Why is this guy so happy?
It should be pretty obvious. Take a look at what he’s holding. He’s just won the G-String Ukulele raffled off at Dusty Strings’ Uke Fest Concert. It’s nice to see someone win who really appreciates the prize and this novice uke slinger seemed a little overcome by the gift.
The G-String is the uke of choice for James Hill, the ukulele wonder boy who shared the stage with the ever remarkable Del Ray and the bluegrass inspired Boulder Acoustic Society. Wow, that was a lotta ukulele flying around and in so many different flavors! Click through all that linky goodness if you want to visit the audio wonderland of the uke. You got your Latin stylings meets your bluegrass roots meets your wink wink nudge nudge 20s tunes meets your classically inspired meets your, well, tie it up with four strings and call it good!
But hey, I’ve said it before, what you should really do is get a uke. Whaddaya mean you can’t play? Who said you had to know how? (Back me up here, you know who you are.) Seriously, look at that happy, happy man with a uke in his hand. Look at James Hill (lower photo) in ukulele bliss. Are you telling me you don’t want to be that happy? G’wan, git. And listen, don’t be a cheapskate. Sure, you could pick up a 30 dollar axe, but scrape up a couple of extra bucks. Because seriously, you are not going to want to put it down once you pick it up.
Aside to Seattle people: Wow, Fremont is a DISASTER! It’s been a while since I’ve been there and last time it was winter, I think, so I just didn’t notice as much. Wow! It’s like REDMOND over there! WOW! What a heartbreaker!
[tags]ukulele, James Hill, Del Ray, Boulder Acoustic Society[/tags]
Yes! I know who I am, and I’m obliged to back-up the Nerd.
I was a musical imbecile.
I tried the cello from 4th to 8th grade, and sucked at it. That said, I’m–to this day–still not sure why Mr. Murcko was so furious when I quit the orchestra.
I tried the harmonica around 1985. That lasted about a month. I sucked.
I tried the guitar from 1996 to 1998. I even took lessons at the Old Town School of Folk Music–where Roger McGuinn taught before joining The Byrd. Complete failure. You guess it. Sucked!
So I laughed in the Nerd’s virtual face when she informed that I really must buy myself a uke. But I finally relented and, in December 2006, bought a relatively cheap Oscar Schmidt through Amazon. You know…just so I could write Nerd an email in a month or so telling her how wrong she was.
Guess what? She wasn’t wrong.
I’m beyond happy. I’m uke-phoric. When I play the uke, I don’t suck. I still can’t believe it.
The uke is easy. Ridiculously easy.
Why…just two hours ago, I was sitting on my patio playing “Just a Gigolo,” “In my Life,” “Baby Blue” (Badfinger), and “I’ll See You in my Dreams.”
Let me repeat. I was doing this on *my patio.* You know…where *all* my neighbors can hear me.
You, dear reader, need a uke. Don’t be a fool; listen to the Nerd.
My work here is done. Nerd, my invoice in is the mail.
Sal
I couldn’t agree more, everyone should own a uke. There’s no excuse not to. Judging by those pics, a beard would be a good addition too.
But, I have to say, I don’t find playing the uke easy. I find the uke forces you to be more creative with chords and rhythm than many other instruments.
The ukulele is too much fun in a tiny package. As far as being easy though, it’s sort of like chess. Easy to learn, hard to master.
But I can’t agree with you about Fremont. It’s pretty much the same group of yahoos it always has been, just with a little more polish on a couple corners.
If you had to put up with all the second-hand drama I have recently (being in close proximity to organizers of the Fremont Festival and parade) you might understand where I’m coming from.
HH
Can’t add much to the above comments. Yes, y’all should go out and buy a uke like RIGHT NOW. I’m still in my cheapskate stage, but my tinny little four-stringed bundle of fun really does make me very, very happy. 🙂