No. 46, Fall 2024

In this issue, we explore the ukulele's capacity for blues. Blair Jackson’s meticulously researched article takes a look at early Black ukulele players, starting in the 1920s, and found that while some were playing blues music, many were focused on other popular styles of the time. Christopher Davis-Shannon’s lesson takes you beyond the basic 12-bar blues and into other corners of the style, and there are song lessons for bluesy arrangements of “Careless Love” and “Ain’t Nobody’s Business” by Marcy Marxer and Fred Sokolow, respectively.

Sandor Nagyszalanczy details the history of one of the bluesiest ukes ever made, the Dobro resonator, exploring how these instruments were developed just a couple years after their guitar progenitors. This issue also includes his feature on ukulele cousins—instruments that aren’t quite ukes, but close enough to often be lumped into the same category. His articles also include stunning photos of these historical instruments.

Steven Espaniola’s lesson explores the sound of Israel Kamakawiwo’ole. Nobody will ever be able to truly recreate the magic that made Iz so special, but this lesson details the instruments, strums, and techniques he used. There's also a feature by Heidi Swedberg about the multi-talented singer, songwriter, actor, and, of course, ukestress, Nellie McKay. And we spoke with Andrew Hoyt about his big gig playing in front of a packed arena as a last-minute fill-in opener for indie-pop superstars AJR.

There are reviews of some great new tenor ukes by Martin and Kala that we were really excited to check out. We also spoke to luthier Ken Franklin about his process for making tonewoods sing in his ukuleles. Plus, Sarah Maisel gives an update about the Ukulele Club of Hawaii, which she and Craig Chee recently took over and expanded to include livestreams for the world to join in.