Here’s a thing. I detest musicals. I would rather have my testicles violently assaulted with a rusty hacksaw than sit through five minutes of Mamma Mia, or Sound of Music or Grease (and everyone who says I enjoy having my testicles violently assaulted with a rusty hacksaw is lying). Yet three of my all time favourite films are musicals (American Astronaut, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? and now Stingray Sam).
Stingray Sam is the follow-up to American Astronaut but only in the sense that they share the same space-cowboy musical setting. You don’t need to know the story of American Astronaut to watch Stingray Sam. And Stingray Sam is probably the better starting point. It’s not quite so idiosyncratic.
Not that it’s without idiosyncrasies. For starters, it’s made to be watched on computers, iphones, toasters etc. It’s divided into six short parts each with its own song. And two of those songs are uke songs (which gives me an excuse to blather on about it). You can Episode 1 on the site. And I recommend you do so. Partly because it’s brilliant and partly so you know what I’m talking about when I say, “You got olive juice on my asking stick.”
You can also listen to the first of the ukulele tracks, Lullaby Song. The song is played in D-tuning and, befitting of a lullaby, it’s pretty simple. The only chords are D, D7 and G. The only exception is a discordant part in the loud, unlullaby-like instrumental section.
Suggested Strumming
For the verses you do half strums. So you strum the G and C strings together. Then you strum the E and A strings (all down strums). In between verses, he’s doing all full down strums.
This week’s videos include L’Uke and GUGUG trying desperately not to smile, Pilar Diaz, Susie Asado, a rollocking version of the Benny Hill Theme on a Tahitian ukulele and plenty more. Read the rest of this entry »
When Yamaha’s guitarlele became a bit of a hit I expected a few other makers to jump on them. But since then, guitarleles have been very hard to find. Now Kala have come out with their own version: the Kala U-Tar. Thus resurrecting the whole keytar vs guitboard debate.
MGM is practically giving away some Pono ukuleles. He has the Pono Mango at $260. And the Ebony Pono at $599 (you’ll have to move fast on that one). Must admit, quite tempted by the mango.
When it comes to weird instruments, the phono fiddle ukulele takes some beating.
Some useful advice for uke groups from Gerald Ross, “If all you are doing is striving for volume, your rhythm and tone will suffer. As the band size increases the overall volume level should decrease.”
In honour of this song (and in honour of her being so obviously right), I’m going to try to get through this post without making any stupid jokes. It’s not going to be easy.
TED is easily the best thing about the internet. I could bang on about for months. But I just recommend a few of my favourites instead: Dan Ariely, Larry Lessig, Ken Robinson and Elizabeth Gilbert. They also had Nellie McKay along to sing a few songs including this one on her uke.
There are some very nice chord moves in the song (I am NOT going to that joke). It modulates between G and Bb a few times. And it uses the best trick for getting between two keys: lead in with the V chord. So before the section in Bb there’s an F chord. And before the section in G there’s a D7 chord. (If none of that makes any sense to you, How to Play Ukulele Chord Progressions has more info on it).
I often look at the ukulele scene in Japan with envy. Shigeto is kind enough to send me copies of Japan’s Ukulele Magazine. My Japanese isn’t great so I spend my time gawping at the strange and unknown ukuleles on its pages. They’re made by companies that are a complete mystery to me: ‘I’Iwi, Tsubame, Shiihara.
So when one of the companies aNueNue (based in Taiwan) got in touch with me (via Bosko and Honey) to tell me they were going international I took the opportunity to find out more about them.
Full disclosure: aNueNue have sent me one of their ukes to test out which I’ll be reviewing before too long.
How long have aNueNue been making ukuleles and how did you get started?
It all started in summer of 2007, we got into the idea of building a ukulele brand. We spent months of research in designing the brand. We finally agree to use Rainbow Man, a well known Hawaiian petroglyph. The rainbow arc above the man’s head shows that he radiates wisdom or power and shoulder to responsibility. He is the keeper of the land and its people. We are all responsible of protecting Mother Earth.
aNueNue means rainbow in Hawaiian. Pronounced as “”Ahh nu way nu way.”
“The philosophy of aNueNue Ukulele is Life, Music, and Play.” This little instrument has changed many people life entirely, in both music people listen to and music people play with.
We have years of experience in building good classical, acoustic guitars, and ukuleles.
We bought solid koa and mango wood from our friend in Hawaii. We handmade the first ukulele in tenor size by chisel and scrapers. We then build the next 12 samples in all ukulele sizes in mango, mahogany, and koa wood.
We then design the Lani Series (meaning Heaven) and Papa Series (meaning Earth).
What sort of players are your ukuleles aimed at?
Whether you are a beginner, a hobbyist, or a professional musician, we have designed various models to fit your needs. If you like rhythm playing, you can consider our soprano models. If you are a fingerstyle artist, you can look into our tenor cutaway model. We use Fishman USA pickups exclusively for amplification.
What separates aNueNue from other ukuleles?
Our passion for quality ukulele has provoked a strong focus on customer experience, brand building and the impact that customer service, artist relations and music has on people. With our expertise and years of experience in the musical instrument industry, we have focused our passion to bring you the World’s best ukulele.
What do you think makes a great ukulele?
Good season wood, brace system, volume, light weight, string, stable tuners make a good ukulele. It’s all part of equation. There’s a fine tune between over-built and under-built. We are still learning something new every day on how to make great ukulele. I can tell you we are experimenting a lot inside this little box.
