Merry Christmas!

ONE MAN UKULELE BAND ON 207

All I want for Christmas is my One-ton Chevy.... and world peace.

My Maine shows are now over and it is time to celebrate Christmas with family. I hit the road south to Florida on the 26th, but until then it is time for Christmas cheer.

Here is a clip from my appearance on the WCSH6 207 TV show in beautiful downtown Portland, Maine.

Here is the link --------------> ONE MAN UKULELE BAND ON 207

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Back in Maine

After 24 hours in transit the Wife and I finally have made to Maine. It only took dealing with several mildly retarded (I wish there was a better word for this) TSA agents to safely (they didn't help) make it to the other side of the island, New England.

Talk about strange happenings, after my Wife and I boarded the plane for our last leg of the journey from Seattle to Boston a childhood friend of mine who I haven't seen in 5 or 6 years was on the same flight! The best part was his seat was right behind me. What are the chances, right? It was great to catch up. He told us he was going to take the bus to Maine, however, we invited him to join us in our rental car to avoid having to deal with Greyhound.

Now I'm trying to adjust my sleep patterns after two days of barely any sleep and a 4 hour time difference. I hate to say this, because the professional musician's gods might frown on it, but it is 7am and I am awake....and it isn't because I stayed up all night. Getting up before the crack of noon is strange.  I better fix this over the next day or two.

It begins tomorrow. Come out and see me my Mainer brothers and sisters!

Goodbye my fair Alaska...for now

In a few hours my wife and I will be heading for our yearly trip to the east coast to see family and for me to play a string of gigs from Maine to Florida. Until I get south of NEw England I am basically trading one winter for another... however with global warming in full swing I heard it was 75F in Washington D.C. the other day. I could handle that about now. Currently it is around -10F and less than four hours of sunlight.  Once I get to dixie I will be enjoying t-shirt weather and everyone around me will be in winter coats and hats.  Wussies. :)

I'm excited to play a few shows in my native Maine before I head south. Looks like I lined up four really good ones. Can't wait to get out of the frontier for a bit and get some vitamin D. I miss the sun this time of year.

One man ukulele band... IT IS POSSIBLE!

So, its possible... A one man ukulele band!

The Introspective Space

Everyone has their happy place. The place they like to go to think. A place where you find your mind drifting into a state of contentment. Well, during the winter months I spend less time in my special thinking spot, however, that is only due to the temperature. When the mercury drops below zero there becomes more of a sense of urgency. I have to say though... I still get some great thinking in.

In the early summer months there is a new sense of urgency. No matter how much wood ash or lime you put down in the hole you can't stop the bugs. To think, I have had the same copy of "Lord of the Flies" sitting in the outhouse now for 6 years and I still can't seem to control them. I figured if I read it enough I would become their master. This is not the case at all. The opposite has occurred.

It is all about the spring months before the bugs and the fall before the cold. Those are truly magical times.

Thank you happy place. Hopefully you won't have to be moved another 6 feet down the hill within the next year.

The world's most northern biker bar's Halloween extravaganza!

This will be my 6th year playing one of the most iconic Halloween parties of Alaska's interior. The Howling Dog Saloon is known by many as a place of epic rocking during the post pipeline years and a historic piece of Alaskan social history. Six years ago I was asked to fill the void by another performer and take on this event. I have been honored to do it and can't wait for another chance to make it rock yet again before it closes for another season. In one more week, after their fire sale on booze to clean the shelves, the Howling Dog will shut down until May.

Tonight I popped in to the Dog and saw my buddy Mike Stackhouse playing some tunes in the front bar. Ya see, Mike likes to crash my Fairbanks gigs regularly with his guitar. Showing up and sitting in with the band or just me. Tonight I crashed his gig for an hour. Tomorrow...well technically today since I'm writing this at 1am, I'm sure he will crash mine.

Time for sleep. Tomorrow it is time to rock the Dog.

A FULL HOUR OF...

The full hour long episode of my band on Alaska Live KUAC! Check it out! You may want to get back the hour of your life you will waste on this or you may feel enlightened after the experience of viewing my ugly mug for an hour. Who knows? You can only find out for yourself.

