Ukulele Tonya

Note: This is long; it’s written for those folks who wonder what it’s really like to attend an ukulele festival and like to know the details. If you just want the photos, go here.

Pre-Festival:
Sunny weather, warm aloha and hot ukulele playing were on this weekend’s agenda as I traveled to the San Francisco Bay Area for the Northern California Ukulele Festival. Held in Hayward, this festival is the 15th annual for this group, making it the longest-running mainland ukulele event. While the day-long festival is on Sunday, there were some great pre-festival activities slated the day before the event so I headed out from Paradise early on Saturday morning. While I love my merlot special edition Miata (and the UKALADY license plates would have been especially appropriate for the weekend’s activities), it feels like an awfully tiny car to be slipping in and out of lanes on high-speed Bay Area freeways—so I toodled down in the ever-trusty 1986 Mazda 626; not a lot of style to the car but it got a whopping 41 miles per gallon—and at almost $4 gallon, that was more than appreciated. It’s about 3-1/2 hours to Berkeley, so I loaded up on a wealth of Hawaiian and ukulele CDs, aimed the steering wheel south and ventured out of the Sierra foothills and toward the Big City.

To get me in the mood for a Hawaiian weekend (as if Bryan Tolentino’s “Ka Ukulele Lele” hadn’t done it), I stopped by an L&L Hawaiian Barbecue in Vacaville for an early lunch. Freeway-close and predictably tasty loco moco made it a good choice. Plus, they subscribe to the “Honolulu Advertiser” and, as I enjoyed the brown gravy, rice, hamburger patty, egg and mac salad, I caught up on a bit of island news (albeit one week old).

Next stop on my whirlwind Hawaiian weekend was at Mike Dasilva’s ukulele shop/venue in Berkeley. Mike staged an open house throughout Saturday afternoon with refreshments, informal tours of the shop, instruments to try and an open mic stage. I met a delightful woman from a small ukulele club over in Sausalito, enjoyed talking with Genaro (he, Sil and Evan played some great Hawaiian tunes on the small stage) and saw first-hand some wonderful ukuleles in progress.

Mike has brought in a slew of ukulele cases which are different from any I’ve seen; they’re fiberglass-based, but are that “formed” shape like you see on Bolle sunglass cases. They appear really sturdy and yet aren’t overly heavy. He has them for all sizes.

Leaving Mike’s shop I continued south on 880, checking in at the Fremont LaQuinta ($59/night!) to leave my roll-along in the room by itself while I grabbed my ukulele and happily anticipated the upcoming party at John G. and Katie’s delightful home in Campbell. Every year these two host a pre-festival barbecue. Not only are they wonderful hosts, but the afternoon and evening features good-natured bocce ball games, the most awesome barbecue beans I’ve ever enjoyed, wonderful libations, plates of thinly-sliced grilled tri-tip and, best of all, kanikapila well into the night.

As a “lifetime” invitee to this event, I consider myself a lucky gal. Jeff Turner and his wife, Deena, traveled up from Woodland Hills (we missed super ukulele collector Roger, who chose a bad time to pick up a flu bug); Curtis and his wife, Elizabeth, were there, as, usual (with Kendra, Curtis’ talented ukulele student); Toebone and his wife, Tracey, dropped in as did Dominator and wife, Joanne. Dom was anticipating his solo performance coming up on Sunday morning at the festival and admitted to being a bit nervous. We played and sang (some better than others; well, really, everyone better than me, but I just consider that I make the others feel really good about their musical abilities in comparison) until well after 10 pm. Since some of the attendees had early-morning volunteer roles at the next day’s festival, it wasn’t a really late night.

Festival:
Sunday morning’s sunny skies promised plenty of warm weather for that day’s festival in Hayward. I was in the parking lot by 9:45 (meaning I got a parking space!) and I paid my $5 (what a deal!) and lined up with the others waiting to enter the auditorium. The doors weren’t scheduled to open until 10:30 but I knew Dominator was second on the schedule and I wanted to scout out a good seat. Joanne was in line beside me and, when the doors finally opened, we found ourselves front row seats on the aisle. As an aside, Joanne is one of those “really prepared” people; ‘need a tissue? She’ll pull one out of her purse. Aspirin? Same thing. We’d both had an overload of ink from the entrance stamp on our wrists and Joanne’s had smeared onto her jeans. She had a packet of Shout! out in no time to remove the stain. Wow. I think Joanne must have a Boy Scout background.

The festival’s program features a variety of ukulele-playing individuals and groups; each applies to be on the program and then agrees to play a 10-minute set; this allows for a huge number and variety of performers throughout the day. The auditorium is lushly decorated with greenery, flowers, kahili and Hawaiian quilts and the audience is typically appreciative to each act—whether it’s a large group of enthusiastic youngsters, a mellow trio, a group of aunties and uncles with nahenahe tunes or an ukulele soloist. Dominator was second up that morning and walked on with aplomb—and no hint of any nervousness. His playing of his first selection,  ”Blue Roses Falling,” was a joy. Audience members seemed to be leaning forward to catch every nuance on the fretboard. He played “Something” for his second selection and, for his third, he performed “Star-Spangled Banner,” dedicating the song to those who are serving our country at this time.

