The Paul Hemmings Uketet

2014 NAMM Show

noreply@blogger.com (uketet) — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 17:09:00 +0000

Just got back from a whirlwind weekend at the NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA, where Gaku and I were invited to perform as guests of Takumi Ukulele Company. The NAMM Show is everything you've heard it to be and more -- 90,000 people wandering through a labyrinth of booths displaying products from every musical instrument manufacturer you could imagine. Complete sensory overload.

Nonetheless, we had a great time playing, meeting people, and catching up with old friends. Our sincere thanks to our gracious hosts, Nobu Ochi and Hitomi Kato from Takumi Ukulele Company.

And thanks also to Andrew Kitakis from Hawaii Music Supply for pointing his recording gear in our direction. Here's a video that Andrew recorded of me and my partner in crime, Gaku Takanashi, playing "The Chicken":

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (uketet) — Wed, 01 Jan 2014 08:53:00 +0000

Happy New Year everyone! Wishing you all a happy, healthy, and harmonious 2014...

Happy Holidays

noreply@blogger.com (uketet) — Wed, 25 Dec 2013 15:44:00 +0000

Okay, so I'll admit that I'm not a particularly huge fan of holiday songs. But the first songs I ever learned how to play were Christmas carols, painstakingly plonked out on the Casiotone keyboard I got on Christmas Day back in 1987. So the holidays and music have gone hand-in-hand ever since.

John Lennon's "Happy Christmas (War Is Over)" is another story though. It's not your regular run of the mill warm and fuzzy holiday tune. The lyrics are poignant. ("And so this is Christmas...and what have you done?") There's an abiding message of hope. But more than all of that, the music itself, with its open sounding suspended chords and constantly shifting tonal center, seems to capture the bittersweet feelings of the season we celebrate with the ones we love while remembering the ones we've loved and lost.

And so as 2013 draws to a close, this song seemed like the natural choice to record for my last video of the year. You can view it on YouTube (below) and/or download a free mp3 on Soundcloud (click here).

Thank you to everybody who helped support me in my musical endeavors in 2013 -- you all have my sincere gratitude. Looking ahead to 2014, I'm excited about a lot of things that are looming on the horizon, including a new studio album, a trip to the NAMM show in January, a return to the Menucha Ukulele Band Camp and the California Coast Music Camp, and much, much more. Stay tuned!

With warm wishes for a happy holiday season,

- PH.

November Workshops in Oregon

noreply@blogger.com (uketet) — Wed, 06 Nov 2013 17:39:00 +0000

After narrowly losing the New York City Marathon to Kenyan runner Geoffrey Mutai (and the 6,376 people who finished in front of me last Sunday), I’m setting my sights on this weekend’s trip to Oregon where I’ll be teaching my often-requested Beginning Chord Melodies and Uke N' The Blues – Midnight Bl...uke workshops in Eugene and Portland.

First up, I'll be at Pacific Winds Music in Eugene on Friday, November 15th, where I'm looking forward to following up with some of the folks that I met at last year's UKEtoberfest. I'll be teaching my Beginning Chord Melodies workshop from 7:00 to 8:30 PM. For complete details, please visit the Pacific Winds website at www.pacificwindsmusic.com. You can also call 541-343-5660 to pre-register.

My next stop will be at Artichoke Music in Portland, where I'll be teaching both the Beginning Chord Melodies and Uke N' The Blues workshops on Saturday, November 16th. We'll start bright and early at 10:00 AM (somebody had better bring coffee!!) with the Beginning Chord Melodies workshop. The Uke N' The Blues – Midnight Bl...uke workshop will follow at 12:00 PM. For complete details for this event, please visit the Artichoke Music website at www.artichokemusic.org, or call 503-232-8845 to pre-register.

See you soon Oregon!

- PH.

Thank You Seattle!

noreply@blogger.com (uketet) — Fri, 01 Nov 2013 17:36:00 +0000

Last month's concert at Empty Sea Studios and workshops at Dusty Strings were a ton of fun, thanks in no small part to the wonderful people who showed up to these events on a beautiful October weekend in Seattle.

Thanks to those of you that came out for the concert, and also to those who streamed the show live from the Empty Sea Studios website. And thank you also to everybody that came to my workshops at Dusty Strings – I had a great time working with you guys!

And finally, thanks also go out to my friends Chris Symer and Claudio Rochat-Felix who joined me on bass and drums, respectively, for the concert at Empty Sea Studios. For those of you who couldn't be there, here's a small taste of what you missed...

