UkeStuff Podcast

In this podcast, recorded live at the 2026 Silver Creek Ukulele Carnival, hosted by the Two Harbors Ukulele Group, host Chris Russell visits with some of the founders of THUG and the Carnival–Al Anderson, Dale Moe, and Charles Finch. Each of these men had unique and different skill sets that have led to a very active ukulele group (over 50 gigs in 2025) and hosting a large annual ukulele festival in Two Harbors, Minnesota.

All the members of THUG contribute to the Carnival in many ways–and the group also gives back to the larger community.

The related YouTube Video on the UkeStuff Channel includes video of the interview plus additional images–some that were used for the interview, and others that were obtained after the interview. Special thanks to Emily at the Two Harbors Public Library for finding the original newspaper items that were the “start” of THUG as we know it today.

Also, many thanks to Charles Finch for arranging the audio recording–and to the audio technicians who ran sound throughout the weekend for the Carnival.

If you don’t already attend the Silver Creek International Ukulele Carnival, you should make plans to attend in August 2027!

https://archive.org/download/UVPP001Intro/UkeStuff%20Podcast_%20Episode%2044%20—%20The%20History%20of%20THUG%20and%20the%20SCIUC.m4a

In this episode, recorded in 2024, host Chris Russell discussed a number of things that he had been working on in the ukulele world and some technology challenges that he had been facing.

This episode WAS published on YouTube, but was not published on the actual podcast feed!

Just for the sake of keeping the podcast episodes together, this is being released two years late!

https://archive.org/download/UVPP001Intro/UkeStuff%20Podcast_%20Episode%2043%20—Some%20Updates%20About%20the%20Channels.m4a

Earlier in 2024, host Chris Russell was asked some questions about ukulele education, and he chose to record those thoughts in a longer format rather than to attempt to respond on YouTube.

He has been busy (see Episode 43), and did not get around to publicly sharing that Podcast, although he did share it privately with the person asking the questions shortly after recording the podcast.

Six months later (June 2024), here are the answers to the questions from that YouTube comment!

https://archive.org/download/UVPP001Intro/UkeStuff%20Podcast_%20Episode%2042%20%E2%80%94Some%20Questions%20About%20Ukulele%20Education%20.m4a

Melanie Doane is quietly one of the most influential people in the world of the ukulele. Daughter of J. Chalmers Doane (the educator who introduced a systematic ukulele program that spread throughout Canada), Melanie has had a rich career as a actress in musicals, as a Juno award winning musician in the pop scene, and as the executive director of the Doane Music School, a ukulele program reaching roughly 1000 students in the Toronto area. In addition, Melanie produced and starred in a family/children’s focused short format TV series called Ukulele U. While episodes of Ukulele U are available in Canada on YouTube, a couple of episodes are available on YouTube in the USA.

In this episode, host Chris Russell visits with Melanie Doane about her musical journey—of which ukulele has and continues to play an important role.

(00:00:00) Intro
(00:01:02) About J. Chalmers Doane
(00:11:38) Northern Ukuleles
(00:14:54) Pursuing Musical Theater
(00:19:50) Experiences in Pop Music
(00:23:05) Doane Music School
(00:38:40) D6 Tuning and Linear Tuning
(00:44:51) Musical Legacy
(00:48:27) Size of the Doane Music School Program
(00:51:13) Melanie’s Mya Moe Ukulele
(00:52:17) Supporting the Doane Music School
(00:56:21) Working Through the Pandemic
(00:59:45) Doane Music School Collaborations
(01:02:03) Ukulele U Television Program

In this episode, host Chris Russell visits with music educator and YouTube creator, David Gray. David is a primary music educator in the United Kingdom who has been creating wonderful resources on YouTube, and also is an associate of Octopus Ukulele.

In this podcast, Chris and David talk about many issues, such as the differences between music education and teacher preparation in the United States and the United Kingdom, the processes they use to make YouTube videos, recorder instruction, and of course, ukulele materials.

David’s resources can be found at https://www.youtube.com/@musicwithmrgray and https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/iamsomewhere

(00:00:00) Intro
(00:01:08) Discussing Music Education in the USA and the UK
(00:18:03) The YouTube resources at Music with Mr Gray
(00:43:10) Ukulele Topics
(01:07:48) Final thoughts

https://archive.org/download/UVPP001Intro/UkeStuff%20Podcast_%20Episode%2040%20%E2%80%94A%20Visit%20with%20David%20Gray.m4a

Host Chris Russell has the opportunity to visit with Aaron and Nicole Keim from The Quiet American (their performing group) and Beansprout Musical Instruments (Their instrument company).

Aaron and Nicole were raised in Wisconsin, slowly landed in the world of folk music, and then professionally located in Colorado and Oregon as they established an instrument company, a performance group, and a publishing enterprise. Along the way, they also worked for/with Gordon and Char at Mya-Moe Ukulele, and introduced their son Henry to the world.

