When I heard Jake would be playing at the Colonial Theater in Phoenixville, Pa, which is right down the road from me, I jumped at the chance to see him live. If you haven't seen him yet, do not miss the opportunity - on video and record he is amazing - live you will not believe your eyes or your ears.

Once good tickets were secured, I decided to take the express train out of my comfort zone and try to set up a video interview with him. Much to my delight, his media manager, Michael Bloom, and tour manager, Mark Darlen, were amazingly helpful in arranging time for the interview, and the rumors about Jake are true: he is the most friendly, gracious and humble person I have ever met.

First Excuse: While acoustically good, the Colonial is 100 years old, and those were hard worn years. My plan was two cameras and a sound recorder covering Jake and I sitting in the front row, but we had no control over the house lights so we had to set up on stage. There was only one seat, which I thought I should graciously let Jake have, especially since it was his seat. This left me rocking around on the squeaky floorboards of the stage. With all that rocking and squeaking, I decided to just go with the one best camera and sound source.

The final footage was cut into two nine minute videos. My questions with time stamps are listed below in case you want to jump to a specific question/answer.

Part 1

0:00 - There are a few people in a lifetime that are truly extraordinary in their field: people like Tiger in golf, Bruce in Martial Arts, and Michael in basketball. More than just successful, they make the impossible look effortless, and accomplish amazing feats with a grace and economy of motion that is beautiful to behold.

If you wanted to add a musician to that list, it would be Jake Shimabukuro. Listen to him play and you will assume you are listening to several musicians. See him play, and you will be amazed.

0:35 - Sometimes, when musicians reach a high level of skill they get trapped in that skill and lose sight of the music. While complex, your arrangements serve the music well and don’t come across as excessive. Is this a balance you work to maintain when you are composing and arranging songs?

2:45 - In Malcolm Gladwell’s book, The Outliers, he asserts that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to be world class at anything: hockey, playing classical music, you name it – 10,000 hours. At 40 hours a week, that’s about 5 years. When would you estimate that you crossed the 10,000 hour mark, and does that time period correlate with any milestones in your career?

6:08 - Rumor has it that you are finally releasing the fabled "Book of Jake Tabs" next year. Is this true, and do you have a song list and release date yet?

Part 2

0:00 - In addition to your solo work, you have toured and recorded with musicians as diverse as Bela Fleck, Jimmy Buffet and Yo Yo Ma. In which of these situations do you feel most comfortable, and in which do you feel the most challenged creatively?

5:00 - Your brother, Bruce, is a talented ukulele player too. Do you have plans to work together on any projects?

6:10 - James Hill is the other ukulele player in your range. Do you know each other, and will there ever be a Jake/James duet?

7:35 - At the other end of the ukulele experience range, there is me. If I was a baseball fan and met Babe Ruth, I would have to ask him to play a game of catch. I would like to try and play something together with you, if that's okay? (Last Excuse: This is my first performance on video, and I'm sure you can guess who was hitting the flat notes ;-)

Jake Shimabukuro:

Web Site: www.JakeShimabukuro.com
Photo Credit: Hisashi Uchida

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Rather than prattling on in my normal fashion about the amazing talent and generous nature of the subject of this interview, I offer instead a short poem about Ken Middleton in honor of his love of Haiku:

Illuminating

Things you never expected
Our ukulele!

Tab: Ken Middleton A Bluegrass Reel for Ukulele

As you will find out in the interview below, Ken is passionately engaged with the art of music, and with those who share his interests.  His commitment to musicians and their craft is clearly demonstrated in the care and detail with which he answered my humble questions.

Donnie Bubbles: In addition to the ukulele, you also play guitar and piano. When you choose an instrument for a song, how does that choice influence the structure of the song? What makes you choose the ukulele for a particular song?

Ken Middleton: It is really more a question of what instrument interests me at the moment. At the present time that instrument is the ukulele. I don’t believe that a song will sound better because you choose a particular instrument to accompany it - it will just sound different. Unquestionably, some songs sound great on the guitar, and some sound like were meant for the piano, but I believe that any song can be played on any instrument, as long as you don’t just want to copy the original version. If you take a well-known guitar song, for instance, and try to copy the guitar part on the ukulele, you will be in danger of just making the ukulele sound like a toy guitar. I think that the secret is to choose a song (any song) and try to make it your own. In other words, play it in a way that works on the ukulele. A great song will work well, even with a very simple accompaniment.

In short, I just choose the songs that interest me and I don’t pick them just because I think they will sound good with a ukulele accompaniment. I try to keep the accompaniment straightforward and uncluttered. Fancy playing doesn’t necessarily make good music.

When I am recording a song I usually play it live one vocal part with one ukulele part. I try to avoid overdubbing, miming and multi-tracking. I like the simplicity of this process. That’s not to say that I don’t use multi-tracking at other times. I think that modern audio software makes just about anything possible, and some YouTubers use it to great effect.

When I record a song, what I don’t usually do is to listen to the original before I record my version. Neither do I practice the song very much (if at all) before recording it. I find that this keeps the music fresh and gives it the live feel that I really like. It may have a few wrong notes, but so what?

DB: As a lifelong Glass/Reich/Riley fan, I was so excited to hear you doing minimalism on the ukulele. Have you come across a song or style of music where the ukulele could not work?

KM: I really feel that the ukulele has not even come close to reaching its potential as a serious instrument. I’m really interested in expanding the possibilities of the ukulele. In the UK particularly, many people still think of it as a comedy instrument and immediately start talking about George Formby. Now I’ve nothing against that style of playing, it’s just not for me.