No Woman No Cry, live in Seattle:

2013 Lake Anne Ukulele Festival

noreply@blogger.com (uketet) — Wed, 10 Jul 2013 17:02:00 +0000

Back on the road again, this time to head down to the Washington D.C. area for this year's Lake Anne Ukulele Festival in Reston, VA. The festival runs from 11:00 AM to 5:30 PM on Saturday, July 13 -- you can find a complete schedule here.

I'll be joined once again by the inimitable Gaku Takanashi on UBass and Kirk Driscoll on drums -- my regular working trio -- and this year The Uketet will be playing the headlining slot from 4:30 to 5:30 PM. We'll be rolling out a batch of new tunes alongside some fresh takes on some old favorites.

I'll also be conducting two workshops on Friday, July 12, the night before the festival gets into full swing. Join me at the Reston Art Gallery at the Lake Anne Village Center, where I'll be teaching two new workshops that I unveiled in California last month:

"Beginning Chord Melodies" -- With some help from Duke Ellington and The Beatles, this workshop will focus on a beginner’s approach to constructing chord melodies on the ukulele, the foundation for full-sounding solo arrangements. (Beginning to intermediate.)

"Uke 'N The Blues -- Midnight Bl...uke" -- Kenny Burrell’s 1963 album Midnight Blue is a masterpiece of Blues-inflected jazz guitar. By exploring the music of this classic recording, this workshop will provide ukulele players with some simple techniques and an approach to soloing that will have their ukes singin’ the Blues. (Beginning to intermediate.)

Cost is $25 for one workshop, or $40 for both.

Looking forward to a great festival this year -- see you at Lake Anne!

- PH.

Back in Northern California

noreply@blogger.com (uketet) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 21:43:00 +0000

It's great to be back on the West Coast again, my home away from home away from home, where I'll be running around the greater Bay Area this week for some concerts and workshops. I'll be performing with a few different configurations of The Paul Hemmings Uketet -- some familiar, some brand new. I'll also be teaching a couple of new workshops: a "Beginning Chord Meldodies" workshop that will cover some easy chord melody arrangements of music from The Beatles and Duke Ellington, and a "Uke 'n' The Blues" workshop that will focus on the blues-inflected music of legendary jazz guitar player Kenny Burrell's classic Midnight Blue album. Here are the specifics:

* * * *
Monday, June 17
Dana Street Roasting Co.
744 W Dana Street
Mountain View, CA

6:00 PM -- "Beginning Chord Melodies" workshop
7:30 PM -- The Paul Hemmings Uketet in concert

* * * *
Wednesday, June 19
The Strum Shop
408 Roseville Square
Roseville, CA

6:00 PM -- "Uke 'n' The Blues: Midnight Bl…uke" workshop
7:30 PM -- The Paul Hemmings Uketet in concert

* * * *
Friday, June 21
The Palms Playhouse
413 Main Street
Winters, CA

8:00 PM -- The Paul Hemmings Uketet in concert

* * * *
Saturday, June 23
DaSilva Ukulele Co.
2547 8th Street, #28
Berkeley, CA

3:30 PM -- "Uke 'n' The Blues: Midnight Bl…uke" workshop
5:30 PM -- The Paul Hemmings Uketet in concert

Solo Ukulele Arrangement for Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke"

noreply@blogger.com (uketet) — Tue, 28 May 2013 13:14:00 +0000

I had some requests to post the TAB for my solo ukulele arrangement of Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke" from my recent YouTube video. You can find a transcription of this and other tunes, along with other learning materials, on the "Resources" page of my website at www.uketet.com/resources.htm.

"Kind of Bl...uke" at the 2013 Menucha Ukulele Band Camp

noreply@blogger.com (uketet) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 21:26:00 +0000

Just wrapped up another week back in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, where I had a great time teaching at this year's Menucha Ukulele Band Camp. It was a real treat to work with everybody involved, including the staff pictured here (L to R: Greg Canote, Nova Devonie, Marianne Brogan, Jere Canote, Matt Weiner, James Hill, Paul Hemmings, and Mandalyn May).

Unlike many other ukulele festivals, the Menucha Ukulele Band Camp is set up so that instructors have a chance to work with the same group of ukulele players for several days so that they can build a band and really focus on their repertoire.

