12 Uke Chicks

This one has it all. Girls in glasses and references to I'm Yours, Buttercup and Hey Soul Sister. Bad, right? BUT - it also includes our own AdelletheGreat. And that makes it awesome.

Alan drives a swagger wagon

and this explains how he affords all those ukes!

Ben Doverlele

here are some pics of my latest Grizzly kit mutilation. i got the idea from the foldable Voyage-Air guitars. we usually backpack when we travel so we try to carry as little as possible. i thought maybe a foldable ukulele would be something easy to stuff in the backpack.
after the build was complete, it turns out the uke really isn't any more compact than it was to start with. so perhaps it was all a waste of time, just another conversation piece. the good news is it doesn't sound like shit. the strings actually hold the tuning fairly well after unfolding and folding. only minor tuning adjustments need to be made. i had to remove the fretboard at the 11th fret, but the hinge serves well as a 12th fret. intonation still good. kit and hardware = $30. hours of my life i'll never get back = a few sound sample here: some related links: Grizzly Ukulele Kit A very enthusiastic kid Only the best movie ever made Ballzzzzzzzz

UWC won’t be the same…

For me, one of the highlights of the Ukulele World Congress ’09 was getting to know the local folks and having them share their music. The first person I saw when I arrived in the field was a slight woman in white cotton sun dress with beautiful gray hair playing the sweetest fiddle tune I’d ever heard. Accompanied by a couple of ukes and a tenor guitar, that image and that moment set the tone for what would turn out to be a fantastic weekend. I knew when I heard and saw that group that Brown County was a special place and that this wasn’t your average uke-fest.

As the Congress went on, Allison Cochran’s quiet smile, sunny disposition, and damn fine fiddle playing made the show for me. With Chris Little on banjo and tenor guitar, their song “Goddess of Brown County” was so haunting and memorable I’ve been playing it ever since. Having her join in with me for harmonies on an impromptu version of the disco tune “I Will Survive” still cracks me up. It was one of those moments you just can’t plan for – too much fun. She brightened every jam she was a part of, and eventually became in my mind a sort of representation of all of the kindness, openness, and talent I met there in Brown County.

Mike wrote me today and let me know that Allison passed away. I don’t have any details – just that she’s gone. I didn’t know her other than those few hours in that field, but I sure will miss her…

So raise a glass, bow a head, play a song – whichever suits you – for the woman I began to think of as the real “Goddess of Brown County”. Adios Allison – You’ll be missed.

Why Yamaha, why?

So here I sit still coveting a guitelele... Specifically the Yamaha GL-1.

It seems to me that I should be able to go to any mall music store and grab one for about $150... And that would be true, if I didn't live in the US.

For some unknown reason Yamaha only sells these things in the EU - and in limited supply in Canukistan (Canada Alan, Canada).

I've tried twice to get one via phone to no avail. It's like they are a prohibited substance.

Meanwhile you can go play all the crappy Yamaha nylon student guitars you want... everything in the line - except the GL-1.

Yargh.

Anyway - here is a lovely girl from the UK (I think) who absolutely shows us all what a GL-1 can do.

She's pretty damn good - and nice too. Give her a sub and tell her to play more uke.

French Ukulele Weirdness

I don't know what drugs they take, but I'm subscribing to their newsletter.

Big in Japan

Here's a simple slide-show of pics taken in a music shop in Japan. It shows some Kiwaya ukes, including the last shot of a wall of ukes. And is that a Kiwaya sopranino? Awesome!

Call him "Mr. Entertainment"

Dolph Lundgren shows you how to entertain. No, really. I actually thought he would pull out an ukulele at one point.

I sat on an ukulele last night

I sat on an ukulele last night. Cracked it on the side behind the neck, on the top from the soundhole to the neck and somewhere else. I couldn't bear to look at it closely.

Lesson: Don't put your uke down on a chair EVEN FOR A SECOND. You might forget it.

Tenor Guitar Hankering...

Yes yes, I know. I have instrument ADD. I admit that. Currently I've been thinking about a tenor guitar. Why? Well, I can tune it in fourths like a baritone uke, or in fifths like an octave mando. Both of which I play.

Of all the cooky instrument ideas I've had lately - this one actually has the best collection of rationalization.

I've been thinking of the Gold Tone resonator version above -some of you have Gold Tone banjo-ukes and banjos - any thoughts on quality for Gold Tone?

Tabs, plz

Not really, no. I don't want the tab to this Japanese commercial from the 1970's. I just thought I should post it to show that it wasn't just the French who could do weird stuff with Star Wars.

Youtube has infringed on my anger policy

Copyright laws & Youtube shutdowns seem to be the hot topics this week. We have seen Sebi/Monsterbazz's account suspended, and now we all wait in fear that Deach's may also be.