I was recently teaching the topic of Minimalism to a high school music group and I realised that the ukulele was the perfect vehicle for conveying some of the effects and techniques of this style. Just as Steve Reich had used the marimba, I decided to try the ukulele. Minimalism works well if you are economical with the way you use the instrument. Because the ukulele has its limitations (like few strings, range of only a couple of octaves, less volume than most instruments), it should work very well only playing a minimal amount of material. I have hardly had chance to explore the possibilities of minimalism yet. There will be more to come this year.

DB: The bulk of your covers are Leonard Cohen songs. While most people know of him, far too few could identify more than a couple of his songs. What could we all learn from a closer study of Cohen’s works?

KM: Yes, I have always loved Leonard Cohen’s music. About 40 years ago I learned the finger-picking patterns to all the songs from his first couple of albums. I could play them just like Leonard Cohen did and I used a Spanish guitar just like him. I have never forgotten them. Some of them are a little tricky to adapt to the ukulele, but with most of his songs I don’t even try. I prefer to do them my way. But there are one or two where I make a conscious effort to imitate him. My recording of Suzanne, for example, has an accompanying pattern that is very reminiscent of Cohen’s recording. The same would be true of The Partisan and Seems So Long Ago, Nancy.

So, what do I admire about Cohen’s songs? Well for one thing, he accompanies very sparingly - sometimes just a guitar. Perhaps this is one reason why they seem to work well on the ukulele. Another important factor is that he writes simple, beautiful melodies. But because he sings in that deep, sonorous voice, people often fail to recognise just how tuneful his songs are. Again this helps them to stand up with only the simplest ukulele accompaniment. One more thing I must say about Cohen’s songs is that they have wonderful lyrics. His words are sometimes mysterious, often obscure, but always interesting. Perhaps this is why the song Hallelujah has become so well-known. I really don’t think it has anything to do with Jeff Buckley.

DB: Everyone knows you need to practice, practice, practice to become proficient at an instrument. Of that practice time, what skills do you think are the most important to focus on for a beginner, and for an intermediate player?

KM: I don't practice as much as I should. As I have already said, I rarely practice songs. But one other thing, and this will horrify some people, I never play scales. However, I am definitely not saying that these things are bad – it’s just that I do things a little differently. I am not very interested in being a brilliant, virtuoso player. I don't care if I am never able to play Gently Weeps. What I prefer to do is to play simple things, but play them well. What I practice is techniques. And when I do a video for a piece of bluegrass or Celtic music (for which I have done a tab sheet), I like to get it more or less right so that less experienced players can learn from it.

The biggest asset to have when playing any instrument is to be able to understand the music you are trying to play. It doesn't matter how many different chords you can play if you don't understand how to use them. Learning something about the rudiments and theory of music is vital. This is perhaps the most important thing for an aspiring ukulele player to find out about. If you understand what you are playing, you don't have to rely on other peoples understanding, and you don't have to keep asking for the tab for a song that you like. There are a lot of young players out there who think that they can learn to play by some kind of osmosis. What they actually need to do is to practice and understand the basics. The problem is, of course, that young players hear something that they like and, naturally, want to play it for themselves. I have to say that there is a great deal of real enthusiasm for the ukulele at the moment and that is a really positive thing.

DB: I think know what you mean. I have been playing ukulele for just over a year. Most of my practice time has been spent leaning specific songs from tabs and chord sheets. While it is gratifying to be able to play my favorite song from beginning to end, and physically I am getting more and more comfortable with both fingering and strumming, I am starting to see the gaps in my musical knowledge and how those gaps are keeping me from moving forward from being a "player of songs" toward being a "musician."

KM: There is a bigger problem though. Compared to other instruments (guitar, flute, saxophone, etc.), there is a real lack of good instructional material for the ukulele. Great players like Dominator and Wilfried Welti are producing beautiful and inspired arrangements, but how do people get to the stage of being able to tackle these pieces? They need to learn the basics, but this is easier said than done. However, the situation is rapidly improving as the ukulele gains in popularity. New tuition books are becoming available all the time and I would encourage aspiring players to purchase some of this material and work though it conscientiously.

My wife Liz, for instance, would love to play the ukulele. The problem is that she wants to learn it without doing any work (she's given me the okay to say this). Just as with any other instrument, you must approach ukulele playing with a serious intention to learn correctly. This means practising the right things - and not just playing through your favourite song over and over again. I don't know whether Liz will decide to put the time in or not, but, if she wants to learn, this is what she has to do. For both the beginner and the intermediate player, the most important skill to learn is to understand the music you are trying to play. Then you need to practice it properly.

Fortunately, for those learning the ukulele, ukulele players are the most friendly, helpful, generous and considerate musicians that I have ever had the honour to be associated with. It is just incredible how many real friends you can make, and all because of one thing - the ukulele. It truly is a wondrous instrument.

DB: What projects do you have in store for us this year?

KM: I shall, of course, carry on with the things I am already doing. There are plenty of Cohen songs I haven’t tackled yet. As I’ve already said, I shall be composing some more minimalist music for the uke. I hope to record more jazz/swing music, particularly songs from the 30’s and 40’s. And I shall continue to review ukuleles. Any company that sends me an instrument will get my honest and impartial judgement.

However, I do have a project in the pipeline that I am really excited about. I am in the process of putting together several eBooks of ukulele music which should be available for purchase later this year. The first one is likely to be a collection of either bluegrass or Celtic tunes. These will be all-new and are not currently available on the Internet. The music/TAB will be in PDF format and will probably be accompanied by a MIDI file. By using a MIDI file I can email the eBook to the buyer. MIDI files can also be slowed down to make practice easier. The books will contain lots of information about how to play each of the tunes.