KUAC - Alaska Live - TV

Here is a little out of context mash up of all the dumb random things I said throughout the course of filming a TV spot for Alaska Live on KUAC. The film editor was nice enough to place my strange one liners together in such a manner that even I was amused. Ok... I was more than amused. This video is hilarious!

Enjoy!

Remember FACEBOOK users... come "LIKE" me... Just click HERE!

TONIGHT!! GET SOME!

TONIGHT!!!! Come rock it with us at the Marlin for the PANTS OFF DANCE OFF!!! It is going to be epic.

GOT A UKULELE INTERVIEW

Photo by Nick Pitsas

GOT-A-UKULELE did a wonderful interview with me! Check it out in all of it's glory. IT is nice to get some recognition from the other side of the pond. Cheers my British friends!

Also don't forget I'm at the The Marlin with the Fairbanks All Stars on Saturday this week! It will be our last show at the Marlin for the year! It is going to be a smashing good time with lots of drinks, laughs, and dance grooves to get down to. A good time will be had by all!!!

SATURDAY!!!!

AT THE FISH THIS WEEKEND!

The Marlin on College Road in Fairbanks! Come get some! 10pm

This week in ukuleleland....

9pm each night in my favorite drinking town with a fishing problem, Seward Alaska! 

...with a special Thursday show at the Fairview Inn in beautiful historic downtown Talkeetna, AK.!

Octoberfest!

Yes... This is happening tomorrow. I am the polka alternative for the evening... yes there is a polka band and there will be beer. Cold beer... filled with Vitamin P!

The house that Ukulele built

There is something satisfying in building your own home. As many of my ukulele professional colleagues continue to tour the globe in an endless circuit of ukulele festivals I am taking some time off from the grind to erect my new abode. For six years my beautiful wife and I have made sacrifices, cut corners, and lived without running water for the ability to rat stash enough cash to buy some land and build our own home. Let's face it folks, I play ukulele for a living and a bank would never loan me the money. Two reasons, one is that I'm not a professional guitar player. The second is I play ukulele for a living. For some strange reason they look at me as a bad investment. ;)

Finally, over two years since we bought the raw land, a building is starting to form. It didn't really set in until my friend and I lifted the third wall on the first floor into place.

The major issue is, winter is coming, and it looks like it is coming fast. There is all ready been snow storms a few hundred miles north of us in the Brooks range and the days are getting noticeably shorter. Night even has returned for significant amounts of time.  Winter is close. Moose season is 10 days away... mmmm... yummy moose. A yearly Alaskan ritual. Back to Black Eye Knob, the secret happy hunting grounds.

July - gigs, construction, and the way of the wrench.

Things have been hectic lately and I have been a bad blogger. Tons of gigs, the construction of a house, car problems (I still have some to deal with), hunting trips, the whole nine yards. So if you need me I will be posting mostly to my Facebook account (www.facebook.com/ukuleleruss) for the most part until  I get some time away from being constantly on the road or busy with other life events.

For example I have two performances today, I am teaching two ukulele classes, and then I have to hop in the car and make my way to Seward 520 miles south of me. It is going to be a long one...

Last day of the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival today for this guy. It has been real. It has been fun. It has been real fun, but it is time to hit the road again.

IF you are looking for some culture come see the American Roots concert tonight at the Silver Gulch Brewery! I'm the last act, the closer, in the anchor position. Should be fun.

May / June Calender!

So... I have been busy gigging and with building a house my blogs may be short this summer. Just come out to a show and see me! I am all over the last frontier!

The Howling Dog Saloon!

After a long long long winter it is that time again. A time when the most legendary biker bar opens for the summer season. God has decided that the time for winter is over and has turned on the summer switch. Even though there is still some snow and some mud in places the season we refer to as "Break Up" is nearly over. The sun is out until after 11pm and life is good in the interior of Alaska. This is how you know it is time for the Howling Dog Saloon to open.

