Our gratitude goes out to the lovely folks in the Aloha Uke Squad
for rallying to raise dough to keep our coffers from emptying & our larder full!

Bring your ukulele if you’re game to join in…
or just come to revel in the sound of four strings multiplied by a factor of many!

Surest cure for the political blues we can think of!

Want to learn to play one of these sweet little things yourself?
It’ll restore your sanity and sense of hope in a hot second!

Embarking on such a journey, it’s not a bad idea to get a little history… Read this story from the Honolulu Star Advertiser about the second generation of  Kamaka ukulele makers (pictured above), their progenitors and descendants. Kamaka Ukulele and Guitar Works was started in 1916 by Samuel Kaialiilii Kamaka when he established the company in the cellar of his home in Honolulu. He built the ukulele that became the iconic ukulele for all time, producing it in quantity for a nation that was going uke crazy from the get go!

Next time you’re on Kauai, visit Hanalei Strings, the sweet little ukulele shop run by Tora Smart & her family (Tora is the daughter of Noel Jewkes, one of Bird & Beckett’s stalwart jazz artists). You can score a Kamaka ukulele there; they just got the account! Browse around, buy a uke, take a lesson, hear some live music! And say “hi” for us!

To get the hang of the instrument, check out the local workshops of Cynthia Lin, who has spawned hundreds of avid ukulelists and who singlehandedly gave rise to the Aloha Uke Squad. Sounds squidlike, no? It’s anything but! The ukulele is a joyous thing that’s been pressed into service as the resistance tool par excellence for our time. Cynthia’s on tour right now, but her classes will resume in good time.

Oh, it’s all quite a lot of fun– not to worry! Get uked!