2008 was a really good year and things are going very well for me this year. I would really like to take this opportunity to thank all the players and ukulele enthusiasts who have given me so much support and encouragement on YouTube.

Ken's five (!!!!!) YouTube Channels

YouTube Channel - Ukulele: KenMiddletonUkulele

YouTube Channel - Haiku: KenMiddletonHaiku

YouTube Channel - Guitar: KenMiddletonGuitar

YouTube Channel - Christian: KenMiddletonSongs

YouTube Channel - Jazz: KenMiddletonMusic

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Remember that kid in high school? Not the one who made fun of your no-name sneakers, but the one who was always nice to everyone. Both athletics and academics always seemed to be effortless for him. His Ferris Bueller like charm would get him out of serious trouble with a wink and a smile. And when his name came up in conversation, your girlfriend’s eyes would get that dreamy far away look they used to get when she looked at you. Man you hated that kid, but mostly because he wasn’t you.

Maybe that’s why Wade Johnston hasn’t gotten the respect he deserves from the ukulele blogosphere – it just looks so damn easy for him! But this is no fly-by-night strummer clicking record and crapping out covers. His multi-track videos are more fun and better produced than most of the stuff put out by corporation backed professionals, and his original songs display a disarmingly mature sense of harmony, structure and inventive playfulness.

To find out more about Wade, we asked him the following questions:

Donnie Bubbles:  What was it that brought you to the ukulele, and what keeps you playing it?

Wade Johnston: The summer before I moved to college, my dad informed me that I wasn't allowed to take his guitar with me to school, (yeah, I wasn't happy about it, haha) so I decided to shop for one of my own. As I was searching for one on craigslist, I found a guy who had a nice Takamine and he happened to have an Ovation Applause Soprano Uke as well. I've always been interested in learning new instruments, so I bought it for about $50 bucks. I started learning it and quickly fell in love with it's playability and unique sound. In just a few months, it's become my go-to instrument when I'm bored at school because it just sits on my desk...begging to be played. :)

DB:  YouTube has been very, very good for you. Your participation in the UkeTube Live event put you onstage with “name-brand” acts, and online in front of an audience of more people than most of us will even meet in a lifetime. Could you have imagined this level of success just a year ago when you joined up?

WJ: Never in my wildest dreams--it still doesn't even seem real to me. I was a little embarrassed to start posting videos, and I actually didn't tell any of my friends until after I passed the 100 mark of subscribers. As you can see from my "Julia Nunes, I Love You" video, when I realized she acknowledge my presence, I freaked. As I'm sure you can imagine, when I found out I was going to San Francisco, I nearly died.

DB:  I have talked to several young musicians who scoff at the new media route for aspiring artists. Can you see any legitimate long term downside to self publishing and self marketing for this generation of performers? Could these dangers possibly outweigh the benefits?

WJ: The only problem that I've ever encountered with that is in the songwriting process. As a song writer, it's easy to grow tired of a song and change it up, months after you thought it was previously finished. Sometimes I'm apprehensive to post videos of originals, because if I change it in the studio, perhaps the fans won't like the professional version as much as the low-key video version. But overall, I think YouTube is a fantastic way to market yourself as an artist, and the benefits easily outweigh the dangers. It gives me a tangible medium to critique myself both as a singer/songwriter and a performer, and attract a worldwide fan base in the process. An besides, where else can you have unlimited takes at performing live for millions of people? :)

DB:  You have been less than shy about announcing your love and respect for Julia Nunes. When is she going to come to her senses and just marry you already? She has to admit, Julia Johnston does roll off the tongue quite easily…. 

WJ: Julia and I plan to get married in the spring of next year...and all of YouTube is invited! (hahaha) But really, Julia was a fantastic person to meet, and she was better than I could have ever dreamt her to be. She's everything she is on YouTube--and then some. I was truly privileged to have met, performed and become friends with her--it's a fairytale story worth telling to my grandkids when I'm 90 years old.

DB:  Your very good (even if it is light on ukulele) EP has just been released. What other projects do you have in store for us this year?

WJ: Well, next on my to-do list is to get a full length album out. God knows how long that will take--I've got a full plate with school, performing, and other endeavors. I'd also love to put together some tour dates across the country, but I'll have to leave that to luck (and YouTube). In the mean time, I'll just keep posting videos, I guess! :)

YouTube Channel: wadejohnston

Myspace: wadejohnston

Facebook: wadejohnston

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What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a ukulele? Maple leaves? Snow? Hockey? Not yet, but if Canada keeps it up, these things may become synonymous with the ukulele the way palm trees and grass skirts are now. First there was J. Chalmers Doane’s innovative use of ukuleles in music education. Then they gave us James Hill and his masterful technique, followed by the yodeling vaudevillian Ralph Shaw. What’s next – charming young Canadian lassies plying us with their witty wordplay and artful strumming?!?!

Too late! If you haven’t already, prepare to meet Zoe, better known as Ukulelezo, from Southern Ontario. Her choice of cover songs, and her earnest yet whimsical performances, have quickly made her a darling of the ukulele Internet set. And now she has started writing original songs that are both clever and hummable.

Chords and Lyrics: Ukulelezo (look in the info)

To learn more about Zoe, we asked her the following questions:

Donnie Bubbles: How did you come to play the ukulele? Had you already been playing another instrument?