The Howling Dog is and has been my summer Fairbanks area spot since 2008. This rough and tumble, crazy shit on the walls, thousands of names carved into the tables and bar, and the only stage in the world covered in 100% POPE RED CARPET is the most awesome place to enjoy a game of horseshoes, volley ball, or just a night of rock and roll at the world's most norther biker bar in existence. 

The Fairbanks All Stars and I have the pleasure of opening it yet again for the summer season. I have been playing closing and opening weekend for 5 years now. Seems to be a regular occurrence that I absolutely love.  So if you find yourself on your Harley or have a hankering for some rock come on out. I will be playing with the band from 10pm-3am both Friday and Saturday. Yes, that is right a 5 hour gig. All of my foreign friend believe it. 5 hour gigs are what build your chops and put hair on your chest...unless you are lady... then it just makes you bad ass.


HOWLING DOG SALOON -- Friday and Saturday Nights @ 10pm!
 

Rock

Now that I'm back in Alaska for the summer (well it is still winter now, but I'm here for a bit) I have to turn my attention to not only keeping up with all my gigs, but building a house for my lady. My wife has put up with a lot since we moved to Alaska in 2009 and after 5+ years with no running water we are finally ready to build our own place with a shower, sink, and dishwasher. What? No toilet? You are damn right. After 5 years of putting the brown back down where it belongs (the earth is brown and so is....) my wife and I have decided not to go to the bathroom and eat in the same building. This is usually the moral high ground for poor people with no running water here in Alaska, but we will be continuing the tradition of not installing a septic system and just having a shack outside with a hole underneath it. The joys of living in the third world inside of the first. My brother calls it self imposed poverty. I call it... thrifty. ;)

HOLY SCHIST! 

So in between my gigs I have been hauling truck loads of rock from a dirt pit to my property. I have to build some stone channels for drainage and cover all my exposed terraces with rock to avoid an erosion nightmare. Before the snow set in I was about 35-40 loads deep into the project. I have another 8 loads now waiting at the bottom of my driveway for the snow to melt and my driveway to dry out. Hopefully I can get all the stone in before I start on the house. Oh to not live in a 400 square ft cabin. I think a 2200 square ft. house will be nicer. The house that ukulele built. I can't believe that my ukulele is paying for this whole thing. Thanks little buddy. You have been good to me thus far. 

On a side note I have just taken a job with the Golden Wheel Amusements this summer. I will be the ukulele carny for three of their fairs this summer. Bucket list item #46 - Become a carny. Can't wait to check that one off the old bucket list. I got to cup a wombat's ass for my birthday and now this! AWESOME!

Gigs this week:

Solo @ Ivory Jacks on Goldstream in Fairbanks - 9pm Friday
Fairbanks All Stars @ The Marlin in Fairbanks - 10pm Saturday 

Melbourne Ukulele Festival

Photo by Nick Pitsas

For the past two springs (their fall) I have had the pleasure rocking at the Melbourne Ukulele Festival. This year was extremely special to me because after earning the respect of the MUK (Melbourne Ukulele Kollective) last March they asked me to come headline the 2015 festival. On top of that I got to open for Ms. Victoria Vox. What a pleasure.

I wanted to show with these three pictures the several different hair styles I showcased during my 40 minute performance at the Melbourne Ukulele Festival. You have to constantly switch it up to let people you know that you mean business and that is exactly what I did. Business.

Photo by Nick Pitsas

Photo by Nick Pitsas

Notice the camo hat that Azo Bell wouldn't trade his cap for. I still think that Azo would look good in camo. Azo, the offer is still on the table for the hat trade. I'm serious. Camo is the new thing. Just scroll down and look at the group photo. You have the hat in your hand, literally. It must be a sign. :)

I had to let my hair down for my rendition of Lionel Richie's Hello. It is a must when trying to channel one of the sexiest men from the 1980s. Eventually the sweat became too much and the mane had to be contained.

