There’s a good story, “Close to Perfect,” in Sunday’s Austin Statesman about Central Texas’s own Collings Guitars, which tells us that they also turn out about 350 deluxe ukuleles a year. Take a look, and watch the video. Interested in buying one? Elderly Music, in Ann Arbor, MI, sells them.

Probably many of you have heard about Eddie Vedder’s (of Pearl Jam fame) upcoming album, and that he’s often been seen playing our four-stringed friend. If you haven’t read it yet, check out this story in the New York Times. It gives a great overview of the ukulele’s position in music in 2011.

AUS’s own Jen was at the Old Settler’s Festival this past weekend to see, among other acts, ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro (known in ukulele circles as simply “Jake”). She writes:

I was fortunate to attend the Old Settler’s Music Festival on Saturday, April 16^th, and see Jake Shimabukuro perform, to a ‘stunned silent’ audience, for just over an hour.  It was a beautiful day and Jake and his Kamaka 4-string tenor ukulele kept everyone enthralled with gorgeous compositions and the stories behind them as well as the songs for which he put on his ‘basketball jersey’ to cover, including the song that put him on the map, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”  He also covered Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” both of which can be found on his latest album, PEACE LOVE UKULELE.  

After his set, I waited in line at the merchandise booth for a chance to chat with Jake and get an autograph and a photo.  I told him that I really enjoyed his performance and that I’d seen him at the Cactus Café, exactly three years prior.  He remembered that night well as Jimmy Buffet had turned up to watch him play, too.  Of course, I mentioned that I had co-founded the Austin Ukulele Society and he was enthused about it and asked what our turnout was like and what songs we played.  I also mentioned that I had emailed his publicist to see if he would possibly make a guest appearance at one of our meetings while in town for Old Settler’s but that I hadn’t heard back.  He (kindly) agreed to try and join us next time he comes to Austin, if we can coordinate a meeting around his appearance.

After spending the whole day at the festival, seeing many great musicians play, I can say (mostly unbiased) that his performance knocked more socks off than any other and clearly garnered new fans and love for our favorite four-stringed instrument. 

Peace, Love, and Ukulele! -Jen

I knew, as soon as I arrived, that not many AUS members had come to the Lone Star Uke Fest in Dallas from Thurs, Apr 7 to Sat, Apr 9. So here’s my brief report for those who missed it.

The #1 Good Thing about attending any uke fest is that if you are a uke fan, the fest gives you a chance to immerse yourself in uke for a few days. You enter the Holiday Inn in North Dallas, & there are uke folk everywhere. (Well, except for what appeared to be some kind of High School Prom Fashion Show going on at the same time in the hotel, which made for a few interesting situations.) Almost everyone not in a prom outfit is walking around with a uke, and you can compare instruments, have a chance to try lots of different instruments, and hear other players’ experiences with their instruments. And you can play together.

Also, there are lots of classes and concerts; above left, for example, you’ll see “Ukulele Mike” Lynch demonstrating how to read tabulature. There are even classes presented on subjects only tangentially connected to ukuleles. On your right, you’ll see John Smith of the Wahooligans demonstrating how to build a percussive washboard. After telling us how difficult it is to even find a washboard in 2011, he showed us how to attach kazoos, bulb horns, and other miscellanea to the board, and create an attention-getting percussive instrument.

In other great classes, we learned the basics of fingerpicking from Mark “Spanky” Gutierrez of 4 Strings of Swing, and how to create a jazz chord solo from Gerald Ross, the uke and lap steel guitar player. You feel pushed past the flap of your envelope, which is good. Pops Bayless offered sessions on showmanship and playing blues uke.

And here is a picture of all the performers. I don’t have everyone’s name here, but among this group are Pops, Michelle Kiba, Kimo Hussey, all 3 members of 4 Strings of Swing, the 3 Wahooligans, Ukulele Bartt, Gerald Ross, and Ukulele Mike and his wife and fellow performer Collene.

I sure felt that a great time was had by all, and although it may seem a little pricy (the full ticket was $295), everyone there seemed pretty happy to uke 24/7 for a few days while learning a ton of new stuff. Maybe next year, right? —Walter

The local ukulele group, The Love Leighs (http://missjess.com/) are performing live on radio station KOOP’s “Adventures in Sound” program, hosted by Dennis Campa. Tune in this Saturday for some lovely ukulele music, 1 to 2 p.m. at 91.7 FM or stream at http://www.koop.org.

Here are a couple of pictures from SXSW, specifically from the Beatles Complete show on Wed afternoon and evening. About these first two photos, Bob Guz says:

Here’s few photos of Bill Jones and me at the SXSW Beatles event kick-off yesterday. The audience was small but enthusiastic.

The guests on stage were just three: Bill, a little gi rl from Mississippi visiting Austin with her mom, and me: two tall men with a little girl (probably 10 or 11 years old) between, plus Roger and the Eggmen.

And at last, here are AUS members Bill and Kathy onstage with Roger Greenawalt near the conclusion of the Beatles marathon. Great job!

This coming Wednesday night is Ukulele Night at Skinny’s Ballroom. The Austin Ukulele Society’s own Sweetpea says: “I will be the host, kicking the night off with a few songs, then an all-out strum-along, and finally sign up for the open mic. Check out the website if you have a chance!”

Bring your uke and get a $4 bar tab credit!

Place: Skinny’s Ballroom, 115 San Jacinto Blvd. Parking available directly across the street in the Austin Convention Center ramp. skinnysballroom.com

When: Wednesday, March 23, 7:00 to 9:00pm

A couple of posts ago, we told everyone about the upcoming Maplewood School Uke Group fundraiser. We need a big turnout of folks willing to donate $$ to help the group attend the Lone Star Uke Fest and the Old Settlers’ Music Festival. Those of you who were at the March 8 meeting heard more about it, but once again:

Performers at the March 22 fundraiser include Guy Forsyth, Datri Bean, Aunt Ruby’s Sweet Jazz Babies, and The Love Leighs.

Donations of all sizes accepted; there’s no fixed charge, but if you could donate $20, it would be much appreciated.

It’s at the IOOF Lodge, 6809 Guadalupe, Austin, TX; At 6:00pm, for those interested, there’ll be a Yoga class with Playful Warrior yogi Mateo J. Daniel; music begins at 7:30pm. For further information email: maplewoodukulelechoir “at” gmail.com .

Help send the budding musicians of Maplewood Elementary to the Lone Star Uke Fest in Dallas (on April 7-9), where they have been invited to perform–and to the Old Settler’s Music Festival (April 14-17, here in Austin) to see and hear the world’s most famous ukulele player, Jake Shimabukuro.

Performers at the March 22 fundraiser include Guy Forsyth, Datri Bean, Aunt Ruby’s Sweet Jazz Babies, and The Love Leighs.

Donations of all sizes accepted.

Location: IOOF Lodge, 6809 Guadalupe, Austin, TX; 6:00pm: Yoga class with Playful Warrior yogi Mateo J. Daniel; 7:30pm: Music! For further information email: maplewoodukulelechoir “at” gmail.com .

Info begins leaking in about Beatles Complete on Ukulele SXSW 2011, happening on Wed., March 16 from noon to 6 p.m. It’ll be at Jo’s Hot Coffee Good Food at 1300 S. Congress. Here’s the Facebook page.

Roger Greenawalt will play the Beatles catalog on ukulele with lots of very special guests, it says. It’s described as a benefit for Kinky Friedman’s Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch, and the Austin Humane Society is a supporter of the event. We understand that ukers will have opportunities to participate, but we don’t have the details yet, nor do we know anything about a donation or admission charge. We’ll let you know more when we do.