Australia and Hawaii

Sorry for the slow updating on the old website here... I have been having too much fun flying around on planes, hanging with my ukulele colleagues, and enjoying the Hawaiian beach sand between my toes with a ukulele in my hand.  That's right, not only did I have an awesome time at the Melbourne Ukulele Festival I got to hang with my wife at my ukulele sponsor's place on Hokukano Ranch on the big island.  Living 3300' up a mountain in a private 32 square mile ranch is something I didn't realize was on my bucket list.  It is checked off now and I believe I will have to do it again.

First off, Australia was awesome.  The ten hour flight from Honolulu... not so awesome, but it was all worth it. I had so much fun actually meeting some of my fellow professional ukers.  IT was my first real straight up ukulele event instead of working folk / arts fests and being the "ukulele guy" this time I was awash in a sea of ukuleles.  It was a refreshing experience and I can't wait to hopefully do it again next year. :)  The second highlight of the trip down under was the flying foxes...Raven sized bats.  I am not kidding.  They are serious and mean business.

After the Melbourne Ukulele festival I headed east back across the international date line which really messed me up.  Gaining a day?  I arrived a day earlier than I thought to Kona on the big island of Hawaii.  Lucky for me my ukulele sponsor at Hokukano Ukuleles picked me up and brought me to his shop / home.  3300ft up on a mountain side is where I spent my nights.  Days I spent at random beaches with my wife, who flew in the day after me (we were supposed to fly in at the same time but silly me not knowing how time zones work).  I have been to Hawaii before, but I forgot how much of a golden ticket playing ukulele is when on the islands.  It is not only an awesome instrument, but it is a guaranteed conversation starter / friend maker.  Needless to say our trip went well. Ukuleles just make you want to smile unless you play angry metal music.  Thank you Bosko and Honey.  You blew my mind.  Literally.

Also did you know that the big island of Hawaii is actually an Alaskan suburb?  That is right!  The Alaska / Hawaii connection is HUGE.  for example, I played at a house party of under 20 people while I was there.  Only 2 or 3 people at the shin-dig were not from Fairbanks.  Wierd wild stuff.  Jamming with random musicians on a small hard to get to beach... the drummer ended up being the percussionist from Delmag, and awesome Anchorage group. The last frontier needs an island buddy.  That little guy Hawaii.  Now I just need to find a way I can go there during the winters and just hunt pigs and snorkel...and obviously play a metric crap ton of ukulele. That would be sweet.

Back to the pile

So on my days off from being on the road and ukuleleing in general this winter I have been working on my forested lot, the future site of Fairbanks, Alaska's most awesome amphitheater / ukulele retreat. If you build it they will come. I learned that from Kevin Costner.

So I have been over there cutting trees and stacking them up in preparation for next winter.  That is right, I am all ready thinking about next winter and it isn't even March yet.  That is how we do things up here.  Get your work done in time, be prepared, and you won't be up shit creek without a paddle.  You will get minimal sympathy from locals, but they will help you if you are down and out.  That is how it goes around these parts.

I can take about four hours of running my saw before my ukulele hands tell me it is time to quit.  Then I get to stack logs for an hour or two.  Who needs a gym?  Real world exercises.  Every time I put another cut up log on the stack I just think dollar signs.  Around December dried firewood in Fairbanks basically turns into gold.  There are too many jackasses around here that just put off getting ready for the winter until it is all ready in full swing.  That is when I come in on my off days with my big truck and a cord of wood in the back.  Ya buddy.  Who needs a boss when you are your own?

Tons of moose sign and a few hares running around the property.  I am thinking about setting up my game camera in the hopes of snapping a shot of them.  Hope it is a bull moose.  That would be convenient if he hung around until hunting season.  It has always been my dream to down a moose in my own yard.  I have cleared an area larger than a football field in the middle of the wilderness.  It is glorious.  Hopefully the wife and I can get a cabin up there this summer so we can finally be in our own place.  Renting a cabin on the opposite side of the valley where my outhouse actually faces the clearing I am cutting it just a tease.  Even though ever morning when I go out for my morning constitutional I sit there with my bare cheeks pressed up against my foam toilet seat, with my pants pulled up as high as I can to avoid leaving skin exposed to the elements,

The Yukon

It is good to finally be back to the Yukon Territory.  It is the only place in the world that the people understand Alaskans.  Other than our different stance on firearms we are the same in my book.   Stupid borders. Sometimes I think that the Yukon and Alaska should break off from our federal governments and form our own country.  The name of that new country is still up for debate.  I am accepting ideas currently for the new name.  Yukona? Alaskon?  I am open to suggestions.

Friday after my long 10 hour drive of vast expanses of wilderness, one wolf sighting, several moose, and a coyote I made it to the mountain wonderland of Haines junction.  I got to perform an awesome house concert for the home roots concert series.  What an awesome time. Packed room of people intently listening.  Awesome sauce.  There is a recording of the show that I will be posting sections of it once I paw through the tracks.  Good times.