Ukulele festivals really aren't a huge part of what I do, however when I get the chance to show some of the stuff I have come up with locked away in isolation to my ukulele brethren there is nothing better.  Melbourne I really love you. Two years in a row you have rocked my socks and I thank you. I dream of the three-peat! The Australians are a pleasant and hospitable people. Haven't really met a bad one yet. Well... except the drunk on Hoddle St. last year that tried to sell me a warped guitar. I should have never humored the guy. When you see crazy in their eyes you should avoid eye contact and keep walking and a brisk manner. Like you have somewhere important to go and you are late. Long story short, I got away.

Bosko (lower right) is the only one that found my nip spot on.
He has some sort of magical powers I have yet to be able to
explain. Check him out at Bosko and Honey

Farewell land of funny animals and spiders that will kill you. So long place of deadly snakes and flying foxes. May your wombats and kangaroos avoid contact with motor vehicles. I will see you again next year. You can count on it.

Now back to the normal Alaska grind. Two shows with the All-Stars this week. This Friday at the Marlin in Fairbanks and Saturday at the Arctic Fox both starting at 10pm.

ALSO listen in at 11am Alaska Standard Time to KFAR 660am this Friday! Time for some serious pants! You can stream it live or listen to archives online!

To Cup a Wombat's Ass

All I wanted for my birthday this year was one thing; To cup a wombat's ass. Mission accomplished. I feel like after this trip down under I really have hit a good stride. Not only with ukuleleing, but with my life. I mean... come on... who else can say they fondled a wombat? I'm as gitty as a school boy.

Don't ask me why because I wouldn't have a good answer for you, but the act of cupping a wombat's ass has always been a bucket list thing for me. Am I a strange dude? You know it. In Alaska we have a saying to encourage ladies to move up and meet the fellas. "The odds are good, but the goods are odd". I'm odd. There is no way to candy coat it.

After this uplifting experience I was ready to rock the Melbourne Ukulele Festival with a clear mind and focus that only a wombat's ass can give you. It is the little things in life which includes a wombat's bum.

I will be doing my post for the Melbourne Ukulele Festival soon! Stay tuned!

Auckland!

I have to say I have been nothing but impressed with New Zealand in more ways than one. First off the people here are second to none. Some of the nicest friendliest people you would ever meet. It makes me feel like how people treat each other in Alaska. The hospitality from my hosts has been second to none. Avon and John I can't thank you enough.

Avon (the mastermind of the Ukulele Union
in Auckland. Without her my trip wouldn't
have been possible. 

Out on the "deck" (they pronounce this word
in quite a hilarious fashion. Use your imagination.

Today I got to go to the west side of the North Island of New Zealand into the jungle to enjoy some KILLER surf. 10ft waves and extreme rip tides on by the Sleeping Lion (a large rock formation on the beach). my friend Dave and I waded out to about out to the 5ft waves. That was enough for me. I have been in surf before and large wave pools, but nothing could compare to this.

My concert / workshop was a smash hit! What a great crowd of eager ukulelers. Nothing like trying to help people escape the shackles of the first 4 frets of the ukulele. I live for the moment where I see the light bulb turn on above people's heads when a concept clicks into place for them. That and smiles are what I'm in this business for... Well and also ukulele world domination. That is a big part of my motivation also. There are enough guitar players out there, but if we keep spreading the good word of ukulele soon they will be the minority. Don't get me wrong, guitars are cool, I actually am a accomplished guitar player, but only because I feel like if you want to defeat your enemy you first have to study and learn about them. That is the only way. Shoot first and ask questions later.

I have now arrived in Melbourne to headline the Melbourne Ukulele Festival. This is my second time I have been invited for this festival and I intend to knock people's socks off. I should be back for a third time if everything goes according to plan.

Hawaii

There is nothing like being in the mecca of ukuleles. Hawaii is the place to get some rays (I have gotten a little too many over the past few days), enjoy the beach, and play ukulele. This short stop before I head down under is just what I needed.  However, my neck tan line is my favorite trophy of my time here.

I have been spending time with my sponsor Tom Parse of Hokukano Ranch Ukuleles. It is great to see him, his wife, and his shop on the ranch again. Nothing like being up 3100ft on the mountain looking out and being able to see the sky meet the Pacific ocean.