Zoe: I literally picked it up on a whim. I was in a music store and they had some of the J. Chalmers Doane cool looking ukuleles on display. I think they look like the love child of a traditional ukulele and a flying V guitar, which is probably why I was immediately drawn to them. I picked one up to give it a strum, and although it wasn't in tune, I was compelled to buy it! I had played guitar for a few years. I'm very much an autodidact, so I taught myself to play in all sorts of alternate tunings, with chords I never bothered to find out the names for, but it never quite felt right. The ukulele felt like coming home.

DB: Surprisingly, with the millions of songs in human history, few have been written about the allure of the moustache, the career aspirations of future bikini models, or love stories featuring people who live with insects. How do you account for your unusual subject matter?

Zoe: I like amusing subjects. I'm drawn to unexpected stories and things that make me laugh. Some of the best songs are written about love and people's own experiences, but I just can't write those kinds of songs. It takes a real bravery to put that out there, and I guess I'm just not ready yet. I appreciate it, but I can't do it. Instead, I will bring you "Urban Dictionary - The Song" and "I want to be like She-Ra". I just made those titles up right now. They have not been written...yet.

DB: As a child of the punk era, it’s heart warming to know that someone younger than me has heard of Jello Biafra. Is this due to your having worked in a record store? Are we, as a society, losing something with the demise of the record store, or is the expanded-reach/lower-entry-bar of the digital age worth the cost?

Zoe: I used to listen to the Dead Kennedys in high school. It was music to skip class to! I'm a fan of a lot different types of music: Jazz, Blues, Folk, Rock, Funk, Electronica, Rap, Bluegrass, Punk, the list goes on and on. It just depends what kind of a mood I'm in that day. I love independent record stores and spending hours trolling through the bins, talking to other customers and finding out what they are into. I hope there will always be a place for them, but the digital age brings music to ears all over the world much more easily. I don't think being a musician is easy, but there are now so many accessible forums and ways to get your music heard! I've discovered so many great bands and songwriters through blogs, Myspace, YouTube and other Internet adventures, that I probably would never have heard of before the digital age. I think it's worth the cost - anything to give musicians more of a chance.

DB: Your duet with Seeso on Angel from Montgomery was described by Woodshed of Ukehunt as “bursting with sexual tension.” Ummm – was the duet experience good for you? Do you have more duets planned?

Zoe: I don't know about that whole "sexual tension" thing. I recorded my part first, by myself, in my room, in another country! It was a lot of fun to do though, and Seeso is a great player, writer and person in general. I've never met him, but hopefully I'll get the chance. It would be great to sing with him live, and we both really love that song, so maybe someday. I don't have any more duets planned right now, but if anyone is interested, I'd love to hear from them!

DB: You are publishing one new song a month for Grumpy Coyote’s Bring the Song Challenge. Do you find that the self-imposed deadlines help focus your creative energies?

Zoe: Yes! I'm a terrible procrastinator. I have a lot of first verses to songs I haven't completed yet. Ideas will run around in my head for a long time. I usually need to force myself to sit down and flesh it out into a full-fledged song. There are always too many distractions, so a deadline, even self imposed, is key to me being at all productive!

YouTube Channel: Ukulelezo

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A mostly fictional Marvel Comics style origin story of Seeso in honor of his fanboy proclivities:  Young Narciso Lobo had a destiny. His father, Dr. Lobo, always thought it would be the family business of medicine, but fate had other plans. 

One night, while working as a roadie for a well known speed metal band to expand his musical knowledge, he was tuning the lead guitarist’s instrument before a show and snapped the two lower strings. Trapped between an angry mob of speed metal fans and a band that could not go onstage without a guitar, Narciso started to play on the remaining strings. Much to everyone’s surprise, he made those four strings sing in a way that soothed the crowd and inspired the world.

That was the moment Narciso transformed into his alter-ego, Seeso: Ukulele Hero! Lighting fast fingering and perfect picking! Ability to transcend space and time to perform duets around the world! Tabs your favorite song before you can think to look for it! Can convince ukulele girls to perform naked (every superhero needs a weakness!)

Eagles: Tabs: Eagles - Hotel California Tab - Ukulele (Ukulele Underground Forum)Vote for Seeso in the UkeHunt 2008 Video of the Year Contest!

To find out more about Seeso, we asked him the following questions:

Donnie Bubbles:  Okay, so the origin story is a little exaggerated. How did you really come to play the ukulele?

Seeso: I'm afraid your story is much more exciting than the truth. I picked one up in the Old Town School of Folk Music here in Chicago one day a couple of years ago, and instantly fell in love with the sound of her. I like the way she felt in my hands, and the portability was a factor. I bought it on the spot and haven't looked back. I've been almost exclusively playing the ukulele ever since. I'm grateful that I have a store in my neighborhood that carried ukes. Most people don't have that luxury.

DB: You have been hosting an Open Mic Night at the Subterranean in Chicago for more than five years. What has this experience taught you as a performer?

Seeso: First and foremost, hosting an open mic for so long has taught me that you have to earn your audience. You can't just play and expect people to quiet down and listen to you. You have to make them shut up. This doesn't always mean being loud and jumping around. Quietness sometimes works better. Usually, in fact.

Playing every week has also taught me how to play nice with other musicians. Jamming etiquette is a lost art. Oftentimes, performers will ask me to play with them during their set, and I've had to learn how not to step all over their parts. Knowing when not to play is just as important as knowing what to play.

