Attention all you Lone Star ukers. Don't miss the 2nd Annual Ukulele Festival, April 24th in the Ukulele Capital of Texas, San Antonio. Link Discuss

Who could say "no" to The Yes Yes Boys? A Seattle-based band, they specialize in jazz and blues of the '20s and '30s. Quality music at a reasonable volume. What a great line. Anyone ever catch them live? Link Discuss

Here's a recent article on punk uker Carmaig de Forest, who's one of the featured artists in Bill Robertson's uke-umentary "Rock That Uke." Bill says, "Carmaig's grown hair since we interviewed him. You have no idea how betrayed that makes me feel." Link Discuss (Thanks, Bill!)

Charming photo from a recent article in the Honolulu Advertiser about Japan Hometown Clubs in Hawaii. (Ohta-san is a member of the one featured.) Check out the fabric on the girls' muu muus. Anyone ever see this in a fabric shop? Link Discuss

Risa, the makers of the swell electric Ukestick (mine goes with me on business trips to Hawaii) has created this new acoustic concert uke. The design notes say that it combines the advantages of standard, pineapple, and cutaway body shapes. Can't wait to try one out! Link Discuss

Jake Shimabukuro's first solo CD "Sunday Morning" is destined to become a classic. The CD includes Jakes amazing version of Nicolo Paganini's "Selections from Caprice No. 24," which makes my fingers ache just thinking about it. There's also a live version of "Crazy G." I've seen Jake play this live and his right hand all but disappears by the end. Here's a review from the March '03 issue of Aloha Airlines' inflight magazine. Link Discuss

My occasional uke teacher and Cheap Suit Serenader, Robert Armstrong, is the featured "cover" artist on the first in a new series of Hawaiian-themed Martin guitars. Check out the cool luau scene, with Chris Martin himself eating poi while musicians play slack key. Sadly, no one is playing the vintage Martin uke in the foreground. Okay, it's made out of the equivalent of koa wood Formica, but Bob's artwork transcends all. Link Discuss

Here's a site with lots of high res scans of vintage ragtime sheet music. It all seems to pre-date ukulele notation, but you may find the words and melody to a tune you've been looking for. Plus some amazing cover art. Be forewarned: clicking on a thumbnail will begin downloading a pdf of the entire song. Many are over 2 megs. Bonus points to whomever charts out the chords to "I'll See You in C-U-B-A"Link Discuss

Sweet little video about the making of George Harrison's last album, with footage of George on ukulele. Link Discuss

"Hey Neil Armstrong! You just got back from walking on the moon. What are you going to do next?" An amazing photo from the "Rock That Uke" site. I know I just blogged them, but you have to see this. Click on "RTU Extras." Link Discuss

UPDATE: Direct link to page with image.

The directors of the documentary "Rock That Uke" have invited Robert Wheeler, Founder of Ukulele Consciousness to contribute occasional commentary to the RTU site. The site is in frames, so look for the "Ukulele Consciousness" icon in the left hand nav. I also see that RTU will be shown in San Francisco on March 1! Link Discuss

NoCal uke players: mark your calendards for the 2003 Ukulele Festival of Northern California. It will be held in Hayward on Sunday, April 27. It's a great event, with both performances and vendors, plus plenty room to jam (or cool off with a shave ice!). Check out this link, and be sure to download a pdf of their flyer to post in your local haunts. The flyer also contains information on a $500 Cultural Scholarship Award that's available for budding ukulele players!Link Discuss

If you've ever checked out the Bulletin Board section of the Flea Market Music site, you might be curious just what all those marvelously resourceful, intelligent, generous, and, er, opinionated folks look like. Well, frequent poster "Catfish" has set up a Family Album so you can see for yourself. There's also information about some compilation CDs that the Bulletin Board community has put together. Link Discuss

Calling all Fluke Fans, Dale Webb has just announced the introduction of a new member to the family: the kid-friendly, soprano-sized Flea Ukulele. There are also more photos and info at the Fleamarket Music site (click on the Fluke over in the right hand column).Link Discuss

A few weeks ago, Mark blogged a site that serves up ukulele e-cards. The mysterious ukulele player in the item's accompanying photo is none other than actress Zooey Deschanel. Zooey plays ukulele in her band "If All the Stars Were Pretty Babies." Here's another photo of Zooey, who notes that the ukulele has "a sound the world misses."Link Discuss