Bosko and Honey's Ukulele Safari

I had the pleasure of meeting Bosko and Honey over the weekend on their Ukulele Safari.



They are a married ukulele-playing duet from Australia. Honey is actually from Tokyo, but now lives with Bosko in Australia.

They've embarked on an awesome project that they've called, "The Ukulele Safari." They're traveling all over the world and interviewing various figures in the ukulele scene.

They went to Tokyo first, then to the New York Ukulele Festival. They're in the midwest now, which is where I met up with them. Those of you that caught the open mic last Saturday, you guys saw them in the background. After here, they go to the southeast, then out to the west coast.

I know that a number of you are on the west coast, so I thought I'd make a thread to let you know that they'll be in Berkeley on May 20th. I believe they'll have a show in the Berkeley area. Mike Da Silva is rumored to be making a visit. Bosko plays a Da Silva Concert. It's really nice. He let me play it.

Here's the schedule. If you guys have the chance to go and meet them, and/or check out the show, you really should.

They're excellent players, and awesome people.

Check out their YouTube channel for all the episodes of the Ukulele Safari that they have uploaded. They are fantastic.

I'm pretty sure they will be at DaSilva's on May 25th which is a Sunday. I am going to do everything in my power to make that event. I'm so looking forward to meeting them and hearing their magic first hand. There is no other way for me to put it. Together, they are magical.

Just a heads up for you northern California folks. Bosko and Honey will be in your neck of the woods soon!

Don't miss them, they are a delight.

MAY 25th (Sunday)- BERKELEY, CA - Performance at Mike DaSilva's 8pm, with Aaron & Nicole Keim

MAY 26th (Monday) - Evening performance at Frey Vinyards, Redwood Valley, Mendocino CA - phone 707-485-5177 for details...

MAY 29th (Thursday) - SANTA CRUZ - house party performance for the Ukulele Club of Santa Cruz - details to follow

I'm sorry I missed them while they were in the Midwest.

I wonder... how do they afford this safari? Are they staying with fellow uke players? I can't imagine they're getting money from this tour. In fact I would think they're losing money.

I'm glad they're doing it, though. It's the most interesting uke series on YT right now.

Yeah, they're staying with fellow uke players, which helps immensely. No hotel costs.

They actually do make pretty good money at every stop, though. They have merch to sell and they take donations. Ukulele players are a generous sort. They made over a grand at one stop in New England.

I'm hoping they can make the luau.

get one wildfire in santa cruz right now

Plainsong! Bosko and Honey are coming to Helsinki! They'll be there June 11 and 12, I think. Expect updates soon...

http://ukulele.spots.com.au/index.php?pid=10366

dang, I hella JUST saw this thread. boo.. I missed them then. :\

seeso said:

Plainsong! Bosko and Honey are coming to Helsinki! They'll be there June 11 and 12, I think. Expect updates soon...

http://ukulele.spots.com.au/index.php?pid=10366

Click to expand...

Yeah I know! I posted a thread in the uke meetup subforum. :rock: I'm gonna have them sign Lois. And I think I'll get Pete Howlett's autograph while I'm at it. ...

Speaking of which, I got a PM from him over at the Ukulelenurkka (the Finnish uke forum), that the birdseye maple uklectic was getting strings and had my name on it. He'll bring it for me on Thursday!! :nana:

It's a good day when you get a PM from a luthier like Pete saying there's a uke with your name on it. Talk about instant gratification.

Plainsong said:

Yeah I know! I posted a thread in the uke meetup subforum. :rock: I'm gonna have them sign Lois. And I think I'll get Pete Howlett's autograph while I'm at it. ...

Speaking of which, I got a PM from him over at the Ukulelenurkka (the Finnish uke forum), that the birdseye maple uklectic was getting strings and had my name on it. He'll bring it for me on Thursday!! :nana:

It's a good day when you get a PM from a luthier like Pete saying there's a uke with your name on it. Talk about instant gratification.

Click to expand...

Awesome, Plainsong. I'm so glad you'll be able to hear them in person and get a chance to meet them. They are wonderful people. Tell them I said hello!

Will do! This is also the first uke-fest that Mr. Plainsong is going to. The mission: to give him uke fever. He doesn't get fevers for anything though.

It's gonna be a big day there. Pete built a one-off limited edition "Helsinki Soprano" for 14 lucky ukesters. He'll be bringing those on Thursday as well. It's gonna be like Christmas with so many of us scoring new ukes.

For me, the uklectic was a by-chance thing. I had planned on getting one eventually, and then a few weeks or so ago after I had said as much over at the forum, Pete PM'd me that he had one ready to go. You don't usually get instant gratification from luthiers, so I jumped at the chance.

And uhh, did I mention that I'm getting a new uke next week? A Howlett? Yeah! It's true! I am! Me! I'll be getting a new uke next week! :rock:

Sorry, you know how it is when you want to shout it from rooftops.

The concerts though are gonna be so awesome though. Bosco and Honey, and you guys don't know about Bastardos Sympaticos but they're great, and everyone in that group (but me, heh) brings skillz. I think it might actually be worth the cost of coming here just to check it out. We only occupy a tiny musician's pub, but we rock the place.

I'll tell them you said hi!

(Edit - this post was written on an adrenaline come-down from watching the Belmont. That instance disappointment of yet another no-triple crown winner followed by my concern for Big Brown, and appreciation for a jockey who so wisely pulled him up. After the disappointment I was so actually happy to see that. Why? It proves some of those people do actually still care about the horses. And the adrenaline keeps pumping because I miss having my own horse, thinking of the nerves I'd have in such a situation, until I got with her and then we're just instantly ok. Uhh, no, we didn't race of course! I'm talking about show situations, but the butterflies are the same.)

Congrats on the new Howlett, Plainsong! Of course you will post pics of her when she arrives, yeah?

How is Pete going to determine who gets the special editions? Are they for sale, or will there be some kind of contest (or a combination of both)? Is there a web site where I can see his work?

Around fall of last year, there was a Uke Jam where Pete brought a one-off soprano for raffle. They all loved it so much, that Pete and 14 ukesters decided to do a group buy. It's a one-off model and won't be done again. They put their deposits down fall of last year.

The progress and finished product is in this thread here - http://ukulelenurkka.arkku.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=446

And a video of what it sounds like here -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj4nU7l1Nbs

first link asks you to login.

2nd link - I WANT, I WANT, I WANT....

And he made a custom label for it: http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/pickinpip/Thehelsinki_uke.jpg

Ooh... Ukelity goodness...

Okiedokie, here are the pics from his photobucket. I hope he doesn't mind the leaching.

And continued...





And I aint' a kiddin' when I say Helsinki has got some serious uke game going on. Most of them are strict traditionalists though.

She sure is purty. What's a good finnish name? You will name her, yeah? Or him?