NY Uke Fest - Just got back

I just wrote up a whole thing and got logged out and lost it all ... so I'll sum up and then go try to catch up on the sleep I didn't get this weekend: *cough* midnight jams *cough*

NY Uke Fest. What a blast. What cool people. What amazing Ukuleles. Hung out with the Mia-Moe guys (super nice people living a dream-life), First Flight Music, Flea Market folks and a bunch of other vendors and extremely talented artists. It was great to meet everyone that came from the self-proclaimed beginners (who all seemed pretty good to me) to the experienced players.

• Greg Hawkes (formerly of The Cars) hung out in our booth for a while. Really cool guy. He taught a workshop on his new ukulele book on how to play Beatles songs.
• Jody Kamisato and Christoffer Salvador are a fantastic duo! They have a very cool way of trading off solos whilst the other plays back up. Chris was also in our booth playing around on the different models we had there. Watch out for these two, they are the shiz.
• Victoria Vox, who needs no intro, is one of the nicest artists I've met. We talked about how grateful she is for the love and support she gets from you guys. If you ever get a chance to see her play live, it is something to move your schedule around for. She has a lot of positive energy and an amazing voice. I bought her new album for my wife.
• Iwao, is a Uke player who is huge in Japan. Extremely cool guy. He hung out in our booth and even let me shoot a little demo video of him messing around with an Eleuke. For some reason, the text is all scribbley on his site, some of you might be able to make it out... Anyway, he also is extremely talented and was a joy to watch.
• The K, spent a lot of time with us. Lionel's primary instrument is an EleUke and his band is doing some crazy rad stuff with loops, pedals, computer software and percussion. He played during our wine and cheese lunch-in and came all the way over from France. Its a very unique experience to listen to them.
• James Hill has been called the best Ukulele player alive. I didn't get a chance to personally meet James, but I saw him play a few songs and he is the best I've seen. He has a kind of blue grass style that is way cool. Interesting little story about James. We all got together for one of the midnight jam sessions and James showed up. Easily the best Ukulele player in the room, he grabbed an empty beer box and percussion brush and laid down a beat for us! I don't know why, but I thought it was way cool how down to earth he was. I bailed just before 3am while players 10-30 older than me kept jammin'... I blame jet lag.
• Bill Tapia was also there. Bill may be the oldest Ukulele player at 102 years young. He broke a hip right before the festival and still came on and played for us. I also didn't get to meet "Uncle Bill," but I really enjoyed watching him play and watching him watch others play. He was the guy who taught the original Little Rascals how to play uke.
• Pedro Da Silva is such a nice guy. He hung out at our booth a lot (we've been working on some stuff and he's coming to summer NAMM with us) and played flamenco and funk on an EleUke during the open mic. He has a PHD in classical guitar and can play with the best of them on almost any instrument. Check out his video below.

I can't list everyone we met, but I wish I could. It was a great few days with very little sleep. Rick Bruner, who knows everyone on the planet, shot a lot of video of the festival and has graciously uploaded a lot to YouTube. Take a moment to check out Rick Bruner's YouTube page and have a listen. (don't miss "Ode to a Frozen Boot" by James Hill) I want to thank Ken Murray for putting this whole thing on and inviting us out.

Last but not least, check out Pedro jammin' on the SL Koa during the open mic. He's using a wah-wah and a distortion pedal there at the end for the cool funky sounds.


We're going to Summer NAMM next month in Nashville, if you guys can make it, drop by and hang out!