Mighty Uke

Last week, two different people from two very different places asked me about starter ukes. I tell everyone the same thing: Get a Flea, I love mine, it’s portable, made of plastic (mostly) and fits in the overhead compartment on the plane, plus, it’s sturdy as all get out and does okay if you leave it in a hot car. It’s not super cheap, but it’s not irreplaceable either and it’s friendly, oh so friendly. You’ll be glad you bought something a little nicer than that 30 dollar shiny lacquer number. Okay, the price has gone up since I got mine, but I stand by my pick. I also hear good things about the low end Kala ukuleles and Lanikai makes a decent little instrument that’s not too expensive.

I recently sold my Lanikai, not because I didn’t love it, but because there were getting to be too many ukes about the place and I was trying recoop some of the cash I dropped on my stunning (no longer in production!) koa wood Pono. Selling the Lanikai also netted me smoked salmon in the mailbox — not the annoyance it sounds like as said smoked salmon was vacuum sealed and unbelievably delicious.

In addition to answering various questions from ukulele novices, the recent past has been chock-a-bloc with ukulele madness. My “band”, the Flip Flops (“We’re not a real band!”), played our usual gig at bingo night at the local senior center. I hooked up with another uke slinging pal to practice our tune for an upcoming open mic (I ain’t sayin’. Want to know what, we’re playing? You’ll have to show up.). And I had another practice session for a fundraiser in March where I’m part of Coconut Humu, another non-band named after my favorite souvenir from Hawaii, a coconut painted to look like a humuhumunukunukuapua’a.

Tis the season, apparently, to play the ukulele. It feels fitting that Mighty Uke was rolling through town. Mighty Uke is a sweet little documentary about the resurgence of the uke. The filmmakers let the uke’s advocates do all the talking — the musicians, teachers, hobbyists, and historians seem amazed and enchanted by my favorite four stringed instrument; they talk about the uke as though they’d fallen in love with it yesterday, even though some of them have been at it for, well, if you take uke star Jake Shimabukuro as an example, since they were four.

The screening I attended was part of the Mighty Uke Road Show — Canadian uke master James Hill is traveling with the filmmakers — he played a short set after the movie was over. James Hill makes crazy sounds with his uke and a few extra unexpected objects — chopsticks, a cheap comb, tape — it’s surprising to listen to. He also composes beautiful tunes that are bluegrassy or classical or something else entirely and it’s fun and inspiring to listen to him play.

But the best part of the Mighty Uke Road show isn’t James Hill or the movie itself, though both are excellent and worth your time — it’s that the road show is participatory, and if you’re in a uke mad town like Seattle in a tiny but perfect theater like the Jewelbox at the Rendezvous, you get to play your uke in a room full uke fanatics who love the uke as much as you do, as much as everyone in the movie does, as much as that fiddle playing Canote brother does. You get to sing and be part of the ukulele community, you get to be performing artist and subject of the documentary and friend to everyone in the room because you’re all tied together by the magic strings of the ukulele.

There’s information about the Mighty Uke Road Show here. Check under “See it” to find out if it’s playing near you. And if it’s not, get in touch with the Mighty Uke crew and ask them what you have to do to bring a screening to your town. The trailer is below — check it out and see if you don’t find yourself wishing, just a tiny bit, that you had a ukulele. It’s weird, it’s wonderful, it’s wacky, it’s irresistible.