After listening to Dominator, I headed out to the courtyard where the vendor booths and informal jamming takes place. My first stop was Kamaka Ukulele, where I was warmly greeted by Asa Young (’such a talented player and singer and yet so modest). I spoke with Chris Kamaka for a bit about perhaps building a tenor with satin finish and a dark binding (hmm….) and then wandered by the booths. I spoke with Tiki King (I really like the new Bark Cloth Flea he designed for FMM), the gal from Hawaiian Airlines (their credit card earns us “free” mileage since we pay it off in full every month) and Tony Graziano. Over on the “other” side of the courtyard I stopped in at Hawaiian Eye Designs (I love their shirts and stickers) where I was surprised to see BruddahMark (does that guy travel all over or what?); he said he’d just flown up for the day since he had never been to the Hayward festival.

At the KP Ukulele booth, John was showing off a variety of Ken’s instruments; two new concerts, including a cutaway, were available. John shared space with Aldon Sanders, who was playing songs from his new CD, “The Uke Files.” The CD includes original songs, some Hawaiian tunes and even a few Mexican melodies; I’ve met Aldon before at John’s party and I knew his playing and singing is wonderful, so of course I had to buy it. You should, too.

On the way back from foraging for lunch (chili plate with mac salad and rice), I spotted Little River Ukuleles‘ booth. Luthier Dave Sigman displayed some absolutely delectable ukuleles—most of them tenors. His inlay work, I’d heard earlier, is impeccable and, I can tell you from first-hand experience, that’s no exaggeration. But these are not just good-lookin’ ukuleles, Dave’s instruments sound superb. The action is just how I like it and the neck and construction made even my soprano-primed fingers feel at home on the fretboard. I went back three times to play a koa tenor with a lovely hula girl on the headstock and an even lovelier sound. I know one is never supposed to have regrets, but that instrument is the closest I’ve come to sharing my heart with another ukulele. Unfortunately, I dallied and it went home with someone else. Passing through the courtyard again, Tom B spotted me and, after catching up on a bit of news, I took him over to the Little River Ukuleles booth to introduce him to Dave. Tom B typically only buys vintage ukuleles, but he fell in love with a walnut tenor (made from wood from nearby Chico) inlaid with the sweetest barn swallow in flight—and, after much thought, he bought it; I felt a bit like an ukulele matchmaker, helping along what will surely be a great relationship.

But the day wasn’t over—there were still great performances on stage to enjoy as well as friends to jam with in the courtyard. The Marin ukulele group (Ukulele Friends Ohana) was at the “usual” spot in the shade at the far end of the courtyard and they welcomed any who wanted to join them in kanikapila—even me! BruddaBu and Dave from Petaluma were among the welcoming strummers in the shade. And, they even played kazoos at the same time they strummed ukuleles!

My total purchases for the day? A tuberose lei (and it still smells good—’though it looks a bit worn out), two bottles of water, Aldon’s CD and the chili plate lunch. Not much damage to the credit card this year at Hayward—but I’m still thinking of a new tenor!

Life isn’t all strumming and four strings—I drove over to San Francisco last week to attend MacWorld Expo and experience all things Macintosh (and frankly, to enjoy some top-notch dining and the freshest Dungeness crab on terra firma). I’ve been attending MacWorld since 1987 (when it was a much smaller event) and never fail to find software that makes my life easier—and hardware to keep my day-to-day computing more delightful.

Dad and I have been MacWorld regulars for a decade or so now and this year was no different—he flew into Sacramento Airport and we toodled down I-80, across the Bay Bridge and unloaded luggage at our favorite hotel (to be kept a secret since it’s small and “undiscovered” at this point).

Our first day included several hours at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and, of course, dinner out (thanks, Dad!).The next morning found us at Moscone Center to claim our MacWorld “Exhibit Only” badge holders. What a mess the whole registration process was this year; my guess is they’re going to get a lot of complaints from folks who elected to save the $2 mail cost and pick up their badges there. We already had our badges (we’re not gonna waste limited show time to save a lousy two bucks) but we still had to ferret out the elusive badge holders in the midst of the masses of Macintosh enthusiasts.

I’d posted on the Flea Market Music Bulletin Board to find other Mac-oriented ukulele players to meet up with at MacWorld but none had responded by the time I left for the show (perhaps my infamous “enthusiastic but always a beginner” reputation has preceded me everywhere…) so I had to take matters into my own hands and seek out Expo-attending ukulele players. Well, one specific ukulele player to be exact: Andy Ihnatko.