I'm not sure I quite understand why the record labels give a shit that I record a crappy version of a song by their artist in my living room & a few people watch it on the internet. I understand copyright infringement, and yes- it is... but why does the record label care?

A while back I covered a song written by the artist formerly known as Prince (and currently known as Douchenozzle) & it was pulled due to copyright infringement. After some research, I figured out that it was Prince- HE doesn't allow covers of his songs anywhere. In fact the song I covered was a song by The Bangles that he wrote but never even performed. Now, while I don't agree with it- I accept it. Fine. Prince is a douchenozzle. He has the right to be. He wrote the song. He can take his song & run home & not play with us anymore if that's the way he wants it.

But why does Warner Brothers care?

There is no way that a Youtube cover is going to cause a major record label to lose money. Do they think someone is going to take the time to sift through videos to find decent covers of an entire album & then download them all as opposed to just buying the CD by the original artist? If anything Youtube covers will stir interest & expose people to bands they might not otherwise have been.

I can completely understand pulling videos that include the original recording of a song, whether as placed background music or just accidentally recorded background noise. But covers? Why? Yes- it is copyright infringement... but geez don't you guys have bigger fish to fry? Aren't there a whole bunch of people illegally downloaded your actual product that you should worry about?

Record labels should have gotten in on this stuff a long time ago, and they could have helped put rules in place & everyone would be happy. But they didn't. They sat around & then said "Oh wait! Youtube is making money? We want some of that money!!" & started (what appears to be) randomly pulling videos & closing accounts. See I know I said a couple times just now I don't understand why they care, but I really do. It's about money.

On Tuesday I pulled up Youtube as an average Joe, not logged into my account- saw what the general public sees. And do you know what was featured at the top of the page? It was Music Tuesday & all the featured videos were covers of a song by Lady GaGa. This is where I get so confused. We can cover songs- we can't cover songs? Julia Nunes can have millions of hits on a cover but a few hundred on someone elses isn't okay? Youtube is sending mixed signals.

If they would just tell us what they want- what's acceptable & what isn't, I'm pretty sure that most of us would comply. If they gave us a list of what artists were off limits... maybe we'd stop covering them. Ever think of that, assholes? Because if you're featuring cover songs on Music Tuesdays- and it was entirely cover songs this week- then you're telling me it's okay to post cover songs. Stop pulling my videos without making the rules clear.

Everything else aside, I still see a silver lining to the situation that I haven't seen brought up yet... this is some serious motivation to write original material. Yes, it all sucks & it's all stupid & trust me, I could bitch about it for weeks... but it won't change anything. Instead of worrying, we should all post more things that we KNOW won't get us in trouble with the man. Our own stuff. Instead of saying "screw you record company I'm gonna play your song anyway" how about "screw you record company we don't need you at all".

Little 6ster Smokes Bessie Smith

Ok, it may not be as cool as the Starwars Tribuite from France - but somehow I think you lot will like it anyway.

You. Sub. Now.

this just in: YouTube Swallows

There will be a recap of Grumpfest Seattle coming up soon. It will take a little while for us three (Booze, Grump, Buss) to piece together the details and to form a complete story. a story that we'll stick to no matter how hard we're grilled by the authorities. One quick thing i can tell you though, it was fun! Also, we really missed our other UCBitches. Hope to do it again real soon.

Okay, now that i got that out of the way, I just heard that Sebi (monsterbazz) on Youtube, had his channel suspended because of copyright issues. That sucks major nards and i totally feel for homeboy. I hope he gets his channel back up because he's really good and stuff. I mean, reallllly good and he's a super nice guy too.

While I read on the forums that people are freaking out about the possibility of their videos being pulled or their channels shut down, I wondered what I would do if it were to happen to my channel. I'm not fearful that it will happen and to be honest, would be kind of relieved if it did. Since i started playing ukulele and posting videos on Youtube, I feel like it has consumed my life. I spend much more time posting and watching Youtube videos than with any other hobby I've had in my life (and that includes math, and as Booze and Grumpy know, I fuckin' love math!!). Youtube has swallowed up all my free time. Watching and commenting on subscriptions is like a full time job, but with no pay and the only fringe benefits being the occasional hate mail I receive. Between that and my job, I have very little time left to do the things I used to enjoy so much, like sit on the couch and rot.

So anyway, if Youtube wants to be a little bitch and take my channel, please give me a week's heads up so I can download all my videos and re-upload them to a more friendly medium, like Betamax tapes. Free time, here I come!

Apropos of Nothing....

This has nothing to do with ukulele. But it's cleansing, in a "wth?" way. And I didn't think they could make C-3PO any gayer than he already was....