My workshop was entitled Kind of Bl...uke, and my group learned several approaches to playing jazz on the ukulele by focusing on the music of the classic 1959 Miles Davis album Kind of Blue. We had a great time playing arrangements of So What, Freddie Freeloader, and All Blues, and our performance at the Thursday night concert (below) may go down in history as the first ever Miles Davis-inspired ukulele orchestra (but assuredly not the last).

Many thanks to everybody in my workshop who poured their blood, sweat, and tears into learning their parts and for making our Kind of Bl...uke workshop a great success!

And lastly, a big "thank you" goes out to Marianne Brogan for organizing a fantastic week at Menucha -- thanks Marianne!!

- PH.

Jazz Ukulele Arrangement of "Waltz For Debby"

noreply@blogger.com (uketet) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 07:18:00 +0000

I've hardly put my new Ko'olau ukulele down since it showed up on my doorstep a couple of weeks ago. Here's an arrangement of Bill Evans' beautiful jazz standard Waltz For Debby that features my new uke.

(For best audio and video, set resolution to 720p.)

You can also download a copy of this arrangement in standard notation and TAB by going to the "Resources" page.

"Blue Uke" TAB Transcription

noreply@blogger.com (uketet) — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 02:34:00 +0000

I finally made good on a promise to Oscar Whitehead, who I met in Australia at the Cairns Ukulele Festival. Oscar asked for a transcription of my tune Blue Uke, The first track on Introducing...The Paul Hemmings Uketet, so here it is in its entirety -- all seven pages of it!

Click here to download.

- PH.

The Upstage Bistro in Port Townsend and Seattle's Triple Door

noreply@blogger.com (uketet) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 05:56:00 +0000

After a great weekend in Eugene, I made my way north into Washington State and up through the Olympic Peninsula to arrive at The Upstage Bistro in Port Washington. I taught my Uke 'N The Blues workshop there, and had the chance to meet some great people from Ukuleles Unite, the local ukulele club. After the workshop I was joined by Seattle-based musicians Chris Symer on bass and Claudio Rochat-Felix on drums, and this inception of The Uketet ripped through two long sets for the wonderfully attentive and appreciative audience. Chris and Claudio are both top-notch musicians and even though it was the first time we'd all played together, the whole evening felt completely effortless. I was already looking forward to playing with them again the following night in Seattle.

After staying the night in Port Townsend at The Palace Hotel (a Victorian-era bordello that's been restored into one of the coolest hotels I've stayed at in a long time), I made my way across the Olympic Peninsula to Bainbridge Island and to the ferry that would take me to my final destination: Seattle. One scenic voyage across the Puget Sound later, I made landfall in Seattle and drove straight to The Triple Door, the last venue on my week-long mini-tour. I used all of my NYC-acquired street parking skills to finegle a spot right across from the club, in front of the stage entrance to Benaroya Hall, where I noticed a concert poster for none other than international ukulele-toting phenom Jake Shimabukuro. Somehow I'd managed to book myself on the same block, on the same night, in the same town, as the world's most well-known ukulele player. Too funny.

Nonetheless, the gig at The Triple Door was great fun and I was glad to have another chance to play with Chris Symer and Claudio Rochat-Felix. Hopefully this wasn't the last time that I get to play with them. After the show I packed up at lightning speed and tore down I-5 to try and return my rental car, check my bag, and get through airport security all in time to catch my red-eye flight back to New York. No problem.

It's weeks like the one that's just passed that make me feel incredibly fortunate to travel and play music. I had a wonderful time playing with some fantastic musicians, making some new friends, and catching up with people that I wish I got to see more of through the course of the year. Until next time...

- PH.

UKEtober Fest and Other Oregonian Goings-On

noreply@blogger.com (uketet) — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 04:02:00 +0000

Photo courtesy of Craig Chee

My mini-tour through the Pacific Northwest kicked off Thursday night at Ivories Jazz Club in Portland, OR, where I played with a version of The Uketet that featured Ed Bennett on bass and Tim Rapp on drums. What a total pleasure it was playing with these guys! Both are fantastic musicians and I hope this was the first of many times that I have an opportunity to work with them.

