Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Ouch!

This is so good it hurts. Little 6ster from France on ukulele and vox and Christelle Berthon on harmonica, playing "Miss Cellie's Blues"


Monday, April 19, 2010

Craig Robertson's New CD



Yup. It's me. I always feel a little weird about self-promotion. I guess I shouldn't.
(the angel on one shoulder is saying "be polite, people will recognize what you do" while the devil on my other shoulder is saying "screw it, do it!"

so...

My newest CD, Better Liar, will start shipping at the end of April (this month). You can PRE-ORDER a copy right now.

Mastered at Psychic Hamster Studios by Bill Sherman.
Additional vocals on by Amber Nash and Jordan Neff (from Shiny and the Spoon), Electric Guitar on "Dark Circles" by the Rev. Willie Deuel, Drum tracks and Bass guitar (where noted) by Arturo Larizza

Produced by Craig Robertson and Arturo Larizza

songs included are:

1. Only a Bird
2. Broken’s Spoken Here
3. Dark Circles
4. Metaphors
5. Rosa’s Song
6. Narcissa
7. The Scorpion Queen
(Z. Janzen 2009)
8. Never Understand
9. Undead
10. Pigeons and Hawks
11. Conjure Box
12. Better Liar

You can also click on a link on my website for the chords (most of them) and the lyrics to the songs.
enjoy!

LINK

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Jumping Flea or Champion?

Seattle-based Matt Dahlberg seems to have an identity crisis. He's either "The Jumping Flea" or "The Champion of the Ukulele." Either way, he's pretty darn good. Link

Friday, April 16, 2010

Vintage String Packages

Ukulelia University Adjunct Professor of String Theory and Fretboard Journal editor Michael Simmons pointed us to this online photo gallery of vintage string packages, several of which are for ukuleles. Some wonderful graphics here. I especially like this circa 1935 George Formby banjolele string package. The illo looks very much like R. Crumb's handiwork. Link

Poulet Shack

Manitoba Hal gets his Poulet Frit Kentucky on!


No No NoCal

I am sad to announce that the Northern California Ukulele Festival (traditionally held in Hayward, CA every April) has been canceled for this year. Evidently budget cuts for cultural events at the State level made it an impossibility for PICA, the event's organizer. Let's hope that things turn around in time for the Fest to happen in 2011.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

The Mysterious Eddy Clark, "The Ukulele Baby"

I can find almost nothing about Eddy Clark, billed as "The Ukulele Baby". Here are two recordings posted on the Internet Archive: Ukulele Baby and We're Gonna Have Weather. Oh, and by the way, Bill "Rock That Uke" Roberston sez Eddy was a lady. Despite what the copywriter thought.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Le Cabaret Grimm



Jojo, "the Burlesque Poetess"
also a member of Walter Sickert's Army of Broken Toys
in a production called "Le Cabaret Grimm" at the Boston Center for the Arts
Link

Monday, April 12, 2010

Tea Bagging with the Uke

Uker and former SNL cast member Victoria Jackson recorded a couple CDs of childrens' songs several years ago. Her latest song has a more political bent. So just to show that not everyone who plays the uke falls on the left side of the political spectrum, here's Victoria.

Monday, April 05, 2010

Friday, April 02, 2010

The Pearl Qatar...

This set could be either from a Fairy Tale or a Science Fiction movie...

It's Amelia Robinson, from England. She says: "I’m a ukulele-ist contracted by a big development company in Doha off the Arabian Peninsula to bring some soul and life onto a mad-made island called The Pearl Qatar. Am just finishing up a 5 month stint and thought you may be interested in some new vids I’ve just uploaded..."

 
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