Lastly, it has taught me to be myself. Earlier in my performing career, I tried too hard to be somebody that I wasn't. I'd try to sound like Eddie Vedder or whoever. When I found out who I was musically, my audience seemed to respect that. I'll never be able to sing like Otis Redding or write a song like Bill Withers. What I can do, is write from my own experiences, be specific, and sing in my own voice. It may sound obvious, but it's a discovery that not many musicians make. I'm grateful that I was able to identify the problem, and now I can continue down the road of self-actualization.

DB: While scouring the Internet for details about you, I stumbled on a table read you did for the Frank Chin play, The Chickencoop Chinaman, and it was a very convincing performance. Was the play ever produced? Is acting something you are pursuing?

Seeso: I've actually been a proud member of the Actor's Equity Association for about 5 years now. I do theater here in Chicago. That particular play was never produced, but I have done work for that company (A Squared Theatre Workshop) in the past. Acting is my first passion, music comes second.

My proudest theater moment was the production of "The Romance of Magno Rubio" at the Victory Gardens in Chicago. We were nominated for two Jeff awards, which is like New York's Tony awards. The play is about Filipino migrant farm workers in California in the 1930's.

DB: From when you were first learning the ukulele, can you remember one skill or lesson that you felt had the biggest impact on your playing ability?

Seeso: The one lesson that helped me was to just know that the ukulele is a different animal, a different beast. You have to be in a certain headspace when you play the uke. I'd been a guitar and piano player for years, so I had to understand that I wasn't going to be able to play it like a guitar. If you go in expecting a guitar sound, you'll always be disappointed. Once you accept that, you can let the ukulele be what it is. The ukulele is the most pleasing sounding instrument in the world. If I had to choose one instrument to play for the rest of my life, it would be the deceptively simple, versatile, humble ukulele.

DB: What new adventures can we expect from you this year?

Seeso: I'm finally going to record my album this year. It's tentatively titled, "Elvis and Autumn Leaves." Look for it to be released in late Spring, early Summer. I'm working on new songs at the moment, and I'll post them on YouTube when they're ready for human consumption. I've also got some more collaboration videos planned. They're great fun.

Speaking of collaborations, the collab that I did with Twank Star on "Thank You For Leaving Me" is available now on iTunes. Just go to: 

Twank is the newest addition to T-Pain's Nappy Boy record label, so I have high hopes for that little tune. Keep your fingers crossed! I'm really proud of that little song that could. I know it's against all odds to have a hit ukulele hip hop song, but who knows? Stranger things have happened.

If you'll allow me the indulgence, I'd just like to take some time to thank all my YouTube subscribers. The effect of your support has been immeasurable. I was just about to give music up, really. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Here in frigid Chicago, I'm warm and cozy when I read your comments and emails.

There are several ways to stay up to date with my shenanigans -

http://youtube.com/seeso
http:/myspace.com/narcisolobo
Also, find me on Facebook! Just search for "Narciso Lobo."

Vote for Seeso in the UkeHunt 2008 Video of the Year Contest!

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Once, stuck in the car with three screaming toddlers, I desperately put two empty raisin boxes on my fingers and made a puppet I called "Raisin Dog." Raisin Dog, who had a very bad French accent, was far funnier than I have ever been. The ukulele seems to inspire funny in people the way this simple puppet did for me. Maybe it's the small size, or the plucky sound, but the uke seems to pull it out of people.

One of the funniest people playing ukulele, and one of the best young song writers I have heard in years, is Danielle Anderson, who performs under the very humorous moniker, Danielle Ate The Sandwich. Behind her thick framed glasses, Danielle has the facial elasticity of a silent movie star. Fortunately for us, she is anything but silent, has a lovely voice, and writes songs that say things in a simple yet expansive way. For example, from her song On Planet Earth:

In a factory
in a small Midwestern town
there are women
manufactured by the hour
and they are sexy
and they know more about comic books than me
and when you're gone
I worry that they've found you

This lyric demonstrates the "show, don't tell" dynamic she has down so well. Or, if you still need convincing, listen to the word craft in yet another great video from her forthcoming album:



To find out more about this rising musician, we asked her the following questions:

Donnie Bubbles: More and more of your songs have been on ukulele lately. Is the uke your official instrument of choice these days, and why or why not?

Danielle Ate the Sandwich: I do love the ukulele the most! So far, it's the instrument that best compliments my songwriting style and singing voice. Aside from it being a crowd pleaser (people love tiny things), it's fun to play and easier for me to work around than the guitar. Also, it's easier for me to find the right tone or sound of a song I'm looking for on the ukulele. The chords tell stories on their own. The ukulele and I have a symbiotic relationship. I whisper, "Let's write a song about my mother's father's death" and the ukulele says back to me, "Gm-F-C."

DB: Sorry, but I have to ask about the name. Whose sandwich did you eat, and why has it left you branded as the one who ate it?

DATS: The name came after a long, late night of desperate attempts to finally decide on a name to call myself when I play music. I don't love the sound of my first and last name together. It doesn't evoke interest or imagery or any sense of anything really. So Danielle Ate the Sandwich is the name I came up with. But to really answer your questions…It was Prince William's Reuben and there is a king's ransom out for my head for such acts of treason!

DB: Do you find, as I did with the Raisin Dog puppet, that the persona of "Danielle Ate The Sandwich" begins to take on a life of her own?

