|
Ukulele star's Web popularity isn't just pluck |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Written by Mike Osegueda, MCT
|
|
Wednesday, 14 February 2007 |
|
|
|
|
It would be unfair to Jake Shimabukuro's talent to call him a YouTube star. But you also can't talk about Shimabukuro, a Hawaiian-born ukulele virtuoso, without talking about how viral videos have helped his career.
A video of Shimabukuro covering George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" has amassed more than one million hits between YouTube and Google's video section.
His lightning-fast fingers have helped breathe young, fresh life into the ukulele.
Shimabukuro, 30, whose music covers jazz, blues, funk and rock, has toured with Jimmy Buffett and Bela Fleck.
Question: How romantic can you make the ukulele?
Answer: I think the ukulele, actually, is a very romantic instrument because when people think of the ukulele, they think of Hawaii. Hawaii is the kind of a place where people have their honeymoons or they take vacations or they'll take their girlfriends there and maybe sit on the beach under the stars. I think the ukulele does have a lot of romantic connotations.
Q. The ukulele definitely isn't an instrument you hear about as much as a lot of other ones. What made you get so into it?
A. I got into it because my mom played and I started playing when I was young, probably like 4 years old. It was the only instrument I had. From the time I was a kid, I always loved the sound of it. Something about the ukulele, it just really, really spoke to me.
I started out playing a lot of traditional Hawaiian music, but as I got older, I got turned on to guys like Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen, and I started experimenting and doing different things with my ukulele
Q. It seems like you try to take it into some very different directions.
A. I like experimenting with different styles of music and trying to come up with innovative ways of playing the instrument. I like creating my own technique and things like that. It's a very simple instrument. You have to be a little creative when you're trying to arrange pieces on the ukulele. I guess because of the simplicity of the instrument, in order for you to really keep it interesting, you have to constantly be creating different sounds, different tone color.
Q. You seem to have benefited a lot from the Internet, from videos, getting up on YouTube. Would you say that's responsible for helping to spread the word?
A. Definitely. The Internet has been an amazing tool. About a year ago, there was this video of me paying a song in Central Park. It was an old George Harrison piece called "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." Apparently that video has just been circulating and people have just been sending it to their buddies and it's been getting a lot of view time.
Q. Is it something you put up?
A. No, somebody else put it up. To this day, I have no idea how it got on the Internet. I think I have a lot of people to thank. I'm constantly getting e-mails from people saying, "Hey, I just saw a video clip of you playing 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps.'" | Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register. |
|
|  | "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth." | |
|  | We're not that bright, even though in our own little world, we're geniuses. We like 80s hair bands and one-hit wonders, but among us we have respectable tastes, too. Metallica, Iron Maiden, U2. Pursuit of all things trivial is a lifestyle, not just a game. We like some sports, love other sports, and can find something to say about anything. We watch TV and movies and we've read a book or two, even a few classics (Yes, Classic Comics count!)
We call it insight, you call it what you will. | |
|  | Felix Wong is an outdoor enthusiast living in Fort Collins. A mechanical engineer by day, he is especially passionate about bicycling, running, and backpacking. | |
|  | Hola Amigos! I'm Sandra. I like to believe that people are 70 percent good and 30 percent dumb. I'm stickin to that story. Reading this blog might make you want to be good, but probably just dumb. | |
|  | Donovan Henderson is editor of NEXTnc. | |
|  | Here at Nextnc we have some characters. Get a sneak peak behind the curtain and find out what amusing antics our staffers get themselves into on a weekly basis. | |
|  | What is up FoCo?
I am a recent college graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead. After recieving my B.A. in English and Mass Communications this past August I moved down to Colorado.
I enjoy long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners, and heavy metal. My hobbies include reading and writing, music, movies, and getting drunk. Some of my favorite contemporary authors include Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, and Kurt Vonnegut. My top movies are anything directed by Kubrick. I enjoy listening to anything that rocks.
Right now I am just trying to get to know Colorado and FoCo better. Mostly in order to find the best drink specials on each day that ends in Y. So if you know where I can get a cheap drunk on, let me know!
--Drew | |
|  | Life's little morsels of inspiration, observation and encouragement seen through the eyes of the Nextnc reporter.
| |
|  | Ms. Giles currently lives in Colorado where she stars in her own private reality show. She writes aphoristic accounts of her life, taken completely out of context, and embellished with characters and situations disguised to resemble something close to interesting. | |
|  | over and out | |
| | My name is Michelle Turley and I'm 28 years old. I live in Severance with my hubbie, Brandon. We have 2 dogs and a cat. We enjoy camping, four-wheeling, and just being in the mountains. I like to cook, clean (go figure), flea market, and play poker. I have so much to say about poker... | |
|
|
