Sunday 29 June 2008

UkeTube: YouTube goes all ukulele

YouTube has plastered over its homepage with ukulele videos for the latest entry in its Trend Spotting Tuesday feature.



Do you like ukulele videos? Let me suggest to you that, regardless of whether you've ever seen one, you probably do. Put on your headphones, tune out the ambient cubicle noise, close your eyes, and press play.  Before you know it, you'll feel the warm breeze of old Hawaii. ...


Who are these uke-loving string strummers? The singer is George Klingelhofer of Chicago's Windy City Islanders. Despite his decidedly un-Hawaiian name, Klingelhofer is a ukulele aficionado -- at the end of the video he talks about the Windy City Ukefest, which will include a bunch of people playing uke in Chicago in early August at the Tiki Terrace. Who knew Chicago had its own hopping luau scene?

The other two players, and the makers of the video, are a couple of Aussies traveling the world and finding as many ukulele players as they can. Bosko is a caricature artist and Honey sells glassware, both in Queensland. They have amassed two dozen uke videos on their multi-continent trip. Talk about a cool vacation.

I started digging into the uke video universe and suffice it to say, it's way too vast to summarize here.  Here's another great video though:
 



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