Ukulele Guy

So, today I felt like I needed to do something special for my wife, Erika.  I stayed up super late playing poker and maybe drinking too many beers and I slept in too late, etc.  She's the center of my world and I knew I needed to remind her of that today.  So, what did I do?  Well, I covered some Magnetic Fields, of course!

Maybe this doesn't make sense to everyone, but Magnetic Fields are pretty much a touchstone for us.  Hell, our youngest son's middle name is Merritt for heaven's sake.  We're pretty rabid fans.

But, this song is something special for us.  A fantastic Missoula band, The Oblio Joes, played on our wedding day and they played this song as "our song".  I actually sang it with them (although, I guess I probably should have been dancing with Erika, right?) and it sealed this song in time, as ours.

Then several years later, The Oblio Joes played their last show ever in Caras Park in Missoula.  Well, this last show took place on the anniversary of our wedding.  So, as a surprise to Erika, I jumped up on stage and sand Strange Powers with the Obes for the last time.

Well, today I had to do it without the Obes, but I did as best as I could.  There are 11 tracks in this song and they are:

1. muted strumming on a Tacoma acoustic guitar
2. muted strumming on a Rogue baritone ukulele
3. muted strumming on a Lanikai CK-TEQ tenor ukulele
4. bass on my Applause acoustic bass
5. guitar on my Tacoma acoustic guitar
6. ukulele on my Lanikai CK-TEQ tenor ukulele
7. vocals
8. backup vocals
9. tiny hook on my Kala Pocket Ukulele
10. weird harpsichord (?) part on my Lanikai CK-TEQ tenor ukulele
11. synth electric guitar sound from my Eleuke

Oh yeah, and I recorded it on my MOTU Traveller interface.  I love it!  And I used an AKG C 2000B Microphone.  But, enough of all that tech jibber jabber.  This one is for my baby.  I hope you like it, Erika.

Strange Powers (Magnetic Fields Cover) - by Ukulele Guy, for Erika

P.S.  I need a windscreen for my mic.... I know.  I'm buying one today as well as new Aquila strings.

P.P.S. I'd love to make a video for this song.  You know one of those rad videos that shows me playing each of the instruments as the part comes in for the first time.  But, that seems like a ton of work and I'm not really sure what software to use.  Does everyone do those with Adobe Premier?  It seems like it has a steep learning curve (and costs about a million dollars).  Any other suggestions?

P.P.P.S  Crap.  I just realized that I muffed the lyrics in a few spots.  Hopefully Stephen Merritt never hears this because I'm not sure I could stand up to his sardonic comments and cool stare.

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So, once again I find my way into a ukulele artist that I know absolutely nothing about.  What a pleasant surprise this video is!  From the tiny bit of information that I've been able to pick up so far, Dent May is apparently from Jackson, Mississippi and he's on tour right now.  Fair enough.

I really like the song writing and production.  Dent May has the pop sensibilities of Trevor Horn, from The Buggles, and he even looks a tiny bit like him.  But, he also seems to have a strong Stephin Merritt leaning as well.  That's fine by me.  Hell, I named my second born after Stephen Merritt, so I'm pretty much a rabid fanboy in that regard.  Anyway, check out the video.  It's charming and delightful!

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