Sandra Shaw is a regular performer with some of Canberra’s best ukulele groups.  She plays a bit of flute as well!  I took a picture of her very pretty travel ukulele. In our chat, Sandra mentioned some regular URoC performances:

• Floriade Canberra
• National Multicultural Festival
• National Folk Festival
• Blue Mountains Ukulele Festival

Groups Sandra plays with are:

• The Ukulele Republic of Canberra (URoC)
• Loud in the Library
• Wattas

Go to the Ukulele Is The New Black YouTube channel for a playlist with all the songs mentioned in this episode.

And don’t miss the Gang Gang Twang festival on 4th April 2019 in Canberra.  Sandra and I will be there!

Songs played in this episode are:

• All About That Uke: lyrics by Mike Hayllor (aka Krabbers), a parody of All About That Bass by Meghan Trainor and Kevin Kadish
• Dragonfly: by A.J. Leonard
• Lost on You: written by LP, Michael Gonzales, Nate Campany and Erick Landero. Performed by Amber Shuhyta (vocals), Meredith Harper (vocals and percussion), Jasmine Fellows (cello), Sandra Shaw (flute), Jim Croft (ukulele) and Emma (vocals and ukulele).

The music played in this episode is licenced under a Podcasts (Featured Music) agreement with APRA AMCOS.

I had a lovely chat with Khristina Joy at the 2019 Blue Mountains Ukulele Festival.  She mentioned a few ukulele groups:

• The BlueMUGS
• Balmain Ukulele Klub
• Hornsby ukulele group
• Central Coast ukulele group
• Port Macquarie ukulele
• Khristina Joy and the Z-Chords

You can find out more about Khristina at her website.

Khristina played:

• “Moon River” (Henry Mancini & Johnny Mercer, 1960)
• “Up on the Roof” (Gerry Goffin & Carole King, 1962)

Loud in the Library played “Whatever It Takes” (Dan Reynolds, Wayne Sermon, Ben McKee, Daniel Platzman & Joel Little, 2017).  Performers were Jasmine (vocal), Meredith, Sandra & Emma (ukulele and vocals), Amber (djembe) and the stylishly dressed Jim on ukulele.

The music played in this episode is licenced under a Podcasts (Featured Music) agreement with APRA AMCOS.

Welcome back to season 2 – please enjoy this chat with ukulele player and all-round nice guy Paul Marsh, the first I have ever recorded in a winery cellar.  And it’s a very nice winery too – if you’d like some delicious wines, food and a bit of live music you can visit Contentious Character winery, located around a half-hour drive from Canberra.

Some other things mentioned in the show:

The Shadies, who appear not to have an online presence – this was all I could find

Lunchulele at Smith's Alternative

Paul Marsh & Kate Ord’s duo is Poetry in Motion

If you want to learn more about Mary Bryant, here’s a link to the Wikipedia entry

Songs:

Home Town (Paul Marsh)

Sailing Away (Paul Marsh)

The music played in this episode is licenced under a Podcasts (Featured Music) agreement with APRA AMCOS.

No, this isn't an episode of Ukulele Is The New Black - instead, here is episode 1 of my new podcast Fakin' It Reel.  Enjoy!

Move over, James Bond – our hero of many pseudonyms is here to save the world from the dastardly Icefinger.

Fakin’ It Reel is an unscripted production featuring some of Canberra’s best improvisers.  It is produced and edited by Meredith Harper.  Today’s episode features Kathy Bakewell and Chris McGrane as hosts, and Cameron Swift, Ishai Sagi, Kathy Bakewell, Chris McGrane and Meredith Harper as the movie cast.

Audio effects and music used in this show are all obtained legally through royalty-free licencing, creative commons publishers, or are available in the public domain.  Sounds which were used in this episode under a Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution licence are:

FreqMan: Crash sound https://freesound.org/s/20791/  

CGEffex: Huge rocket launcher https://freesound.org/people/CGEffex/sounds/100772/

Qubodup: Car engine ignition running and turn off https://freesound.org/people/qubodup/sounds/147243/

Iwiploppenisse: Explosion https://freesound.org/people/Iwiploppenisse/sounds/156031/ 

Gpenn76: Struggle between two people https://freesound.org/people/gpenn76/sounds/235681/

Theshaggyfreak: Car door slam https://freesound.org/people/theshaggyfreak/sounds/276271/

InspectorJ: Splash, jumping, G https://freesound.org/people/InspectorJ/sounds/352103/

Mega-X-stream: Wine glasses clink https://freesound.org/people/Mega-X-stream/sounds/429028/

Keng-wai-chane-chick-te: Plane Cessna152 takeoff flight https://freesound.org/people/keng-wai-chane-chick-te/sounds/444354/

Sounds which were used in this episode under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial licence are:

Borrtex: Creeping http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Borrtex/The_Impulse/04_Borrtex_-_4_Creeping

I bumped into my ex brother in law Phil Thompson at the Newkulele Festival in October 2018.

He played a few bars from:

• How’s The World Treating You (Chet Atkins & Boudleaux Bryant, 1956)
• Love Her Madly (Robby Krieger, 1971)

Like many guests on the podcast, Phil talked about the talented Mark Jackson and Jane Jelbart.  If you want to learn more about them and their Ukestras, they featured in episode 11, and they have a website: The Sum of the Parts.

Please vote for the podcast in the Australian Podcast Awards – wouldn’t it be amazing for a ukulele podcast to win the popular vote?  The voting link is here.

I will be in Seattle for a few days in early March 2019.  If you know someone who lives in either of those places who should be a guest on the show, please get in touch via the website www.ukuleleisthenewblack.com, or [email protected].

And if you need more musical podcasts in your life, check out Strong Songs – I love it!