Post-pandemic, their main focus is Beansprout Musical Instruments, where you can purchase a hand-crafted instrument (literally built by hand) out of renewable North American tonewoods (or some reclaimed tonewoods) influenced by the designs of the past, yet with a modern twist. You can also buy many instructional books that were written by Aaron and Nicole, and then painstakingly created—by hand—by Nicole. Simply put, they are excellent instructional books created by self-identifying “folk musicians” who also have training and advanced degrees as music educators.

Aaron also recently received a grant from Mortise and Tenon magazine to study Kingdom-Era instruments (instruments built from 1879-1893; the first ukuleles), and he has written an article for the magazine and at the time of publishing of this podcast, has built three instruments in the style of the kingdom era instruments. Those instruments are impacting some aspects of his design including the use of some inlays and some uses of the early headstocks.

Aaron and Nicole were incredibly kind to share about of their journey on a Sunday afternoon, and the result is a wonderful podcast discussing the journey of a family that continues to provide so much for the ukulele community as builders, authors, teachers, and presenters.

(00:00) Introduction
(03:18) What was school music like for you?
(06:38) When did ukulele come into your life?
(08:17) James Hill vs. Denise Gagne (https://tinyurl.com/Uke-Vs-Recorder)
(10:06) Graduate school experiences (While in Colorado)
(13:00) Any guitar experience?
(14:43) When did the building start?
(23:22) Why do banjo ukuleles have ukulele strings?
(24:40) Do you have any of your early ukuleles around?
(26:13) What is your response when you see your early work?
(26:53) When does the collaboration with Mya-Moe begin?
(36:37) How did you transition out of Mya-Moe?
(41:10) When does the publishing begin?
(47:37) After learning chords, what is the next step for players?
(52:31) Where is Beansprout today?
(58:03) Why do you offer an “Alto” uke?
(59:57) Beansprout Artists
(01:02:27) Dave Matthews Band
(01:04:35) The Wayfinder Ukulele
(01:06:06) A quick discussion of tonewoods
(01:12:30) Vintage repairs & Kingdom Era Project
(01:28:08) Contact information

https://archive.org/download/UVPP001Intro/UkeStuff%20Podcast_%20Episode%2039%20-%20A%20Visit%20with%20Aaron%20and%20Nicole%20Keim%20%28The%20Quiet%20American%20%26%20Beansprout%20Ukuleles%29.mp3

In this podcast, host Chris Russell visits with Mike McQueen, the owner of The Uke Republic in Austell, Georgia (a suburb of Atlanta).

The discussion covers a wide range of topics, including the history of The Uke Republic, some perspective from the sales side of the industry, and a lot of Mike’s entertaining personality and humor.

If you are interested in a new ukulele, The Uke Republic carries a wide range of makes and models, and can often obtain or preorder instruments that they do not currently have. You can find the Uke Repúblic at: https://www.ukerepublic.com/

https://archive.org/download/UVPP001Intro/UkeStuff%20Podcast_%20Episode%2038%20-%20Mike%20McQueen%20%28The%20Uke%20Republic%29.m4a

In this episode of the UkeStuff Podcast, we visit with Pete McCarty, the world’s greatest ukulele song leader. Pete lives in Memphis, Tennessee, and helped to found the Memphis Ukulele Flash Mob.

Pete has led song/jam sessions throughout the world, including at MUFM events in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, Hawaii, and in the United Kingdom.

The ukulele community invites you to the 2024 Uke n’ Roll Ukulele Festival in Memphis, Tennessee (April 18-21). See more information at https://memphisukenroll.com

https://archive.org/download/UVPP001Intro/UkeStuff%20Podcast_%20Episode%2037%20-%20Pete%20McCarty.m4a

In this episode of the UkeStuff Podcast, host Chris Russell visits with Daniel Ho for the second of two podcasts, and the focus is more on education topics.

Daniel is an ‘ukulele virtuoso, slack key guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, singer-songwriter, producer, audio engineer, and record company owner. He is a six-time Grammy Award winner, twelve-time Grammy Award nominee, six-time Taiwanese Golden Melody Award winner, and recipient of multiple Hawaiian Music awards. To learn more about Daniel Ho, visit https://www.danielho.com/

Want to make a donation towards this work? Visit https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ukestuff

https://archive.org/download/UVPP001Intro/UkeStuff%20Podcast_%20Episode%2036%20-%20Daniel%20Ho%20%28Part%202%29%20%28Education%20Questions%29.m4a

In this episode of the UkeStuff Podcast, host Chris Russell visits with Daniel Ho for the first of two podcasts.

Daniel is an ‘ukulele virtuoso, slack key guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, singer-songwriter, producer, audio engineer, and record company owner. He is a six-time Grammy Award winner, twelve-time Grammy Award nominee, six-time Taiwanese Golden Melody Award winner, and recipient of multiple Hawaiian Music awards. To learn more about Daniel Ho, visit https://www.danielho.com/

Want to make a donation towards this work? Visit https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ukestuff

https://archive.org/download/UVPP001Intro/UkeStuff%20Podcast_%20Episode%2035%20-%20Daniel%20Ho%20%28Part%201%29.m4a