Vintage ukes

I was born in the queens hospital, Honolulu, Hawaii. My dad was a flying tiger in WW2. we lived in a little grass shack on Waikiki beach, not far from the royal Hawaiian and ala moana hotels.

Hilo Hattie taught my mom to hula and ukulele music used to waft in the night air an right into my bedroom.

So, it’s not much of a stretch to realize ukulele would weave it’s way into my musical tapestry. Although, I never thought I’d be playing uke with the Cars on big stages, but more about that later.

I have a few vintage ukes, kumale koa from the 20s, a kamaka from the 50s, also koa wood, but the go to uke is made of mahogany, a soprano made by Martin in the 60s, often considered to be the best sounding ukes of all time. It is in Hawaiian tuning with low G and I take it everywhere. Ukes even make TSA agents smile.

I’m glad ukulele has become popular, named by the Hawaiians based on the portugese instrument they saw when the famine brought them to Hawaii to pick pineapples. Ukulele means jumping fleas.