrison’s swan song, while upbeat in parts, was recorded after he learned he had terminal cancer.

At 99, the so-called Duke of Uke, Bill Tapia, has outlived most of his friends and family. He says playing helped him get past the deaths of his wife and daughter.

"The ukulele is a powerful instrument," he said. "It hardly leaves my hands."

Ukulele Playing Lego Robot

2007-02-26T16:58:00.000-08:00

I stumbled upon this webpage while surfing the net this evening. At first I thought it was a joke but these college kids from Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont have really designed, built and programmed a ukulele playing robot. Their names are Mike and Jarvis and you can read more about it here.

Ukulele Noir

2007-02-23T13:21:00.000-08:00

Craig Robertson is the founder of Ukulele Noir, which started as an open mic night which Craig was hosting. Craig writes:

I was hosting an open mic at the Sky Bar and more and more ukulele players showed up. So it just naturally evolved. The first Noir was going to be just a one time thing. But it was so much fun and so many more wanted to play that I kept it going. The next one will be number 24! Yow. Other than sex and beer, I don't do anything 24 times in a row. It's been a challenge.

One of these days I'm going to make the trip up to Boston for one of these shows.

NUkeS on the Prowl in East Nashville

2007-02-23T12:46:00.000-08:00

The Nashville Ukulele Society, in conjunction with Mothers Helping Others, made their third public appearance today at Cornelia House Nursing Home, located in East Nashville. Tim, Tom and I arrived a little early and played a couple of tunes in the hallway for the residents which seemed to go over quite well. There were lots of smiles and I believe I heard a smattering of applause. When the Moms and the children arrived we followed Ms. Rita around the building to visit with anyone whose birthday was this month. We sang a Dr. Seuss song titled "Happy Birthday to Little Sally Spingle Spungle Sporn" and the children handed out home made birthday cards.

My favorite moment was when we visited with this sweet little old lady named Carrie. She was so excited to see all of us and to have us sing to her but she especially loved having all of the children around her. She was pinching cheeks and squeezing hands and giving hugs to all of them. And then I heard her say to one of the Moms "nobody remembered my birthday, nobody did . . . but you all did, you all remembered."

We will be getting together with Mothers Helping Others again in March (not sure of the date yet) to sing the Seuss birthday song so if you couldn't make it this time I hope you'll be able to next time - it's really a lot of fun.

Cool Music Books on eBay!

2007-02-23T06:08:00.000-08:00

If any of you are interested in classic 20's & 30's ukulele music (and who among us isn't), check out this link to eBay: (click here).
Three, count 'em THREE Ukulele Ike songbooks. They look in excellent condition, too! As of this posting on Friday morning, the bid is at $30.00. The auction ends on March 2 at 1:36 Central Time.
If a member of the Nashville Ukulele Society wins this auction, you are required to bring these books to the next meeting to show them off to the rest of us!!

If you are unfamiliar with Ukulele Ike (aka Cliff Edwards), he was a popular ukulele virtuoso, and the voice of Jiminy Cricket in Disney's "Pinnochio".

Altered Baritone Part I

2007-02-22T07:50:00.000-08:00

A few weekends ago I took my cheap ($20 junk shop find) Hilo baritone down off the wall and started plunking away on it. It just sounded so flat and dead and I've never been able to embrace the baritone sound like I have the standard C-tuning of the soprano, concert and tenor. So I decided to to do something about it.
At first I thought I would just buy some new strings, and while shopping for strings online I discovered that Aquila makes a set of C-tuning (GCEA) Nylagut strings for baritone. I ordered a set and then waited impatiently for them to arrive.
I strung up my Hilo with the new strings and was really pleased with the result, I could now play my baritone and not have to transpose chords in my head. However, now I was not happy with the string height of my bari so I took the uke to my workshop and began the process of lowering the action of my strings.

First I had to remove the strings. Then I popped off the nut by using a small, very sharp pocket knife - I slipped it under a portion of the nut that wasn't quite flush with the wood and carefully pried it up a little at a time until it popped off.
Next I removed the saddle. This was easy - it is held in place by the tension of the strings so it just slipped right out of the bridge.

I then began sanding the bottom of the nut and the saddle. I would sand a little and then slip the nut and saddle back into position, and then tighten up the strings a bit to gauge my progress.
One tricky part was trying to keep the slight angle of the bottom of the nut so that it would fit properly once I was finished. I did maintain the angle; however, I sanded too much off of the bottom and so had to add a shim under the nut to bring it back up a bit. I discovered this error when I tightened up the strings and they were buzzing horribly on the frets.

I sanded the saddle and got it down pretty low and then I thought that I would just completely remove it but when I did this I was getting a slight buzz from the bridge so back in it went and the buzz disappeared.

The action on the uke is much, much better and I really love the sound of it, but it doesn't really sound like a baritone anymore. It sounds more like a big Tenor, and this if just fine with me because I've been wanting to get Tenor uke and now I basically have one and it sounds and plays great.

Before the bari alteration I almost never played this uke but now I'm pulling it down off the wall everyday. But I'm still not completely satisfied. I have a few more things I want to do to it before I'm done with it.
Eventually I'm going to replace the nut with either a rosewood, ebony or bone nut - same goes for the saddle. I've toyed with the idea of making my own ebony bridge for it and I probably will but that's on the bottom of my want list.
I would also like to drill string holes in the bridge, all the way through the top. This would allow me to run the strings from under the bridge (inside the uke), and just tie them in a knot to keep them from slipping out. This will help to alleviate some of the pressure being exerted upon the bridge and make it less likely for the bridge to pop off or for the top to bow.
The frets also need to be filed down a little bit. Currently the frets are rounded on the top and sit up fairly high above the fret board. I'm going to file them down so they are flat and smooth on top.
In the meantime I'll be playing it as is and keeping my eyes open for more cheap baritones that I can convert to big Tenors.

Baritone Uke Forum

2007-02-03T12:28:00.000-08:00

I thought the NUkeS Baritone ukulele players (I was really thinking of Andy E.), would appreciate this Baritone only forum.

Little Grass Shack pronunciation help

2007-02-01T09:28:00.000-08:00

This might be helpful (or not), but this is how I broke out those long runs of hawaiian words in order to learn them:

1. Ke - a - la - ke - kua

Easy one; sort of sung like:
"kee-alla kekoo-ah"

2. ko-mo-mai no ka-u - a i - ka ha - le we - la - ka - hao

I broke this one up this way:
Komo-myee
no-kah
oo-ah-ee
cah-hah
lee-vay
la-ka-how

(I started by practicing them in two chunks of three lines each.)

3. Hu - mu - hu - mu Nu - ku - nu - ku a pu - a - a

Much easier than it looks. I broke it up like this:

hoo-moo, hoo-moo
noo-koo, noo-koo
ah-poo, ah-ah

Good luck. --tn

NUkeS Meeting Tonight

2007-01-31T07:50:00.000-08:00

Don't forget tonight (Wed. Jan 31st) we are meeting at Z's Deli at 6pm. See you all there. Don't forget your ukes.

NUkeS in the Tennessean

2007-01-31T07:43:00.000-08:00

I just noticed this morning that the NUkeS were mentioned in The Tennessean's online edition.