Early Friday morning I made my way down to Eugene for the first day of UKEtober Fest. After leading a bunch of very enthusiastic ukulele players through a couple of my workshops, I was joined by bassist Tyler Abbott and drummer Adam Carlson for a nice long set on the festival stage. Then I had a chance to reconnect with Eugene's own ukulele superstar Craig Chee, having met him in July at The Cairns Ukulele Festival in Australia. Craig introduced me to Aldrine Guerrero and Aaron Nakamura (of Ukulele Underground fame), and along with Seattle-based drummer JoJo Mascorella (from Casey MacGill's Trio), we headed to one of Eugene's barcades (which is as much fun as it sounds). Who knew that 80s arcade games and micro-brewed beer would be the perfect catalyst for making fast friends?

The next day at the festival consisted of more workshops and performances from the likes of Kate Power & Steve Einhorn, The Casey MacGill Trio (who you must check out if you haven't already!), a tour de force from Aldrine & Aaron, and many other wonderful acts. I was sorry that I missed Aaron Keim's set though, especially after spending a lot of time listening to his newest album on this trip.

After the festival wrapped up on Saturday, I finished up the weekend with a gig on Sunday night at The Jazz Station in Eugene, where I was once again joined by Tyler Abbott and Adam Carlson. It was a cozy and intimate venue and a nice place to finish up a great weekend.

It makes me tired just to think about everything that was crammed into this one weekend. Many thanks to Keith Blackwell and Oblio Stroyman for organizing such a great festival!

- PH.

A Week on the Road in the Pacific Northwest

noreply@blogger.com (uketet) — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 19:09:00 +0000

I'm looking forward to heading to the Pacific Northwest next month for some shows in Oregon and Washington. I'll be performing and teaching workshops at the UKEtober Fest in Eugene, OR, in addition to playing some shows at jazz clubs in Portland, Seattle, and Port Townsend. Check out the "Calendar" page for complete details.

If you're going to be attending one of my workshops at UKEtober Fest, you can get a head start by downloading the handouts from the "Resources" page.

See you back on the West Coast next month!

- PH.

        • October 18, 2012 -- Ivories Jazz Lounge (Portland, OR)

        • October 19 & 20, 2012 -- UKEtoberFest (Eugene, OR)

        • October 21, 2012 -- The Jazz Station (Eugene, OR)

        • October 23, 2012 -- Upstage Bistro (Port Townsend, WA)

        • October 24, 2012 -- The Triple Door (Seattle, WA)

Northern California and The Wine Country Ukulele Festival

noreply@blogger.com (uketet) — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 03:05:00 +0000

There's no place on earth quite like the Napa Valley at the onset of autumn, so I was delighted to have the opportunity to be a part of this year's Wine Country Ukulele Festival. I got to reunite with some friendly faces (like Sarah Maisel, pictured on the left) and worked with some great students in three of my workshops (handouts for which can be found on the "Resources" page by clicking here).

Saturday afternoon featured a performance by the Northern California incarnation of The Uketet that once again featured my longtime friend Andrew Enberg on drums in addition to newcomer Alan Ginter on bass. After our set at the festival, we packed up and headed over to the Oxbow Public Market to play at their "Fork It Over" event, a benefit for The Napa Valley Food Bank. Special thanks to Jill Durfee for putting on this very cool event for a very worthwhile cause and for inviting us to be a part of it. And a big thank you to Elaine de Man for organizing another great weekend at this year's Wine Country Ukulele Festival.

- PH.

Lake Anne Ukulele Festival

noreply@blogger.com (uketet) — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 14:11:00 +0000

Photo courtesy of Kathy Reitz

Back from Australia! After one night's sleep in my own bed it was already time to pack up the uke again to head down to Reston, VA, for the 3rd Annual Lake Anne Ukulele Festival. In a scene right out of a Ringling Bros. clown routine, Gaku Takanashi, Kirk Driscoll, and I all piled into a tiny Toyota Yaris with all of our gear, and after a brief run in with the law by way of an unwarranted $120 parking ticket courtesy of the NYPD, we were heading down I-95.

The festival was great and everybody made the best of the intense heat and stifling humidity. (Virgina in July!) There were a lot of excellent performances and the the crowd that was in attendance couldn't have made us feel more at home with their Southern hospitality. A very special "thank you" to the many people that helped offset the cost of an exorbitant New York City parking ticket by buying a CD!

The local ABC-7 News affiliate was also on hand; you can check out Josh Yospyn's photo diary of the day's events by clicking here.

The video below is our opening number at the festival, Blue Uke, and features a special introduction pour nous ami Française -- It was Bastille Day, after all.

Special thanks to Ann Granger and Eve Thompson for organizing this year's festival. We had a great time being a part of it!