Tomorrow I head south... To New Zealand to see some friends before I head to the Melbourne Ukulele Festival to headline. I feel blessed everyday I get to just share my music and humor with others. It is even a bigger bonus to travel to foreign lands where we speak the same language and my jokes might work. Ha!

Fun with FISH

Spawn until you die! It is the Alaskan way.

Sometimes you just got to get create with the photo editing. Come on out to the Marlin this Friday and catch some fish action. It is only $5 to see some funktastic music. Pants will be danced off. Good times will be had. Right on College Road in pristine Fairbanks, Alaska. Land of the cleanest winter air quality! 

I'm on a CD with Bela Fleck!

When the late day winter sun nears the horizon the red spectrum of light reflects off the snow creating pink tones.  

There is no place like home, right? You are damn right. After 6 weeks on the road it is great to be back in good old Fairbanks. The city by the river where the banks are fair. Took the first few days to get all of my ducks in a row and most importantly getting our animals back from friends. Our dog and cat are lucky enough to be loved by some of our friends. They are two of the most well behaved animals for the most part they do tend to stray from the right path sometimes. Not because they are intentionally trying to be asses, but because they are animals.

Our large black cat Dave however does not understand how running water works. When he is staying with someone that has a full on bathroom he just doesn't know what to do. The toilet and shower / tub are foreign to him. Dave sees different uses for the two. Toilets are fresh bowls of water and tubs become the new litter box, however he has great aim when it comes to the latter. He even aims for the drain without any training. Smart cat. Love that Dave. Perhaps one day when we have running water I can teach him what the toilet is really used for...

Now it is time for a month of gigs in Alaska before I head out to Hawaii, New Zealand, and Australia. I'm excited to get to Melbourne. I'm one of the headliners at the Melbourne Ukulele Festival! Yippy! Life is pretty good. Now I'm going to spend the week playing some gigs with my band and doing the old wonderful wintertime chore, firewood. At least this time it is for other people. My wood stash is quite large :) Time to spread the love.

Sometimes when you get home after a long trip and you finally make your way to the post office to clean out your post office box magical things are waiting for you. This time I got the pleasure to know that I had made the cut for volume 12 of the KUAC 89.9FM Alaska Live CD! Bela Fleck is track 4 and I'm track 16! I'll take it!

And so it begins

As with every trip to the lower 48 there is a beginning and an end. At this point we have reached the end and are now on our way back to the frontier. fyear's return trip is starting off right now with some wi-fi on the bus in route to Logan Airport in Boston.

How far we have come that I can now get the internets pretty much anywhere on my trips. They didn't even try to nickel and dime me for it. It is included for free with our bus ticket. How wonderful. Hopefully even with all this interneting my battery will full charge in my laptop. I have a long flight from Boston to Seattle and I want to be able to play Super Nintendo games on my computer. I would play my ukulele, but flight staff really frown on it and are quick to tell me to shut up. However I still operate my life on the premise that is it always easier to say I'm sorry than to ask for permission. I'm just sorry the don't enjoy ukuleles. I mean who doesn't?

Georgia you're such a peach!

I have been having a great time in Georgia. This week I have been relaxing with my brother and his family here in Hotlanta so I haven't been doing too much ukuleleing, however I did slip away to go visit Mike at the Uke Republic just outside of Atlanta to talk some shop at his shop! It isn't that often that I as a ukulele professional from Alaska get to hang out in an actual store devoted solely to ukuleles. I felt like I was in Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory and I had the golden ticket.

It was really great getting to know Mike and his lovely wife in real life and not just on the old book of faces. FYI -- they are not just figments of my internet imagination. They are real people with an awesome shop! I can't wait to get home and sport my Uke Republic shirt to the masses. They also gave me a complimentary kazoo. I might have to dust off my kazoo skills.... Perhaps for my version of the final countdown. That would be some hot poop right there!

