Uke Ireland & Ukuhooley Blog

For a number of years all the world ukulele manufacturers get together in Anaheim, in Southern California to show off their latest ukuleles to the world at the annual NAMM Music Industry Exhibition.

Its like an enormous toy store for ukulele lovers and Mike Aratani (Musicguymic) the largest uke seller in the world, is both the most enthusiastic visitor and exhibitor.

Every year Mike does a number of YouTube reports on new ukes and they are always a treat (I love them anyway!) so I am going to post them here and on the forum as he makes them available.

I just love the look of this one – it’s a COLLINGS ARCH TOP TENOR made by COLLINGS GUITARS (they make high end professional instruments) and it looks and sounds like a stunner!

Here its introduced by the genial Mike and Bill Collings himself.

The Uke Ireland Christmas Party in Doheny & Nesbitts on Saturday night was a great bit of fun and nonsense! Thanks to everyone who made it happen by coming along and joining in (especially Shay Bagnall who was responsible for putting this “epic” together. We are definitely going to make it an annual event.
Happy Christmas One and All!

Original song by Peter Fritz Hermann, shared by ukulele players round the world in their own way.

“Who Can Draw A Line?”

(G)” Who can draw a line between right and wrong?
(A) Who can draw a line between right and wrong?
(B7) Who can draw a (Em) line between (B7) right and (C) wrong?
Can you (G) do it? Go and (C) do it if you (G) can. (D7)

Who can draw a line between young and old?
… north and south …
… east and west …
… weak and strong …
… false and true …
… near and far …
… good and bad …”

Go on…..You can do it!

This kid is cute, but he puts my ukulele skills to shame, and he is only two years old! :

You gotta love this ukulele lesson of “Tonight You Belong To Me”
from the delightful Janet Klein and her Parlor Boys for the visuals alone!

Saw Yan Yalego in Belgium in May…He was a knockout!
Here he is with “the best washtub player in the world” doing “Rambling on My Mind”.

James Clem is a wonderful blues player I came across a couple of years ago and just love his version of this Robert Johnson’s classic ragtime number “They’re Red Hot” played on his National Reso Ukulele.

Fantastic performance from Jay & Christina Smart,  who were on a busking holiday in Ireland when the redoubtable Barry Whiteside  came across them and invited them along to the Ukulele Open Mic at the Shebeen tonight (November 30th).

They were a knock out and gave wonderful renderings of a few songs and the good news is that they will be back next year.

(Jay is the one in the middle on the uke!)

It’s on Saturday NEXT December 12th at 7.30pm upstairs at Doheny & Nesbitt, Merrion Row.

Just make sure to bring your Uke! (& partner!)

Just Magical!  Wonderful classical ukulele player and historian, John King, who passed away earlier this year playing Bach’s Prelude from the Cello Suite, No. 1.