I think this song wins the award for shortest time between being put up and me getting requests. And it’s a pretty good one for beginners – no fancy jazz chords to worry about in this one.
After taking time out of the music biz (to follow a career signing for the deaf), she’s recently hooked up with Bayless again and recorded an EP Jammin’ At Jackson’s. She sent me the tracks and I was completely knocked out by them. The musicianship on it is fantastic. But they’re obviously laid-back and enjoying making music together. It’s my favourite record of the year so far. Yes, it’s better than Blood Bank. Yes, it’s better than Horehound. Yes, it’s even better than Brooke Hogan’s The Redemption.
How did you first get together with Pops and the rest of the guys?
I met Pops at a jam on the porch of Flipnotics, a coffee shop in Austin, TX. It was in August of 1999. I had just pulled my great-grandmother’s ukulele out of the closet, re-strung it, and learned a single tune. If memory serves, it was “Dream a Little Dream of Me.” That one song Pops was gracious enough to lend me his ukulele to play at the jam that afternoon. When I told him that was the only song I knew, he offered me lessons. When I showed up for my first lesson, two young men from Philly were already socializing in Pops’ living room. I never got a lesson. We jammed, and that was the beginning of Shorty Long.
What brought you back together to make this record?
The only one on this record from Shorty Long other than me is Pops Bayless. He’s the guy who made it possible for that recording to happen. He lined me up with Rob Jewett, and I brought in Jimmie Dreams and Evan Kolvoord. Having players of that caliber performing my tunes is quite possibly the greatest thrill of my life. Evan’s harp has more finesse than most men’s lips can muster to merely speak, much less make a harmonica sound like that. Rob Jewett has prestige oozing out his finest pores. Jimmie Dreams’ stylings cannot be matched. Pops was the one keeping us all on track, and let us not forget that he plucked out some mean ukulele solos.
The record sounds very organic and relaxed. How was it recorded?
The five of us met up at 10:00pm at a fine little house in South Austin, TX. By 10:30pm, we were all situated around a single microphone. We had knocked out all five songs by 1:30am. These four players had never all been in the same room together, much less had they played these tunes together. I tossed charts on the floor next to the microphone stand, called out the starts and stops, and it didn’t take us more than three full takes per song to turn out those five tracks. It’s such a great pleasure, working with professionals.
Are all the songs on the album your own? They feel like songs that have been around for decades. Who influences your songwriting?
I wrote all five of those tunes. You are not the first person to say that they sound familiar. One of my best friends and fellow song writer, whom I greatly admire, balked when I told her I’d written Finally Mine. She thought it was 80 years old. I guess that’s what happens when your family brings you up on live music, and you never listen to pop radio. My parents didn’t take me to church on Sundays, but we’d go every Wednesday to Sittin’ Singin’ & Supper at Threadgills, every Monday to Bummer Night at Artz Rib House. The songs that informed and inspired my life were songs by people I’d grown up listening to and loving. Most of the world outside of Texas has never heard of Uncle Walt’s Band, The Flatlanders, or Toni Price, but they’re among the greatest of my heroes. We would drive an hour out of town to see a show at Gruene Hall, we were such dedicated fans.
I’m fascinated by sign language interpretations of songs. How do you go about conveying the mood of music in a purely visual way?
It requires intense study, and a lot of creativity, not to mention fluency and finesse with both languages. English and American Sign Language have vastly different rhythms, so matching up concepts to beats can be pretty tricky. What English uses many words to say may be expressed in ASL with a single sign, and vice versa, which makes it doubly difficult. There are few who do it truly well. I can give you a fantastic example by Tiffany Hill. A song that made me want to turn off the radio any time I heard it, she transformed into a touching, vital, heart-breaking miracle.
What have you got planned next? Are you back in the music game for good?
In December, I’m moving back to Austin. I’ve been in Washington, DC for seven years now, and as much as I love it here, I have some great musician friends back in Austin with whom I’d like to be playing all the time. I’m in a group of songwriters who meet every week, but participating remotely just isn’t as satisfying. I held a fundraiser that started a ukulele choir at an Austin elementary school, and I want to participate in their first year. I have my own band I’d like to start, plus a side project in mind—an all female band I call the Songbirds of Prey. In short, the answer to your question is that I have an awful lot planned, and you can bet your sweet bippie I’m in it for good. And thanks for asking.
This one brings back memories. My first band consisted mainly of me (a sullen Yorkshire boy who just wanted to play guitar) and the singer (a great big show-off, drama queen). So we did a lot of Mick Ronson era David Bowie covers. This one being a particular favourite.
Anyhoo, compare to that last two, this one is dead simple.
Most diverting act of the week has to be Dithyrambe who are a cross between Marie Antoinette, Maria Callas, The Tiger Lillies and The Re-Entrants. But the standout video this week is Kalei Gamiao with some incredible playing. Impressive enough to draw attention away from his Kim Jong Il outfit. Also this week is Cousin Alice doing what should be a Bond theme, Siri Nilsen (a Norwegian with an incredible voice) and Ulysses & The Swans (whose song I’ve been back and forth on liking, but the singer is handsome so it’s in).
A big thanks to Samantha for pointing me in the direction of Jennifer Teeter who is hilarious. Just don’t watch her video while you’re eating. Or before you eat. Or after you eat. Read the rest of this entry »