The music played in this episode is licenced under a Podcasts (Featured Music) agreement with APRA AMCOS.

Best of 2018 – Show Notes

How has ukulele changed our lives in 2018?  I revisit episodes from Season 1 and take a look at the ways the humble uke has changed the lives of this year’s podcast guests.

Thanks to featured guests Michael Rosenberg, Joey Marianer, Janine Chandler, Andrew Rankine, Tim Griffin, Amber Shuhyta, The Demented Ukeholics (Marina and Narelle), Cameron Murray, Geoff Skellams, Mark Jackson, Jane Jelbart, Stickie Fingers (John, Janine, Val, Phil and Cilla), Miriam Miley-Read, A.J. Leonard, Ukenjamit (Trish, Jack, Rosalie, John and Gayle) and Mal Webb.

Thanks also to my friends Jim Croft, Jasmine Fellows and Geoff Skellams for recording some background music for the show, and also a new version of the theme tune.

Music included in today’s show is:

• “I’ll Be Your San Antone Rose” written by Susanna Clark, performed by Mark Jackson and Jane Jelbart
• “Hoops” written by The Rubens, performed by Amber Shuhyta and Meredith Harper
• “Barefoot With My Baby” written and performed by A.J. Leonard
• “Home For A Rest” written by John Mann & Geoffrey Kelly, performed by Jim Croft, Jasmine Fellows, Meredith Harper and Geoff Skellams
• “Ventura Highway” written by Dewey Bunnell, performed by Jim Croft, Jasmine Fellows, Meredith Harper and Geoff Skellams
• “Bizarre Love Triangle” written by New Order, performed by Jim Croft, Jasmine Fellows, Meredith Harper and Geoff Skellams (arrangement by Frente!)
• “Not Pretty Enough” written by Kasey Chambers, performed by Jim Croft, Jasmine Fellows, Meredith Harper and Geoff Skellams
• “Haleiwa” written and performed by Cameron Murray
• “Ukulele Is The New Black” written by Meredith Harper, performed by Jim Croft, Jasmine Fellows, Meredith Harper and Geoff Skellams

Thanks for listening this year and I look forward to 2019!

The music played in this episode is licenced under a Podcasts (Featured Music) agreement with APRA AMCOS.

Mal Webb describes himself as a “vocal adventurer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist”, and I can’t think of a better description.  I hope you enjoy his vocal adventures as much as I did!

Mal plays one of his songs, “TLA”. 

This episode was recorded at the Newkulele Festival, including a small excerpt from Mal’s ukulooping workshop.  More information about Mal and his workshops can be found on his website.

Mal mentions a few interesting instruments: the Zimbabwean thumb piano and African udu drums.  And despite being from Melbourne, he refers to some Canberra things: TUGS ukulele group and Questacon.

He also mentions a band he and his partner Kylie play in, which has the BEST BAND NAME EVER: Formidable Vegetable Sound System.

This is the final episode in Season 1, but I will be back with season 2 in February next year. Keep checking the podcast feed in the meantime though, as I will be posting a few bonus episodes during the break.  Thank you so much for your support this year, and I look forward to making more episodes for you next year!

The music played in this episode is licenced under a Podcasts (Featured Music) agreement with APRA AMCOS.

Trish, Jack, Rosalie, John and Gayle are Ukenjamit, a fantastic ukulele group from Newcastle, NSW.  I had a chat to them at the Newkulele Festival in October 2018.

They played a few songs:

• Mr Bojangles (Jerry Jeff Walker, 1968)
• Stray Cat Strut (Brian Setzer, 1981)
• Walk of Shame (Eight to the Bar, 2007)

There was a lot of discussion about the talented Mark Jackson and Jane Jelbart.  If you want to learn more about them and their Ukestras, they featured in episode 11, and they have a website: The Sum of the Parts.

I will be in Seattle and Vancouver for a few days in early March 2019.  If you know someone who lives in either of those places who should be a guest on the show, please get in touch via the website www.ukuleleisthenewblack.com, or [email protected].

The music played in this episode is licenced under a Podcasts (Featured Music) agreement with APRA AMCOS.

Multi instrumentalist, arranger and recording artist A.J. Leonard is one of Australia's pioneer ukulele players and is regarded to be among the best in the world.

Songs played by A.J. in the podcast (and with Jenny Rowlands in the Christmas medley) are:

• Meet Me In Hawaii (A.J. Leonard)
• Barefoot With My Baby (A.J. Leonard)
• Paradise Island (Moraine / Rainger / Robin)
• Christmas in Kauai (A.J. Leonard / David Billings)
• My Christmas Won’t be Merry This Year (Randy Starr)
• Let’s Have A Christmas Party (Randy Starr)

A.J. has a website where you can find all his music and see where he will be performing.

A.J. talks about Kamaka ukuleles.

A.J. mentions another ukulele and cello duo, James Hill and Anne Janelle

The music played in this episode is licenced under a Podcasts (Featured Music) agreement with APRA AMCOS.

Miriam Miley-Read plays and sings with trad-Dixieland jazz band Zackerbilks.  I had a great chat to her at Smith’s Alternative in Canberra.

Miriam and I both LOVE our Cordoba ukuleles – and if you’re interested, here is mine.

Miriam mentioned an appearance at Artsound FM, a Canberra community radio station.

And she also mentioned the National Folk Festival, which happens annually in Canberra at Easter.  There is always a lot of ukulele going on there!

Miriam played a couple of tunes:

“Ice Cream” by Howard Johnson, Billy Moll, and Robert King (1927)

“In A Persian Market” by Albert Ketèlbey (1920)

The music played in this episode is licenced under a Podcasts (Featured Music) agreement with APRA AMCOS.