Next year, Honolulu’s esteemed Kamaka Ukulele company is turning 100 years old. For many players out there, Kamaka’s ukes are among the finest available. At this year’s NAMM show, we were quite fortunate to have a session with the great Kalei…
It’s been 10 years since stained-glass artist Yvonne de Villiers started Luna Guitars, and as the company continues to grow, so does its product line. While they’ve been offering ukes for several years, their uke catalog is now bigger than ever, including…
Back in the late 1990s, Jean Larrive?e and company produced a large number of ukuleles, but eventually, they moved out of that space in order to focus on other instruments. Today, with the resurgence in popularity of the ukulele (particularly higher-end…
About 25 years ago, Joe Souza had the opportunity to apprentice under the master luthier Peter Bermudez, one of Hawaii’s most revered ukulele builders. In 1998, Souza and his wife, Kristen, founded Kanile’a Ukulele, and their modest home-based operation produced only a handful…
Advertisement
Sponsored by CDBaby You’ve probably heard horror stories about expensive instruments being destroyed by air travel — maybe via careless baggage handlers, rapid humidity changes during flight, or something completely unexpected. These guitar-traveling tips apply to ukuleles too! In this…
By popular demand, the Goodtime banjo company has announced the addition of a banjo ukulele to its catalog. The new American-made concert-scale instrument, which will begin shipping in March, features an 11-inch violin maple rim, maple neck, and a floating…
This year, Northern California’s Kala Brand Music Company is celebrating its 10th anniversary in the ukulele business. Founded by Mike Upton in 2005, Kala has quickly become one of the most important and innovative uke manufacturers in the industry. We connected with Upton…
Last summer, Lanikai Ukuleles unveiled its Makau Series of instruments. Each uke in the line is handmade in downtown Honolulu, Hawaii, with all-solid koa backs and sides, rosewood fingerboards, Honduran mahogany necks, and abalone headstock inlays. The latest addition to…
Advertisement
The singer-songwriter and uke player known as Danielle Ate the Sandwich has just released The Drawing Back of Curtains, a lovely and compelling 11-song collection that serves as the soundtrack to the new documentary, Packed in a Trunk: The Lost Art of Edith Lake…