Other than that I have just been taking it easy and enjoying time with my Bro. Tomorrow I am off to Valdosta, GA. to open for a band at the Ashley Street Station. Should be a good time! I always really enjoy playing new venues and rocking new faces. The south has been great to me thus far on this tour and I am sure it will continue to be. To Valdosta I go! Then I will just be having vacation until I return to the frozen snowy north.

After south Georgia it is off to Florida for some more sun, fun, my parents, and possibly some Disney action. I'm a sucker for EPCOT. I will leave you on this moment of zen from the Uke Republic!

To live and rock in Dixie

It has been a  great tour so far heading down the east coast. I have to sya more than anything I have been impressed with my time south of the Mason / Dixon line. The food, the people, and the appreciation for a strange guy from Alaska who plays ukulele for a living.

First stop was in Charlottesville, VA. where I got to visit an old friend of mine from my college years. The man who actually inspired me to pick up stringed instruments and leave the drums behind (little known Russ factoid - I started on the drums). Steven Levine of Dr. Levine and the Dreaded Blues Lady. He has moved up in the world considerably from the time that I was his History pupil at the University of Maine at Farmington.  IT was awesome relaxing at his 160 acre 1700s era plantation. IT was like an island of awesome within a  sea of new construction. It was a little slice of heaven I intend on visiting again next year for more than one night.

After that I headed to Charlotte, North Carolina to hook up with my friend Mr. Jim Hickey who runs a music school just over the border in South Carolina. I rolled into town with minutes to spare. I was almost late for my gig for the students at the Palisades School, however rolled in right on time to rock the 1st-8th graders. Here is a video of their reaction to my version of Brown Eyed Girl which was requested by a 7 year old little girl. The head banging in the front row by the 1st graders was priceless. Here is a clip from the show.

I had a great time sitting in with a band called the Rockafellers at a joint made out of a dock in the middle of a small lake called T-bones. The people there didn't know how to react to the crazy ukulele guy. Someone yelled to me on stage asking what part of Alaska was I from. I replied, "The cold part". The joke went over well and so did my set.

I will post more about my time in NC soon. Currently I'm in Hotlanta (Atlanta), Georgia soaking up the 60F tropical temps (at least for my wife and I) and will be heading over to the Uke Republic tomorrow to talk shop.

To be continued...

Skow? He gone.

Bloomfields Tavern in Skowhegan this Friday @ 9pm - NO COVER CHARGE!!!

Skowhegan is a little former mill town I grew up down the river from where the party doesn't quit on the corner of RT. 201.
This is where Bloomfield's resides. How it got it's name. Ask the locals. It boils down to some white men asking a native in the are where "Skow" was, a familiar Indian. To which a native replied, "Skow. He gone.". Hence the name Skowhegan.

It is a small echo chamber of brick and tin ceilings that has been rocking Skowhegan for decades. It was one of the first regular gigs I ever had in my music career and it will be a pleasure to make my way back for one night this Friday. I am planning on seeing a lot of familiar faces. A good time will be had by all.

ALSO -- Tonight I will be appearing on one of Maine's entertainment shows called, 207! Should be great. I will be hitting up the green room around 3pm for my 3:30pm filming slot in Portland. Then... Sushi with the wife and some long time friends I haven't seen in a year. It will be nice to make it back to the "big city"

Core Strength Exercises for Ukulele

Maine Central Institute was a awesomely good time yesterday. Getting to share what I do for a living with the young minds of my alma mater is such a treat for me every year. I am all ready looking forward to next year. There is nothing like returning back to your old high school to be the "cool guy"... I was cool when I was in high school I was just a little more awkward than I am now. Who am I kidding? I am way more awkward in my adulthood.

The rest of my Maine shows before I leave on tour are as follows:


1/8 - 207 TV - Portland, ME.

1/9 - Bloomfield's Tavern - Skowhegan, ME. - 9pm

1/10 - The Smilin' Moose - South Paris, ME. - 7pm

Did you know that I am the foremost authority on ukulele exercises? No not strumming or picking exercises, actual physical exercise for building muscles. How about some core strength exercises for ukulele? You know you want to.
Nothing tightens the stomach like some EYE OF THE TIGER on an inflatable exercise seat.