Saturday I did another home roots concert in the wilderness city,  Whitehorse.   It was cool to have an understanding adult crowd that wanted to hear a selection of songs I call, "songs that have lost me work".  It went swimmingly. 

Today I gave a private clinic for some ukulele students here in the horse.  It is such a pleasure to see the light bulb turn on above someone's head once they finally grasp a new concept.  Priceless. 

Will there be a special unannounced performance tonight?  Who knows? Regardless I make the 12 hour trip back to Squarebanks in the morning. Just another day in the frontier. 

Back to Alaska

What a great trip back east.  All of my gigs went swimmingly and now with ukulele strings worn out I return to Alaska.  Time to tie up all the loose ends and start making my way to Boston into the oncoming snow storm.  I got my fingers crossed that my wife and I don't get delayed too long.  It all ready looks like we are in a hotel for one night at least.  This is part of the cost of living in Alaska.

Here is a little photo of what it is like to be in an Alaskan man's dreams... guns... lots of guns... yeah buddy!
   

Maine Central Institute and the Newport Ukulele Group

This week I also had the pleasure of performing / teaching for the Newport Ukulele group at the Newport Cultural Center in central Maine.  What a fun time I had with them.  There is nothing like seeing what you can teach people in a very short amount of time.

 Early into the clinic phase of the night I discovered everyone was afraid of the Emaj chord.  So I promptly went about providing different fingerings and hand shapes until I think I found at least one that worked for everyone.  Bmaj also seems to be an ongoing problem among novice ukulele players.  We fixed that too hopefully!  Everyone seemed like they got something out of the night, even if it was just a chord shape.  
Sharing your passion for entertaining to a high school gym with 500+ students and staff cheering you on is nothing short of epic.  I had a afternoon at Maine Central Institute first talking with the guitar class.  Perhaps a few will be converted!  Along with that I got to perform in front of the whole school with Pete Witham of the Cozmic Zombies.  It went swimmingly well.  Here is a clip of my afternoon performance.

That evening I also did a more intimate performance with Riff Johnson (another Maine rock star) in the student lounge.  What a fun crowd we had.  Just enough people to fill all the seats.  Perfect.

I can't wait to come back to the east coast again next year and do it all over again.  One more gig at the Smiling Moose Public House in South Paris, Maine and I will be getting ready to pack my bags and head back to the great land.  Heard it might be standing room only at the Moose.  That's just how daddy likes it.

The "One Man, One Ukulele" sessions

NEW SOLO TRACKS!!

Three new tracks from the one afternoon blitz recording session at the Casa Del Reny Studios in Waterville, Maine.  I think all three were one take wonders and then I spent the rest of the time playing the songs over and over and not keeping anything.  I'm calling these songs the "One Man, One Ukulele" sessions.



TRACK 1
Figured I needed a song in ode to my big old Chevy man truck.  I think with this one song I have cornered the ENTIRE ukulele truck song market.  I could be wrong, but then again I could be right!

TRACK 2


The solo version of the Bear Safety ukulele hip-hop explosion.  Get some!  SAFETY!  Be bear aware folks!

TRACK 3

Ode to Dr. Jones, Parks Highway Band Drummer / Doctor of Life.

Maine and Florida...both colder than Alaska

Why is it the one time I get out of Alaska during January to a state that is supposed to be warm it ends up being unseasonably cold and a heat wave hits Alaska?  Knowing my luck I will be back to the great land just in time for the cold to come back.  Even with that said... I still always miss being away.  I decided to post this pic of driving my old tour bus named "Ba" in the Yukon Territory.  My old home.  Good times.  

So I have been in Maine and Florida visiting family, friends, and playing some great shows!  It is always a pleasure to head south to charted and uncharted territory for me and play some ukulele for the people.  I have a full week this week and I'm getting it done.

Just recorded a few tracks for the "One man, one ukulele" album.  Keeping it simple.  Just my ukulele and I letting loose.  Casa Del Reny studios in Waterville, Maine (known as H2O-ville) are just the place to do it.  Mr. Mike Reny and I have been good friends and musical colleagues for a long time.  The four tracks we did today sound sweet.  Pretty much all one take wonders.  It is really nice when that happens.

Wednesday I'm conducting a clinic / performance for the Newport Ukulele Group at the Newport Cultural Center at 6pm.  Come learn some of the different things I'm doing and how to make sloppy playing work for you.  I'm telling ya, not everything has to be clean and pristine.  We are talking about functionality, not fancy.

Thursday at Maine Central Institute I will be working with the high school music students and then performing for the student body in the afternoon at 2:15pm followed by an evening concert on campus.  I love talking to the students about music and just love sharing my passion for musical endeavors.