By Greg Olwell The independent entrepreneurial spirit runs deep in the ukulele community and last week’s Reno Ukulele Festival was a great place to get a concentrated taste of the small businesses that sprout in the ukulele community. Case in…
By Greg Olwell The nominees for the Na Hoku Hanohano awards were announced April 15, with five nominees in the the category for Best Ukulele Performance. The Na Hoku Hanohano awards are from the Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts and…
By Greg Olwell The longest running ukulele festival on the mainland takes place this weekend in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 22nd annual Ukulele Festival of Northern California is scheduled for Sunday, April 24 at Chabot College in…
By Greg Olwell One of the largest events in the ukulele scene kicked off today in Sparks, Nevada. The 2016 edition of the Reno Ukulele Festival features workshops from many of the most recognizable names in the community and many…
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By Greg Olwell It was one minute and forty-eight seconds of bizarre and memorable music when Tiny Tim’s ukulele-driven hit “Tip-toe Thru’ the Tulips with Me” swarmed radio and television in 1968. Born Herbert B. Khaury in New York…
By Greg Olwell In some corners of the world, folks will claim that Arrested Development was one of the all-time funniest TV shows. The show, which was about the highly dysfunctional Bluth family, spent three seasons on Fox before it…
The ease of finding music to play, videos to stream, and a supportive community have been some of the reasons why the ukulele has taken off in popularity again. We can thank the internet for that. More specifically, we can…
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By Greg Olwell With this week’s Throwback Thursday falling on St. Patrick’s Day, it just seemed right to feature a little Irish music. Back at the Portland Uke Fest in 2008, two modern masters, the late John King and James…
By Greg Olwell While most people have probably heard Lyle Ritz, they may not have known it. As an A-list session bassist whose career began in the late-’50s, Ritz racked up thousands of studio sessions, playing on many hits including…