In L. Frank Baum’s classic 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Tin Woodman decides, “I shall take the heart. For brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world.”

Fast-forward 125 years and Christopher Davis-Shannon, aka The Tin Man, is using the ukulele to spread happiness.

In this engaging conversation, Christopher shares insights from his musical journey, chats about the creation of the fantastic Magic Ukulele Club, and offers practical tips for effective practice. The discussion highlights the joy of collaboration and learning in music.

Enjoy!

Cameron Murray

Magic Ukulele Club

Aloha!

Bit of a blast from the past this month…

In 2002, I travelled to Honolulu with my brother Alastair to attend the 32nd Annual Ukulele Festival Hawaii. While I was there, I had the opportunity to interview the great Roy Sakuma, the man who invented the festival in 1972. We had a wide-ranging chat that included an amazing Lyle Ritz story, as well as some neat playing from Roy! Please excuse the audio quality – the conversation was digitised from a microcassette.

Hope you enjoy it!

Cameron Murray aka Kamuke

My first encounter with Peter Luongo is etched in my memory.

On a balmy evening in Waikiki in 2002, I walked into a hotel and was greeted by the extraordinary sound of the Langley Ukulele Ensemble, a school group from British Columbia, Canada. Out front, conducting the strum-happy teens, was the most enthusiastic man I had ever seen. Grinning from ear to ear while leading the band with total precision, it was truly something to behold.

Peter and I had an engaging conversation and I hope you enjoy it!

Cameron Murray

langleyukes.com

Meet Sam Muir, the first person in the world to do a PhD on the ukulele! 🎓 You can hear all about it on the latest episode of my “Ukulele Stories” podcast. Listen here or download it now from your fave pod place! 

Enjoy,

Cameron Murray

Sam’s website: iloveclassicalukulele.com

To most people, the ukulele is simply an easy-to-play social instrument. But to Shawn Yacavone, it’s much more important than that. To him, it’s a powerful cultural icon and a vital link to the Kingdom of Hawaii.

Shawn spends a lot of time finding and acquiring historic and significant instruments, with a view to one day opening a ukulele museum and research library.

“My contribution is in the area of repatriating – bringing the instruments back to Hawaii, restoring them, and then sharing the sound,” he explains.

We had a fantastic chat and I highly recommend you stick around until the end for a very special surprise!

Happy listening,

Cameron Murray

Modestly dubbed the “King of the Ukulele”, Ralph Shaw is one of the originals – a pre-internet star who honed his craft in front of dubious, bemused audiences in the early 1990s.

I became aware of Ralph in 2003 through The Complete Ukulele Course, the first instructional DVD I ever bought. We finally met in Australia in 2012 and we’ve been mates ever since.

We had a brilliant chat about the old days, Ralph’s excellent newsletter and series of books, and how to deal with stage fright. We also talked about what prompted him to move back to England after many successful years in Canada.

Enjoy! And please tell your friends about Ukulele Stories…

Sign up for Ralph’s free Ukulele Entertainer newsletter!

In 2019, Bernadette Plazola was unemployed, her marriage had collapsed, and she was on the verge of homelessness.

Fast-forward six years and her life has been completely transformed through the kindness and generosity of what she calls her “community”.

Happily remarried with a beautiful daughter, she’s now one of the world’s most popular online uke tutors, with more than 640,000 YouTube subscribers and 208,000 Instagram followers.

I hope you enjoy our chat!

Cameron (aka Kamuke)

YouTube

Instagram

Patreon

“My job is to put smiles on people’s hearts,” says Bryan Tolentino, one of Hawaii’s busiest and most sought-after musicians.

In our wide-ranging conversation, we talk about putting feeling into your ukulele playing, how to be an effective accompanist, and what being Hawaiian personally means to Bryan.

We had a lot of fun chatting and I hope you enjoy listening!

Cameron (aka Kamuke)

bryantolentino.com

Instagram

‘Ukulele Friends Hawai’i Facebook Group

Matt Stead is a man of many talents. Not only is he a great uke teacher and player, he’s also the new director of the Ukulele Festival of Great Britain and various fringe events. And he’s a really nice guy too!

Please have a listen and check out the links below…

Mahalo!

Cameron

Matt Stead Ukulele

Ukulele Festival of Great Britain

After 31 years touring the world with the incredible Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, Will Grove-White is quite literally building a second career as a luthier. His Wonkylele (below left) perhaps best sums up his character – a little off-kilter but undeniably unique and interesting. Will and I had a lovely chat and discovered some odd parallels in our respective ukulele stories…

Have a listen and enjoy!

Cameron

Website: willgrovewhite.com
Music: Bandcamp