DATS: Absolutely. I am a different person when I perform and the more I do it and the more comfortable I get with myself as a singer and as a performer, the more I morph in to this character. To me, a successful performance is entertaining your audience through music and genuine emotion as well as letting them into your world through conversation and making jokes and showing who you are as a person. I want to give people a reason to watch me and to listen to me. I love to perform. I love the things that come out of me. I feel more powerful and self-assured. I feel like I have the right to be loud and obnoxious. It's silly, though, how I work as a person and as a musician. I don't really like to be around people, but I love to be in front of them. You want to see a monkey dance? Give Danielle a microphone.

DB: The name of your new album is called Things People Do, which is also who you quote as your musical influence on your web site. Can you elaborate on this? Are you amused or befuddled by the things people do?

DATS: I say my influences come from the things people do, because it's as simple and as complicated as that. I write songs about things I've seen or felt or experienced or wondered about or tried to put myself in the shoes of but never had the slightest idea how to. I think that the things people do are amusing and awful and brilliant and beautiful. One thing I've concluded about life is people do the things they do. We're monsters and madmen and we're capable of so much and usually do so little. When you think about it like that, about all of those possibilities, there are a lot of songs to be written.

DB: You have a "Coffee House" tour coming up at the end of January. Have you done many live performances? On the dates you share with other performers, will you be playing together, or one after the other?

DATS: I have played a handful of shows in Fort Collins and Denver, Colorado. I've played a butt-load of open mic nights. This is where I got my start and feel most at home. I can go there and get lost in a dark bar and drink beer and not have to talk to anybody, but get the chance to play for people. I am very excited about my upcoming show on the 27th of January at Pianos in New York City. I will play a set, followed by Part Bear (myspace.com/partbear) and then we will play some songs together. It will make a very interesting mush, because I am a little bit country and they are quite a bit rock 'n' roll. It's part of Liberated Matter's Cross Pollination Series where they mix two unlike acts and get them to play together. I will also be playing a show on the 29th at Stain Bar with Kellie Rae Powell (http://www.kelliraepowell.com/), a beautiful ukulele player and singer. I would love to play with her, but we haven't talked about doing anything yet. My show on the 30th at Tillie's Coffee Shop in Brooklyn with Liz Wood (youtube.com/kittenmildew) should be a good time. We've talked about playing some songs together. I'm trying to talk her into playing "Time of My Life" from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack and she is politely refusing. She obviously has more self-respect than I do.

YouTube Channel: daniellesmagic

Myspace: danielleatethesandwich

More UkeToob Danielle Ate The Sandwich

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The ukulele might be a time machine. More than any other instrument I can think of, the ukulele seems to pull players back to the early 1900's when the instrument had it's first heyday. Howlin' Hobbit is one man that has jumped through this portal and broadcasts his love of the period's music back to our time.

When you see Mr. Hobbit holding a tiny uke in his arms, you can't help but smile. This is a man with thick paws that make you think butcher more than surgeon, and you would expect him to sound more like the former than the later. But when he starts to play, picking and strumming out rags and hot jazz with speed and grace, he defies your expectations and delights your ears.

Chords and Lyrics: Fats Waller Aint Misbehavin - Ukulele

To find out more about Howlin' Hobbit and his music, we asked him the following questions:

Donnie Bubbbles: Was it the ukulele that brought you to hot jazz, rags and tin pan, or was it the other way around?

Howlin' Hobbit: I'd always liked the music, and I played some on my guitar, especially rags and blues with the more ragtime accompaniment. When I started to get more into the ukulele (the whole story is here) was when I found that the more interesting chord progressions were lots easier than their counterparts on the guitar. Plus, I just like the sound (and portability) of the uke better. It's a win-win!

DB: As a performer, you range from solo busking to more formal shows with your band, Snake Suspenderz. In between those two, where do you derive the most satisfaction from performing?

HH: With the band, definitely. We swing way better together than I do solo. And I just like working and/or hanging out with them.

DB: Music Theory is the best, and the most frightening thing, that anyone who plays an instrument should learn. Your Cheater Theory lays out the most important concepts better than any of the many books and articles I have read on the subject. How did this project come about, and do you plan to produce more work of this type?

HH: Glad you got use out of my little screed. It mainly came about from seeing the same kind of questions reappearing regularly on the bulletin boards on the subject. And, as even your question reflects, the attitude that theory was way scary.

Yes, you can go deep into it and get pretty esoteric. Some of the real theory wonks on the boards (i.e. the guys and gals who really know what they're talking about) would do that and all around you could hear the digital world version of the subtle sound of eyeballs glazing over. I felt there was a need for something that taught the bare essentials so that you could play and talk with other musicians and all be on the same wavelength.

But it wasn't as much my work as it was just writing down various bits I'd learned from other folk and asking several more knowledgeable folk to look it over and make sure I hadn't made too many egregious errors.

As far as upcoming projects of that nature, yep. I'll be producing a somewhat smaller document listing out all the hints, cheats, and mnemonics that I use in order to understand the Circle of 5ths. It's not that scary either and once you get a reasonable grip on it all sorts of things become clearer and easier.

I'm also going to be posting a blog entry on the songwriting process I use. Maybe I'll make it into a downloadable afterwards (though it's not a lot to remember).

DB: When you were just starting out with the ukulele, was there one thing you learned, or a hurdle you crossed, where you felt like you made a huge leap in playing ability?

HH: I tend to make progress on these sort of things in a long series of small increments. I can't think of any one "Aha!" point. Maybe triplets. They can really add to an arrangement and getting them relatively smooth was a good thing.

I think the biggest hurdle is mental. The ukulele is relatively easy to learn and is unfortunately often pitched with that as its main feature. Then when someone new runs up against a chord they can't quickly get under their fingers they tend to ask on the forums for ways around it instead of just practicing until they get it.