This is what happens after a long winter and you can finally see the ground again. This is the season of brown, or what we affectionately call it , BREAK UP. It is it's own season in Alaska. Hopefully this global warming thing hurries up and starts summer early this year. Alaska, not too many people are complaining here.

Molding Young Minds

Every year I get to go entertain the whole student body of my alma mater, Maine Central Institute. It is always a highlight for me to come rock a gym I have had countless hours of wrestling practice and years of fond memories of high school dances and what not. However, once a year they file all the students and staff in and I get to grandstand in front of them for a half hour or so.

Here is a clip from last year's performance where I do my shtick on how all music is the same. That is why you can put the words for Gilligan's Island over the music to Stairway to Heaven and throw in Freebird and some Metallica for good measure. I can't wait to get to entertain the good people of MCI tomorrow. It is one of the gigs I play that I look forward to every year. Plus, who wouldn't want to go back to their high school and finally be "the cool guy". So what if I'm 32. I'm finally the cool kid at my high school. Judge me if you want, but somewhere deep in the back of your mind you want to do the same thing. I figure if I get this down it will warm me up for being the cool guy in 2021 at my 20 year class reunion. Practice makes perfect. 

Vacationland

There is nothing like being up on the marquee next to Penguins of Madagascar! I have made the big time!

There is nothing like being about to get out of the bar scene and play a sit down theater show. If I could just play sit down shows like the one I played last night full time... That would be a treat compared to the marathons I have to pull off multiple nights a week year round. However, there is nothing like the bar scene. If you can distract people from their dinners, drinks, and conversations to look over and stare in awe of the butchery of contemporary music on the hatchet of strings then you got something. If it works, run with it.

Last night at the Pittsfield Community Theatre my good friend Mike Reny and I put on a great show for the people of Pittsfield. There were no heart attacks during our rendition of Hall and Oates' Man Eater and in fact the sound in that nice large theater room was EXCELLENT. A big shout out to the MCI Alumni Association at Maine Central Institute for making it all possible. Can't wait to come perform for the students on Monday the 5th!

Several ukulele clubs converged on the Universalist Church in Pittsfield today for some ukulele guru time.

Today I had a great time doing my 2nd annual Ukulele Russ Get-together sponsored by the Sebasticook Ukulele Group.  I must say the turnout was most excellent and everyone seemed eager to learn about our friend, the fret board. It is always really awesome for me to be able to share my passion of the ukulele with others.

oh..Vacationland is Maine's nickname. Sorry for the confusion.

Someone died at my gig

In a decade of gigging and over 11000 hours on stage I have seen some strange, exciting, and sad stuff during my shows and I'm not even talking about my personal performance. Bars and clubs are the places where people let their hair down and people relax. This was not really the case last night on New Years Eve for the first part of my night.

My longtime friend and colleague Mike Reny and I were about three or four songs into our night when all of a sudden during our rendition of "Man Eater" by Hall and Oates a dancing man right in front of us fell lifelessly to the floor. I mean I hate Oates as much as the next guy and know that Darrel Hall was the only real driving force in that dynamic duo. Oates just had a cool jerry curled afro and a sweet mustache, nothing else. Hopefully this wasn't the reason why a patron would fall over dead in front of us. Note to self; stop playing Hall and Oates OR have a disclaimer.

The best part was that this man, who was obviously not breathing, was immediately saved by the people of the room. Two staff members pulled together and started CPR right away. This was crucial! They got his heart and breathing started twice until the paramedics finally arrived and got the man stable enough to transport (meaning hooked up to the machine that goes "Bing"). I have seen CPR performed before, but you always seem to forget when it is done properly that if you aren't breaking the person's ribs you are compressing you aren't doing it right. Well it was done right and that guy is going to be pissed when he wakes up, but happy to be alive. It was a new years day miracle and I got to witness it with ukulele in hand from about 10ft away.

Don't believe me? Here is the link to the article.

The rest of the night went without a hitch. It is a good year to be alive!