- PH.

Update from Australia

noreply@blogger.com (uketet) — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 05:11:00 +0000

The 2012 Cairns Ukulele Festival is winding down. It's been a whirlwind week here and it feels like it's come and gone in a flash.

After almost 30 hours of continuous travel, I arrived in Cairns late last week and spent the weekend stocking up on food at the local Coles, snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef, and in general trying to figure out which way is up. On Tuesday I had a few radio interviews scheduled with a handful of Queensland radio stations. One of the segments got picked up by ABC Radio National and can be heard here: www.abc.net.au.

The festival kicked off on Thursday night at the Hilton on the Cairns Esplanade and things were off and running. The next few days were filled with workshops, concerts, and a world record attempt at the largest ukulele ensemble that drew 1,395 ukulele players to Fogerty Park. Everything wrapped up on Sunday with a string of concerts at the Tanks Arts Centre that included headliners Herb Ohta, Jr., Craig Chee, Aaron Keim, Manitoba Hal, Fulare_pad, Derick Sebastian, Matt Dahlberg, A.J. Leonard's Tropical Lounge, and yours truly, The Paul Hemmings Uketet. A big "thank you" to drummer Giuseppe Vizzone and bassist Giles Smith for rounding out the trio for the first ever Australian incarnation of The Uketet and to legendary Australian singer Uncle Seaman Dan for helping us close out our set in style!!

I got a chance to meet a lot of great people on this trip and will head back to New York with a few more friends than when I left. In addition to the performers I mentioned above, I had a great time getting to know Cameron Murray (editor of the Australian ukulele magazine Kamuke), Alan and Griz from KoAloha Ukuleles, the inimitable Thom and Mike Jackson, the multi-talented Walker family, and scores of ukulele players who came out for the workshops, concerts, and world record attempt.

And finally, very special thanks to Gaby Thomasz for organizing the entire festival and to Luke Walker for carting everybody around Cairns for the week! Thank you!!

-PH.

Cairns Ukulele Festival

noreply@blogger.com (uketet) — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 17:26:00 +0000

I'm excited to start making my way to Australia for the 2012 Cairns Ukulele Festival in Far North Queensland! This will definitely qualify as my longest commute to a gig. After a short stopover in California, I'll be boarding one of Qantas Airlines' new Airbus A380s for the 18 hour flight from Los Angeles to Sydney. Then, after a 9 hour layover in Sydney, I'll catch my connecting 3 hour flight up the western coast of Australia to Cairns, a stone's throw from the Great Barrier Reef. I'm tired already.

Despite the marathon journey ahead of me, I'm totally thrilled to be taking part in the third annual Cairns Ukulele Festival. I'll be teaching a handful of workshops in addition to performing at the Tanks Arts Centre at the headlining concert that takes place on Sunday, July 8.

For more information, check out the festival's website at www.cairnsukulelefestival.net. See you Down Under!

-PH.

The Paul Hemmings Uketet on KPFK's Ukulele Spotlight

noreply@blogger.com (uketet) — Thu, 03 May 2012 13:16:00 +0000

The Paul Hemmings Uketet will be featured on this month's broadcast of KPFK's Ukulele Spotlight with Ali Lexa. Tune in today, Thursday, May 3rd, at 11:00 AM Pacific Time to hear an interview, selections from the new album, and a solo in-studio performance. If you're in the Southern California area, you can tune in to the program locally on:

90.7 FM In the greater Los Angeles area
98.7 FM In Santa Barbara
93.7 FM in San Diego
99.5 FM in Ridgecrest and China Lake

If you're outside of these listening areas, you can stream the broadcast online at http://www.kpfk.org. You can also get more info and listen to an archive of the interview by going to:

http://www.kpfk.org/programs/35-ukulele.html

-PH.

Paul with Ali Lexa on KPFK's Ukulele Spotlight

noreply@blogger.com (uketet) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 19:04:00 +0000

After finishing up The Uketet's tour in Northern California, I received an invitation from Ali Lexa to appear on his Ukulele Spotlight radio show on KPFK in Los Angeles. We chatted a bit about the ukulele, Ali played a few tracks from Introducing...The Paul Hemmings Uketet, and I played a solo ukulele arrangement of Percy Mayfield's Please Send Me Someone To Love.

The interview and performance will be featured on this month's broadcast of Ukulele Spotlight, which is scheduled to air on Thursday, May 3rd, at 11:00 AM PDT on KPFK (90.7 FM in Los Angeles). The show is also available to download as a podcast from the KPFK website.

