Time for a blog break. I’m off to aestivate for a few weeks. If you want to keep up with me I’ll still be posting on UkeToob, Tumblr and Twitter. Have a good one!

Every time the subject of the ukulele video of the year comes up, regular commentor, Ron Hale enquires as to the status of previous winners. So for him here’s a rundown of what happened to the ukulelists after the career peak of winning the award. 2007 Winner: Molly Lewis (Sweetafton23) – Tom Cruise Crazy Back […]

That’s it from me this year (except the usual one for the Christmas uke-getters). I’ll be back late-January. Until then, happy holidays (if you’re into that kind of thing) however you choose to spend it. I’ll be eating, drinking, gambling and letting my servants wear my clothes in celebration of Saturnalia. If you can’t bear […]

I might not have thirty years of special effects experience, but I still want to tackle a few myths and misconceptions I see crop up now and again. If you’ve got any you want to tackle, leave them in the comments. There’s only one way to play each chord The chords you see in chord […]

As promised in the Hip Hop Riffs for Ukulele post, here’s an updated list of the riff posts on the blog. The idea with these riffs isn’t to play the whole song or that the suit the ukulele particularly well. It’s to throw them in to your playing for a bit of light relief and […]

I’m taking a break and I’ll be back on the 18th May. An actual ‘venturing out of Woodshed Towers and going somewhere’ type of break for once. Although I will be spending most of the time lounging around watching snooker. See you then.

UPDATE: Ukulele Festivals 2013 Here’s a preliminary list of the ukulele festivals scheduled for 2012. If you have details on any others leave a comment or send me a message. USA and Canada The Vancouver Ukulele Festival 2012 Location: Vancouver, Canada Date: February 25th & 26th 2012 Performers: Ralph Shaw, The Ukesters, Guido & Daphne. […]

If you haven’t already, make sure you get your nomination in for the Ukulele Video of the Year 2011. Current high-flyers are Lisa Hannigan, LP and Eddie Vedder. If you think someone else deserves a look-in head over to the post and make your nominations in the comments.

Instructions: – Grab a piece of paper – Display your uke knowledge – Check the answers here (no peeking) – Leave your score in the comments along with your dangs/woohoos. Name That Chord What chords are these on a standard C-tuned (gCEA) ukulele? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Name That Celeb Which famous person is […]

The guy playing ukulele in this clip is Benny Wenda. He’s also a leader of the movement to free West Papua from Indonesia. He’s been living in the UK since 2003 when he was granted asylum after escaping arrest and torture in Indonesia. He now faces arrest and deportation after the issuing of an Interpol […]