Goodbye from Ukulele Guy hello from Adventures in Nerdery

Howdy gang.  So, it's officially been a  year of making videos for Adventures in Nerdery so I've decided that it is time to retire Ukulele Guy.  This will be the last video that I add to the YouTube channel and probably the last blog post as well.  It's been a fun ride and I met lots of rad people, heard a lot of rad songs and learned a lot about Ukuleles.  But, dry your eyes friend!  I'm making more videos than ever over at Adventures in Nerdery so  you should come check it out.  In case you aren't convinced, dig on this video that explains what I do over there.  I bet you are gonna like it!

Make sure and subscribe to Adventures in Nerdery and you can also follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and on our blog!

I’m getting the band back together maaaan

So, here's the deal. I want to finally form a Ukulele band. If you live in Missoula, Montana and are into it, you should contact me. Here's some of the songs that I'd like to play. Obviously, we don't have to do all of these songs, or even more than one type of song. I'm leaning towards the sillier songs right now, but I can be talked into anything.

kid's songs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbyqgGIyj94
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yahu4MNRQ7A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I_X7StiFzM
http://ukuleleguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/simon-alton.mp3
http://ukuleleguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/gettingdresseddance.mp3
http://ukuleleguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/gus_is_picky.mp3

serious songs
http://ukuleleguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/bed.mp3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBbjxagGNZY
http://ukuleleguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/ukulele-guy-megan-lannegan.mp3
http://ukuleleguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/belated.mp3
http://ukuleleguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/You-Didnt-Have-a-Girl.mp3
http://www.howsyournetwork.com/download/erika-bday2.mp3
http://www.howsyournetwork.com/download/shane%20hickey%20-%20Eva.mp3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCwPBtcqZvs

funny songs
http://ukuleleguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/ukulele-guy-UPS-Girl.mp3
http://ukuleleguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/ukulele-guy-moderation-town.mp3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qpo2YFSrVE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_juiXOrbhuI

covers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj-GIAACClc
http://ukuleleguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/strange_powers.mp3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVWCqy5TjJY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX5y1_v2XrE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I_X7StiFzM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CVQ-Zm9xBQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP1To9wG7uA

I realize that this is a bit of a haphazard post, but just need to link all these songs in one place so I can post it on Facebook because it's not letting me post a bajillion URLs into one update.... probably for good reason.

Ukulele Guy goes on tour! (almost)

So, here's the deal.  Besides being a Ukulele Fanatic, I also really dig new wave music.  I've been making Heavy New Wave sonics with VOLUMEN for something like 13 years.  During those 13 years, we've released something like 5 full length albums, a handful of EPs and 7" records and some various videos and whatnot.  We've also toured portions of the US (as far NE as Minneapolis, as far SE as Austin, as far NW as Seattle and as far SW as San Diego).  Once we even did a 14 day tour of the Baltic countries (Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania).

But, these days it's hard enough to get all 5 dudes (all of whom have wives now, and 4 of whom have kids) together for weekly band practice, let alone world tours.  So, I'm pretty psyched that we are going on for a Mini-Tour in August!  Woo hoo!  We are calling it The Replication and Entropy Mini-Tour.  That's a nice way of saying that we are getting old and making babies.  Heh.  This tour is to support our newest record, "Skipper of Reverses"  (Note: Check out Volutunes.com if you want to get some mp3s of this record.  I think it might also be on itunes, but it's cheaper on Volutunes).

Sadly, I don't play Ukulele in Volumen, but I will have at least one ukulele with me.  So, if you wanna hook up before/after the show, lemme know!  I'd love to kick out the jams with some good ukulele-lovin' folks!  I'd also love to see a bunch of nutty Ukulele-lovers at the show cause I think it'd freak out the rest of the showgoers.  Heh.

Here's the details of our tour:

Wed Aug- 4  Missoula @ The Badlander w/ Wartime Blues, Pony Canon
Thur Aug- 5  Spokane @ Empyrean  w/ Belt of Vapor
Fri Aug- 6  Seattle @ Sunset Tavern w/ The Royal Bear, Summer Babes, Panama Gold
Sat Aug 7- Pdx @ Dante's w/ Don and the Quixotes, The Polaroids, The Lordy Lords

If you want to know more about Volumen, here's a link to a short documentary about us.  This Documentary won "Best Directing" and "Best Music Documentary" in the International Documentary Challenge of 2006.  It was filmed/directed by a good friend of ours who spent several days in our Amulance on our Sonic Infection (aka Mustache Reunion) tour.

Here's some random videos for some of our songs.  These videos were made by a good friend, Andy Smetanka.  Who has made videos for Guy Madden and The Decemberists.

Um.  So, yeah.  I guess that's it.  I apologize for the non-ukulele-ness of this post.  But, like I said, I'm really psyched to get out on the road.  And, if this means I get to meet more Ukulele folks face-to-face, then I'm all over it!

Thanks!

Ukulele Guy

Original Song Video: Victorian Farm Failure Love Song

Yeah, say that title three times fast.  I dare ya!  Heh.  Well, I'll let the video do most of the talking on this one since I, apparently, can't record a Ukulele video without talking through half of the damn thing.  I really like the sound of my own voice, I guess?

If you are intersted in the chords or words, I've posted them below.

F
The plowhorse went lame
Gm
the wheat crop failed
F
when the well went dry
A#dim (0202)
I knew that the rest was sure to follow
Bb                     C
looks like the pretty life we planned yesterday
A7         A     Bb
gonna turn to dust tomorrow
Bb                              C              A7
and the day after that is gonna be more of the same
Bb                              C
Well you said that it wasn't my fault
A7         Dm
but I know that was a lie
Bb                              C              A7                      Bb
it's just that you couldn't bear to let all that pain and sadness back inside
Gm                C
You just couldn't admit
Gm                C
that maybe it was wrong
Gm                         C                  F
to fall for a guy cause he wrote you a pretty song.

F
The roof still leaks
Gm
The Barn's collapsed
F
It hasn't rained for weeks
A#dim
and I know that the worst has yet to get here

Bb           C
You said youy'd stay with me forever
A7            A          Bb
but we both know that's not right
Bb                              C              A7
Why you and the children run off the farm tonight
Bb                              C
Well you said that it wasn't my fault
A7         Dm
but I know that was a lie
Bb                              C              A7                      Bb
it's just that you couldn't bear to let all that pain and sadness back inside
Gm                C
You just couldn't admit
Gm                C
that maybe it was wrong
Gm                         C                  F
to fall for a guy cause he wrote you a pretty song.
Gm                  C
So baby, if this is it
Gm                  C
If this is the very last so long
Bb                            C                 F
I'm still glad it was me what wrote that pretty song

P.S.  This video was made with my Lanikai CK-TEQ Tenor Ukulele.

A guy in love…. (covers Magnetic Fields, of course)

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.