And, in Ukulele Related News…

Ed, Me, Pete, Mark, and Jim on the set at New Day Northwest

My band, The Castaways, played Crazy Train for a live studio audience on King 5’s New Day Northwest.  And yes, it’s ukulele, not ukelele. Yes.

This instrument is on the rise and the uke can also be used to rock out. Our guests today, “The Castaways” are a versatile ukelele band …Today, they are here with us to perform Ozzy Osborne’s “Crazy Train.”

My story about ukulele camp is up on the SF Chronicle. It took me forever to write because too much happened when I was at ukulele camp and I couldn’t filter it all down to an essay sized bite. A year and a half later, here’s a story about one of the many ways I was affected by my time there. This is the smallest thing, but…

The result of my week in this program was not, as I had hoped, a deeper understanding of Hawaii. Instead, I felt even more confused and divided. My companions were a mix of mainlanders with money, island expats (as they call Hawaiians who have moved to the mainland) and locals – another complicated mix of aging hippies, musicians and island kids with tough backstories. I spent my time switching among elation, frustration, confusion and weird plunges into sadness.