The (insert chord name here) isn't an impossible dream. Pretty much anybody who doesn't have a health issue (bad arthritis or something like that) can master pretty much any chord. It just takes getting over the mental hurdle and resolving to practice until you get it right.

DB: I see you are appearing at the National Kazoo Day Fest in Portland at the end of the month. Are there other performances or projects you are working on for the near future?

HH: We should be releasing our new CD later this month. It's titled Serpentine (and I hope everybody who reads this buys one. Or heck, two. What a great gift!) ;-) It is currently planned for 15 or 16 songs, all but two of them originals. Some are by Thad, some are by me, and some are co-written by the both of us. You can currently hear some rough mixes on the new Snake Suspenderz MySpace page.

We've decided, heck with what the Chinese zodiac says, this is the Year of the Snake (Suspenderz). We're putting in lots of applications to festivals and starting a regular regimen of contacting other venues. Once the new CD is done we're going to continue writing songs

We're also working on getting our "tour chops" together. We'll definitely be doing something as far south as Eugene, OR, probably by late winter/early spring. We've got a partially developed plan for a regular ukulele-centric night that can also be taken on tour and more Snake Suspenderz merchandise is in the works.

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Al Wood, who you probably know better as Woodshed, the prolific author of the Ukulele Hunt website, may be the most important person in the ukulele universe. His daily blog postings, tabs and chord sheets in countless genres, instructional books, video recommendations, interviews, and links to ukulele information both urbane and inane, have made Ukulele Hunt the de facto system of record for all things uke.

In the last few months, Al has published an exceptional book on How to Play Blues Ukulele, compiled, contributed to and promoted a book by well known tabbers to benefit Ukuleles for Peace, and published a free mini-book, So You've Just Got Your First Ukulele, that I wish had been around when I got my first uke.

His fast fingering in this performance of The Pink Panther Theme explains how he can produce so much:

Henry Mancini: 

Tabs: Henry Mancini Pink Panther Tabs - Ukulele

Surprisingly, with all this output, Mr. Wood has said very little about himself.  Who is the man behind the ukulele?  To find out, we asked Al the following questions:

Donnie Bubbles: Of all the musical instruments in the world, you picked the ukulele. What was it that drew you to the ukulele?

Al Wood: I started playing the guitar at about 13 and was a complete addict. A couple of years later I picked up a ukulele. Because I didn't want to waste time not playing something guitar shaped, I mostly played it while I was walking round the house, sat on the lav etc. I ended up playing it more and more.

I think the main appeal of the ukulele is the strings being inside out - much like my brain.

DB: What is your process for writing ukulele tabs? Do you work a song out by ear, start with sheet music for other instruments, talk to the artists?

AW: For chords, I always work by ear. For tabs, I work by ear if it's played on the ukulele (along with a video if there is one) or if the tune is simple.

Other than that, it varies a great deal. It's probably best to illustrate it with two tunes I'm working on right now.

One is a version of Davey Graham's Angi. I used to play it over and over on the guitar, so I'm very familiar with the tune and how it's played. I'm transposing in my head, using my ears and letting the arrangement develop in slowly when I'm playing it. With this one, I'm not tabbing anything until I've got the entire arrangement pretty well set.

The other one I'm working on is Edward's Lullaby from the film Twilight. For this one, I worked out the right hand of the piano on the uke and the left hand (the chords) on the guitar and tabbed them up. I jiggled the tab around a bit using Guitar Pro until I found the key I thought it would work best on. So now I've got the chords and melody in my head and I'm working up an arrangement by playing it over and over and I'll tab it once it's set.

DB: You are prolific, and almost everything you provide to the ukulele community is generously given free of charge. Do you have a day job to support this hobby/habit?

AW: After a number of jobs in accounts departments, it became obvious that I was completely unemployable. I have real authority issues and it became increasingly difficult not to say things like, "Why are we doing this like complete fucking morons?"

So now I have my own Internet business. And the ukulele stuff is a big part of it - hopefully I'll be able to ditch all the boring stuff and just do the music stuff at some point.

I see Uke Hunt as an investment in the future. Right now, the Internet is a massive opportunity for absolutely anyone to establish themselves in any field. That's mostly due to the big companies being completely clueless. Someone like Mel Bay should be working their asses off to make sure they're top of Google for 'ukulele tabs' and 'ukulele chords', but they're nowhere to be seen. And they certainly shouldn't be leaving the entire ukulele ebook sector to some no-talent English boy.

I think now is the time to build something that's the best in the world before the dip gets too big and the established sites are set in stone.

DB: Is there a Woodwife? Little Woodkids? Woodpets?

AW: No, no and no.  I'm a loner at heart. I need time by myself and a lot of it.

DB: An intelligent, yet musically ignorant extra-terrestrial species overthrows the earth and abolishes ukuleles. What do you do to fill the void in your life?

AW: Start an underground newspaper and fight for the overthrow of the evil alien overlords.

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We are living in a ukulele renaissance period.  Jake and James are pushing the technical bounds, we have great tabbers like Dom and Woodshed, and more and more people are picking up the instrument.  

The thing I am most excited to see is artists pushing the instrument into uncharted sonic areas.  One such artist, Merrill Garbus, who performs and records as tUnE-YaRdS, creates music that no one would immediately associate with the ukulele.  Her songs rock and swing and kick with all the fun of the first punk wave, and are as abrasive as they are hummable.

This song, Jumping Jack, recorded live at the Forward Music Festival in Madison, WI, can be found on her album BiRd-BrAiNs.

