Authenticity

Don’t misinterpret this as an apology or a back-pedal. I still feel the rise in popularity of the uke takes some of the charm away. I also still think that many players make the uke less fun simply by being bland, unoriginal, let’s face it – lame people who could suck the fun out of clown school. That said, I thought I’d follow up my last post with some reasons why I love the uke – and more specifically, uke players who suck less. I’m not talking about ability – I’m talking about authenticity and honesty.



Let’s start with Mike up there. He’s authentic, generous, kind, and very real. No pretense, no bullshit. I may resent the rise in popularity of my favorite instrument, but there is no doubt that without it I wouldn’t have met folks like Mike. That would be a tragedy, quite simply, the Mike’s make this world a better place.

And although they have enough combined hate to power a space station, the rest of the UCB gang do their part too. Honesty, loyalty, and one hell of a sense of humor – again, without the uke and its baggage of jackasses I wouldn’t have met you lot and been compelled to fly all around the country just to jam, drink, and make fun of everyone else. My life would be substantially less without all of you in it.

I could list dozens of others – From Krabbers, to Shas, to BaronK, KenM, newcomers like Little6ster, and most of our commenters below… who through authenticity alone outweigh a thousand Nunes wannabes and bring enough originality to bury the Plain White T’s under mountains of real music.

I used to think that without the uke I never would have written a song, returned to the stage, or fallen back in love with music.

But it’s not the uke. It’s you. The people. The real ones. The ones who open a vein and bleed their insides all over YouTube. The ones not afraid to wear a dress and a wig to make a friend laugh. The ones who sing to their chickens. The ones who are so frightened that they shake on video, but play anyway. The ones who challenge others. The ones who challenge me. The ones who throw pies. The ones who poke fun. The ones who tell the truth.

So if you wonder how I draw the line between “suck”, and “suck-less”, that’s it. Authenticity, honesty, and heart.