Ukulele Review will be launching a competition today. There’ll be three concert Fleas up for grabs along with a whole load of other goodies (including my ebooks – which are, of course, the real draw). Make sure you stay tuned for it.
Uke Thingy has been knocking out ukulele tabs for classic guitar riffs including Day Tripper, Eye of the Tiger and Crazy Train.
Mike has a few new chord sheets up on his ukulele page including more Mountain Goats and No Surprises.
Uke Hunt friend Andy (AKA zym) has start his own blog ilovefizzypop (every time I read that name I start singing Helen Love’s I Love Indie Pop – no bad thing). As well as ukes, ilovefizzypop covers monkeys, games and robots. What more could you want?
A big thanks to Gary for drawing my attention to a two part audio documentary on the uke at The Human Chorus. It charts the ups and downs of the ukulele’s popularity from its introduction in Hawaii up to the 1990s and includes chats with Jim Beloff and Herb Ohta.
NukeDoc has a video showing you how to change the strings on your ukulele. Including using a power-drill to take the wrist work out of all that peg turning.
Buy yourself a handmad ukulele bag from Sugar Kane. (KDUS got there first)
Jake Shimabukuro has a new look website including a page packed with ukulele videos.
Daily Growl is a long term fixture in my feed reader. It usually covers the latest, hippest folkies (which reminds me: listen to Thao Nguyan if you’re into that sort of thing), so it was a very pleasant surprise to see The Fabulous Heftones as the Valentines Day choice.
How did Robert Plant deal with the stresses of the Led Zeppelin reunion? “I just lay in a dark room playing my little ukulele.”
The uke appears briefly amongst the lingerie models in The Raveonettes video for Candy. (Well done to uncle budd for spotting that one).
Art Ukes at Celtic Connections festival. (More pics here).
“Here’s a tip: if you are thinking of buying this ensemble, accessorising the look with a ukulele will make all the difference and help to bring out a certain music-hall je ne sais quoi.” Sound fashion advice from Laura Barton in The Guardian.
Whaaa…crazy tuning pegs…