Stories

Where the Wild Ukes Are: A Dad Takes His Four-Year-Old Twins Shopping at McCabe’s

What they taught me could be helpful to any parents looking for their children’s next ukulele

Tiki Madness: A New Box Set Spans Eight Decades of Hawaiian Music

by Kenny Berkowitz If four discs of hula kitsch sounds like a lot, well, it is. But the good news about the new Hulaland: The Golden Age of Hawaiian Music box set is that it’s not too much, even if…

#ThrowbackThursday To My First Ukulele

By Greg Olwell For this week’s Throwback Thursday, I wanted to make a personal post about my first ukulele. After playing guitar for many years, I fell in love with vintage Hawaiian music back in the mid-’90s. Soon after I…

Kittens, Cats, Felines and Their Pet Ukuleles: Photos

And now for all of the glorious cat and ukulele photos—safe for those of you who are allergic (what a cruel fate).

Watch George Harrison Perform ‘Ain’t She Sweet’ on Ukulele

“Everyone I know who is into the ukulele is ‘crackers,’” writes George Harrison in the below letter (courtesy of openculture.com). George wisely opines, “you can’t play it and not laugh!” So today, in honor of World Play Your Ukulele Day…

Kamaka Kicks Off Centennial Year With All-Star Concert at NAMM 2016, Featuring Jake Shimabukuro and More

The Anaheim Hilton’s California Ballroom conveyed a glitz that at first seemed removed from the art and craft of making world-class ukuleles. But on January 23, the Friday evening of the five-day NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) show, sponsors…

Jim and Liz Beloff: Winter NAMM 2016 Session

By Whitney Phaneuf Jim Beloff and his lovely wife Liz have been evangelizing the uke since 1992, after they purchased one at the Pasadena Rose Bowl Flea Market. The rest, as they say, is history. The Beloff’s company Flea Market…

Kalyn Aolani: Ukulele Sessions at Winter NAMM 2016

Kalyn Aolani stopped by the Ukulele booth at NAMM 2016 to perform “Nani Hanalei” on her KoAloha Naupaka Tenor ukulele. We loved Kalyn’s cover of Kai Davis’ Hawaiian language classic. Simply gorgeous! Now, after seeing this two-tone ukulele, you may want to check out our…

Ukulele Sessions Presents Daniel Ward Playing “Aloha ‘Oe” at NAMM 2016

Daniel Ward stopped by the Ukulele mag booth at NAMM 2016 and played a song for our Ukulele Sessions series. He played “Aloha ‘Oe,” the definitive classic from Hawaiian repertoire, composed by Queen Liliʻuokalani, on his Ohana TK-470 G. A studio version…

From the Land of Buck Owens and Merle Haggard Comes … Ukes in Schools

In Bakersfield, California — birthplace of the honky-tonk country sound popularized by Buck Owens (he of the red, white, and blue acoustic guitar) and Merle Haggard — a retired music teacher is pumping new energy into elementary school music education. How? By…