No. 40, Spring 2023

You may or may not have heard of our Spring 2023 cover subject, the multi-talented Knoxville, Tennessee-based singer/songwriter/storyteller/actor/teacher Kelle Jolly. But she is emblematic of the many creative, regionally popular artists who are working hard to share the joys of ukulele any way they can! In Jolly’s case, she uses it to expose modern audiences to tunes from the African American tradition, as well as her own original songs and stories.

As usual, we have a couple of cool historical features—a fun  Sandor Nagyszalanczy photo essay on signature ukuleles of the instrument’s early stars, such as Roy Smeck, Johnny Marvin, Cliff Edwards, and others; as well as an exploration of the famous Kamaka Pineapple ukulele line. Nicolas Grizzle offers a guide to plugging-in your ukulele, and journeyman uker Jim D’Ville looks at the thriving Gaithersburg Ukulele Festival.

Lessons and songs-to-play in this issue include Part 2 of Sarah Maisel and Craig Chee’s primer on Making the Jump to Intermediate Ukulele, this time focusing on scales and warm-ups; chords and lyrics for the classic Bob Dylan country-rock song “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” (popularized by The Byrds); and tips on mastering the mysterious Irish/Scottish traditional folk tune “She Moves Through the Fair.”

Also, you’ll find reviews of two concert-size ukes: the Córdoba 15CM Matiz and Ortega’s Solid Bamboo model; plus, new albums from the duo of Christopher Davis-Shannon and accordionist Jacques Pellarin, Jeffrey Xavier Leeds, and Mary McPage; and more!