-PH.

Sarah Maisel, Paul Tillery, and The Moonlight Beach Strummers in Encinitas

noreply@blogger.com (uketet) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 03:23:00 +0000

What a great way to finish up a tour! I had the pleasure of meeting up with my new friend Sarah Maisel on her home turf, the weekly meeting of The Moonlight Beach Strummers in Encinitas, on Wednesday night. I played a short set with Sarah's bass player, the talented Paul Tillery.

If you don't yet know about Sarah Maisel, check out her website at www.sarahmaisel.com. She has released two great CDs on Rolltop Records and has earned herself a loyal following around the San Diego ukulele community. I met Sarah at the Reno Ukulele Festival and we made fast friends. She has a beautiful way with chord melodies and really makes her ukulele sing.

Special thanks go out to Sarah Maisel and Paul Tillery, but also to Frank Leong and the rest of The Moonlight Beach Ukulele Strummers for hosting me and for their warm reception!

-PH.

The Palms Playhouse in Winters, CA

noreply@blogger.com (uketet) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 04:58:00 +0000

The Uketet's west coast tour wrapped up its Northern California leg on Thursday night with a performance at The Palms Playhouse in Winters, CA.

Another homecoming for me, this concert featured Andrew Enberg on drums and Gerry Pineda on bass. Both of these guys were prominent on the Davis/Sacramento jazz scene when I was a student at UC Davis in the mid-90s. To say that it was a treat to play with both of them would be an understatement.

In addition to Andrew and Gerry, many thanks also go out to Dave Fleming and Kate Laddish at the Palms, and everybody from the Winters ukulele community that came out to the show after finding out about us at the festival in Reno. See you guys next time!

-PH.

The Ukulele Club of Santa Cruz Presents...

noreply@blogger.com (uketet) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 03:48:00 +0000

The Uketet's west coast tour continued on Tuesday night with a performance at The Ukulele Club of Santa Cruz Presents... concert series at Pono Hawaiian Grill in downtown Santa Cruz.

This show was a real homecoming for me, having graduated from UCSC over a decade ago. With Dan Robbins on bass and Mike Shannon on drums, the third incarnation of The Uketet on the west coast did not disappoint!

Thanks to Peter and Donna Thomas and everybody else from The Ukulele Club of Santa Cruz that came out for the show.

-PH.

The Ukulele Club of Silicone Valley at Dana Street Roasting Company

noreply@blogger.com (uketet) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 15:39:00 +0000

After a wonderful weekend at The Reno Ukulele Festival, The Uketet's west coast tour continued on Monday night with a fantastic gig at The Dana Street Roasting Company in Mountain View, right in the heart of Silicone Valley.

This second incarnation of The Uketet on the west coast included Andrew Enberg on drums and Nils Johnson on bass. These guys made it so easy, it felt like we'd been playing together for years!

Special thanks to Dave Fichtner for spreading the word amongst The Ukulele Club of Silicone Valley -- their tremendous support was appreciated more than they'll know. It was a total pleasure to perform for such an appreciative audience and we all look forward to the next time!

Thanks also to Nick Chaput for hosting us and for his House Blend roasted coffee beans that kept us going through the rest of the week.

-PH.

Reno Ukulele Festival

noreply@blogger.com (uketet) — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 15:59:00 +0000

We can't thank Doug Reynolds and Rich Dann, organizers of The Reno Ukulele Festival, enough for putting together such a great weekend!

With less than five hours of sleep and not so much as a cup of coffee in me, I started teaching the first of my two workshops at 9 am on Saturday morning. I was happy that both of my workshops, Diminished Returns and Uke N The Blues, were so well received and that I was able to really connect with so many people in both classes.

Later on in the afternoon, The Uketet had a great set on the Festival Stage, once again with Andrew Enberg on drums and Mac Esposito on bass. Then I got to play two of my original tunes, Blue Uke and Papakea, with Gerald Ross as part of the Ukulele All-Stars Concert. This picture was taken backstage before the show (L to R: Sarah Maisel, Aaron Keim, Gerald Ross, Neil McCormick, Jim D'Ville, Craig Brandau, Cali Rose, Rich Dann, Doug Reynolds, me, and Lil' Rev).

Thanks again to Doug and Rich for all of their hard work in putting together a great festival!

-PH.