Author of numerous Macintosh and techie books as well as a regular Mac technology columnist, Andy writes with an inked-up flourish that’s as fun to read as it is informative. Plus he plays the ukulele. I’ve spotted Andy at previous Expos, but he made a special appearance at his publisher’s booth this year on Wednesday to tout two of his newest books (”iPhone Fully Loaded” and “iPod Fully Loaded”–I bought ‘em both and that’s a plug, Andy; two more royalties). While I was definitely interested in the books’ topics, I arrived early at the booth, determined to ask Andy about his ukulele playing. You see, back a few years ago he’d written about playing ukulele on his (pretty much now-defunct) website; a search of his new blog, though, didn’t tag anything about that friendly little four-string instrument. I was in search of the truth: Was Andy still playing ukulele???

“Well, yes I do still play ukulele,” he answered, a bit stunned, I think, that the first question put his way had little to do with a computer featuring an apple silhouette. The crowd surrounding the booth grew a bit restive (Ukuleles, huh? Where the heck are the deep questions about RSS feeds and audio streams?) so I quickly punctuated our conversation with a request for a photo of Andy playing “air ukulele.” He politely (still a bit stunned, I believe) okayed the request—first asking what chord he should use and then asserting that he would do a Formby strum for the Kodak moment. I snapped it, grabbed another shot of the two of us flashing the shaka sign and then Andy asked if I wanted him to sign my book.

So, if you want to borrow my “iPhone Fully Loaded” tome you’ll notice the flyleaf note: “To Tonya! A fellow strummer.” Of course, you really should buy the book for yourself. It’s well-written (I’m already on page 137) and besides, it’s important to support a fellow ukulele player; especially one who knows what he’s writing about…

Wednesday was a full day of MacWorld wandering–with a purpose. To mark my 50th birthday (no comments, please!) Dad and Mom had decided to use the show as an opportunity to purchase a lovely little iPod Touch for me; we have no AT&T coverage in our neck of the woods at home so the iPhone isn’t a possibility. The Touch is great–but I’m still trying to learn to type accurately on it, let alone quickly (I think instant messaging has given people under 35 much better-skilled fingers for this feat). Dad and I had another great dinner out and nursed some sore feet back at the hotel. Thursday found us homeward bound once more, but not before exploring Treasure Island, where Dad was discharged from the Navy and spent his last two weeks pulling shifts at the brig more than half-a-century ago.

By the way, did I mention I had a great time? The next MacWorld Expo is Jan. 5-9, 2009. Bring your ukulele and I’ll see you there!

There were no ukuleles waiting under the Christmas tree for me yesterday morning (since I hadn’t asked Santa for any there were no surprises there), but there were three delightful ukulele ornaments from Santa Claus on the piney boughs to delight me.

Perched on a sturdy branch (sturdy because this is one is hefty in weight) is a resin ornament featuring a barefoot Santa playing an ukulele. The chord he’s playing isn’t like any I’ve seen before (picture an A string with fingers down on the third, fourth, fifth and sixth frets—I guess he’s playing an Eb single note really) but he’s blissfully contented as he sits beneath a palm tree bedecked with a star (and a candy cane) and sitting beside a Hawaiian thatched-grass hut. Maker: Island Heritage.

The second ornament is blown glass and is a deep red four-string ukulele adorned with two palm trees (on front and back), ocean waves and details including strings and frets. The soundhole doubles as a “moon” making it appear as a night scene in the tropics. Maker: Island Heritage.

The third ornament is my favorite yet—a lovely Hawaiian maiden strumming a four-string ukulele (another unknown chord shape). She wears a lovely white lei around her neck and is kneeling as she plays, her grass skirt swirling to her knees and her black wavy hair ornamented with a red silk rose. She’s a real sweetie! Maker: Island Heritage.

Christmas night found our family playing holiday music with great enthusiasm. Included in our family Christmas band was a bass, a djembe, a Salvation Army bell (Dad and I had volunteered for a two-hour shift on Christmas Eve day and they gave us each a bell as a “thank you”), a guitar, the piano and my little ukulele. We played and sang everything from “Little Drummer Boy” to “Silver Bells.” The traditional melodies were great but the most enthusiastically sung/played/received was our own inimitable (truly!) rendition of Robert Earl Keene’s “Christmas with the Family.” Especially the chorus… The best moment of the evening for me was when our oldest son, Matt, looked over at me with no small amount of surprise on his face: “Mom, you’re really much better at playing ukulele. I’m impressed.” Since he moved with his wife to Ojai in Fall 2006 (an eight-hour drive away), we hadn’t played together much. Christmas night was our first time to jam together in months and months. Matthew leads worship at his church and plays a mean guitar so I was pretty pleased with his praise. Since it’s been a very long road getting to this point, I’m not too humble to share it here!