Merrill graciously agree to participate in the following interview:

Donnie Bubbles:  First off, what did you do to that ukulele? Is that a pickup under all that duct tape? Did you make other modifications?

Merrill Garbus:   Hmm. Well, my original uke was stolen at a show quite a few months ago now, and the mistakes I made on that one I tried not to make again (namely drilling a hole into it.) I have a Schatten autoharp pick-up mounted just below the sound hole. I got the pick-up in a hurry right before a tour, and the autoharp was the only one they had in stock. I have a lot of trouble with feedback (which probably has a lot to do with it being an autoharp pick-up, but I'm sort of attached to the sound now.) Because of the feedback I stuff most of the instrument with paper towels I find in the bathrooms of clubs, and then I use hockey tape to tape up the hole and secure the pick-up wires, etc.

The only other "modification" is that although it's a tenor ukulele, I tune it like a baritone, with the lowest toned string as a G, instead of a C as people tell me tenors should be tuned. My mom picked up my first instrument at an Army/Navy store in Maine and there was no one there to tune it correctly, so I sort of guessed, and then the songs came, and I couldn't turn back. I stick paper underneath some of the strings on the upper bridge because they're a bit loose on the instrument.

DB:  Your sound is very unique, but I can't stop thinking of other artists while listening to your album, BiRd-BrAiNs. Songs remind me of Nirvana, Laurie Anderson, Billie Holiday and the Soweto rock of the 90's. Who do you think is the most influential on your musical style?

MG:  Those are cool comparisons, and great that they're so disparate. There are many influences that pop into and out of this album. In making it I realized just how much of the 1980's are in my blood, which is maybe why it felt so appropriate to release it on cassette tape. Cyndi Lauper's She's So Unusual album, Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", Graceland, that's all in there. People tend to pick up on the African influence, which includes much music from Kenya and Tanzania where I spent some time, as well as Pygmy music of Central African Republic, dance music from Congo, and Johnny Clegg & Savuka from South Africa. I'm also an a cappella nerd, so anything having to do with multi-layered voices, doo-wop, etc., makes me a little nutso.

So to answer WHO is the biggest influence on this album? M.I.A. If I had to pick one person that made me want to do my own thing as a woman and explode onto recording devices all the sounds I have in my head, it's M.I.A. And Woody Guthrie. See, I can't even pick one person if I try.

DB:  When you play live, you build your songs on short loops on stage and then play and sing along with them. When you are writing, do you start with these loops and pull the melody and lyrics out of them, or do you create the other way around?

MG:  The loops definitely came out of a need for accompaniment, so I'd say usually I'm writing songs that I will later work out on the looping pedal for the live show. When I write a song I'm thinking about it pretty spatially, as in I'm considering the space it takes up, sonically and even visually. (I don't know if that exactly describes it, but I've been trying to articulate it to myself lately, and that's what I've come up with.) I've found it hard, because of the repetitive nature of the loop, to find the movement and space there, so I tend to work the other way, dealing with the live performance of a song after it's written.

But that said, because I was on tour so much this fall, I got really into improvising live with the looping pedal. I wouldn't say I was writing full songs on it, but I started to experiment with layering vocal lines, and then pounding out beats on the floor tom and looping that, and it was all very satisfying. I did actually come up with a song that way, which is all about repetition and a sort of meditative, driving beat, so I suppose the pedal is influencing me more than I think it is.

DB:  At first glance, with the over-modulation and distortion techniques used on many tracks, your music is jarring, yet there are so many sweet, quiet moments on the disc. Do you feel you use these two poles more for balance, or juxtaposition?

MG:  Probably a bit of both. I tend to loathe art and music that is oversimplified. Human beings are complex, I'm complex, you're complex. Music that contains no complexity, no tension, doesn't move me or affect me, so I seem to avoid it. I love simplicity, but even the simple moments on that album seem to have some twist to them that makes them weird, or uncomfortable, complicated. I also fear making music that doesn't inspire action in people. I don't want people to fall asleep, I want them to wake the heck up. Whatever that means: dancing, crying, yelling at me, cringing, dreaming, anything but falling into inaction, lifelessness. So spitting an odd sound out here and there and adding some thorns to the rose-songs always seems like a survival mechanism to me as a songwriter.

And balance, yes; perhaps I try to balance things too much, compulsively. But compositionally, whether it's about the composition of the entire album, or one song, or even a verse of a song, I am concerned with balance and proportion. If you work towards balance as a general rule, then you can wield imbalance as a powerful tool whenever you want to.

DB:  I have seen footage of you playing violin. Are you classically trained? Did the violin influence your choice to play ukulele, or was it some other factor?

MG:  Not classically trained, and you are kind to use the words "playing" and "violin" in reference to me! My dad plays Old Timey fiddle and he taught me after high school. I love playing the fiddle because of the double-stops, or two strings played at once. The fiddle can create this real blanket of sound, through drone and texture. I first started on the uke because I was a puppeteer and writing a puppet opera in which I needed an instrument that would fit in my puppet stage. When I picked up the tenor uke, it had the same power as the fiddle to create sound that was rich and dense at the same time as being flexible and open. I had never thought about the connection between those two instruments before, but they do have that in common. And with both, you don't have to do much to create a sound that is pretty enthralling and even physically pleasing. For someone like me with instrument phobia, both were perfect objects to pick up and play and enjoy, right there on the spot.

In March, Merrill is touring with her other band, Sister Suvi,  and then opening for Thao with the Get Down Stay Down in April.

Band Website: myspace

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