There are a few bits and pieces from, the big guitar shindig, NAMM flying around but easily the best finds come from thejumpingflea. He came across Mid-East Ukuleles which have ukes based on the oud, the balalaika and (OMGOMGOMG!!!!1!) a sitarlele. There’s a brief and dark video of one here.

Other new stuff:

– Is that a ukulele in your pocket or do you just have a strangely shaped penis? Kala have a new 16-inch Pocket Uke. Here’s the pocket uke being played by Bob Brozman and here’s a clip of a guy telling you how to use it to pick up chicks.
– aNueNue have made a Nunes style ukulele. I’ve been wanting a company to make something like this and they’ve done a great job with it. I hope the make it a regular.
– Blackbird carbon fiber ukulele (sounds and looks fairly nasty in the video).
– Jake Shimabukuro MIGM.
– Ibanez Iceman.

On to ukuleles you can buy right now.

Kalos ukuleles are a new one on me. Unusually, they charge the same price for soprano, concert and tenor ukes.

New Kala Reggae ukulele.

Photos: sailors dance the Charleston, clown string band.

I’m back!

If you’re in the London area, there are going to be beginner and intermediate ukulele workshops from Martin Wheatley and Colin Tribe in February and March. Here’s a pdf with all the info (dates and contact details on page two):

Ukulele Workshops (PDF)

New free recordings from a few Uke Hunt favourites:

– Jake Wildwood has a new album out Destoyers of Venus. It’s a bit of a step away from his albums about trees and woodland creatures. It’s a sci-fi concept album set on Venus. You can download the whole thing free here. Essential tracks: Bully War, Give Up the Ghost.
– New EP from Todd Baio which you can grab free here. He also argues a good case for Tiny Tim.
– New album from Matt Kresling. Grab it from the sidebar of this video.

You can pre-order Bosko and Honey’s Ukulele Safari Compilation CD.

Sebi has had his YouTube account suspended by WMG because he covered a couple of Chili Pepper songs. That’s right, COVERED.

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain will be appearing in the latest series of Skins. Pictures from the set here and here via UOGB fans.

Printable ukulele tags from Shelley Rickey.

Tongan ukulele legend Sione Aleki has died. Watch him doing his wild thing here.

Tom Courtenay and Harry Hill play ukes to save the Half Moon.

Garfunkel and Oates with some hilarious news anchors.

Mark Occhionero expounds on his approach to jazz theory.

Bill Cosby gets together with KoAloha.

Flight of the Conchords and The King Blues on Uker Tabs.

Ukulele pictures: mcbess (if you’re not familiar with mc bess you have to watch WOOD), FOTC poster, Portland Ukulele Project win at being cool, Howlin’ Hobbit’s promo technique, Americana: Uke, not finish

UPDATE: Voting closed. Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote.

I’ve been dragged from my Christmas break to bring you an important announcement.

The Bobby McGee’s are one of the contenders for Xfm’s New Music Award and need your help to get through to the shortlist phase.

Go to this page and write in:

First Choice Artist-
The Bobby McGees

First Choice Album-
L’Appropriation Bourgoisie De La Bobby McGees

You don’t need to log in or anything annoying like that. And you can vote once for each email address you have (I’ve already voted three times).

You need to vote for three – the contenders are here. If you can’t be arsed wading through them, the other known ukers on the list are:

Florence And The Machine – Lungs
(Hear them doing Postcards from Italy)
Tom Allalone & The 78s – Major Sins Pt. 1
(Hear them doing Casillero Del Diablo)

You’ve got until Friday to cast your vote.

More from the Bobby McGee’s

Learn Ukulele with the Bobby McGee’s
Forever and a Day (Chords)
Bobby McGee’s Interview

When I got my first ukulele, I was completely clueless. This was in the dark days before the internet had been discovered. I didn’t even realise that the strings weren’t supposed to go thickest to thinnest and restrung it.

So, to save you from the social disgrace I experienced, I’ve put together a mini-ebook covering the basics that every first time uke owner needs to know. Here’s what it contains:

Five Things to Know.
Five Chords to Learn.
Five Songs to Play.
Five Websites to Visit.
Five Things to Get Free.
Five Things to Buy.
Five Videos to Watch.
Five YouTube Channels to Subscribe to.

You can download it free by here (Right click and select ‘Save As…’):

It’s released under a Creative Commons License. So you can email it people, let people download it on your site, print it out and hand it round to people – so long as you keep the content as it is.

That about wraps up another year. A Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, Mele Kalikimaka, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kwanzaa and standards-compliant Winterval to one and all.

I’ll be taking a break and I’ll be back on the 22nd January (except for a post aimed at people who find a uke under their Christmas tree). Hopefully, with a spanking new look to the site.

I don’t like to talk about it, but I do next to nothing for charity. One charity I do regularly support is Kiva and that’s only because they force the poverty stricken recipients of the cash to give the money back – it’s only fair. If you’re a Kiva regular, join the Ukulele Players group on there.

Have a good one! See you in the magic future-land of 2010.

The second part of the ukulele Christmas round up (part one is here) includes The Mad Tea Party (NSFW), Uni (again), Tricity Vogue (again), WS64 and more.

If your ukulele xmas needs are not sated then check out Armelle’s Christmas ukulele world tour.

Read the rest of this entry »

Too many Christmas ukulele videos to fit into one post, so there’s a second post coming up a little later.

This first part includes songs from Tripping Lily, MJ Hibbett, Tricity Vogue, U900, Gensblue and plenty more. Originally, it included Michael McDonald’s rather wonderful performance on Conan O’Brien but the video was removed. If you’re in the US, you might still be able to find it on Hulu. It’s worth tracking down. Luckily for us, Eva Walsh recorded a beautiful ukulele version of it too.

Read the rest of this entry »

There are two posts packed with Christmas ukulele coming up but there were a few non-Xmas tunes I couldn’t let pass without a mention including Michelle Blades (who is the bee’s business and getting better with every new song) and Sophie Madeleine wearing an excellent t-shirt. Read the rest of this entry »

This week’s iwanit, iwanit, iwanit is this 8 string tenor uke> from Oceana. The Oceana concert looks pretty fine as well.

Unis are a new name to me but this ukulelelooks a whole lot like a Kumalae.

Tiki sculpture ukuleles.

Photos: Gaucho ukulele.

This week it’s been very hard to find anything in the ukulele world – the entire internet is a constant stream of that damn kid. Anyhoo, here are a few things that managed to make their way through.

MP3’s: Sophie Madeleine has a collection of covers for download (and she’s heading over to New York), The Stingray Sam soundtrack is now available for download, Indie MP3 has tracks from Eliza Newman.

Daddy Stovepipe has released a blues ukulele ebook and you can watch the associated lessons here.

Acilius has written an extensive review of the DVD of the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain’s Prom appearance.

Jake Shimabukuro and Bette Midler entertain the Queen.

I think Taimane Gardner is an incredible player which makes watching and listening to this even more painful.

Rock Hudson on the ukulele.