Now that the Reno Ukulele Festival and our three month winter tour is behind us,
i am slowly gathering steam, recharging and getting ready for what is sure to be a
really great summer.
I have some really choice local gigs at pizza parlors,
farmers markets and festivals, which i am really looking forward to.
Nationally, i will be appearing at The MacComb Ukulele Festival,
Ashoken Ukulele Retreat,The Strathmore Ukulele Gathering, Fox Valley
Folk Festival and The Nova Scotia Ukulele Ceilidh to name a few.
Soon, my buddy John Nicholson and I will be recording the audio tracks
for our new book:Fiddle Tunes for Ukulele, which we hope will be released
before the NAMM Show in January of 2014.
Once these tracks are done, i am going to begin work on a new book called: Essential Strums, Strokes and Tricks for Ukulele, which is to be released as
a book/DVD combination. Again, this will be released in 2014 i hope.
Many of you are aware that i have been touring very hard for about 10 years now.
I have made so many wonderful friends and fans. I am grateful for the time you
have all chosen to spend with us as we passed thru your town.
In the future, we plan to make our southern and western tour in the summer
months since our daughter is starting school in 2013. Though, the WI winter will surely
drive me to schedule some select dates in CA, AZ, TX and FL.
This years eastern tour will be a tad shorter and every other year i will alternate
the cities i plan to visit. So those of you who live in the east, will see me every other year
unless you attend a music camp or festival. This year, i am planning stops in to PA & NC.
I would also like to visit Vermont at some point as well, though nothing definite yet.
Lastly, i will also be doing alot of flying to points around the country, where i will do
shorter 2-4 day tours, before returning home; the whole goal is not to be away from
home too long.
I can't imagine anyone wanting to miss the golden years of their kids education!
I for one don't plan to.
Lil Rev & Mariela Performing in San Francisco in 2012
Irving Berlin once wrote those lyrics to The Song Is Ended, a classic love and longing song.
Such is the case for touring musicians like myself who spend months at a time on the road.
My wife, daughter and i just returned home from over 3 months of touring FL, TX, NM,
AZ, CA, OR and WA.. I have been making that jaunt for the better part of 8 years now
and time sure does fly.
While its hard to say what i love most about being on the road, here are few
things that come to mind:
1) I love the people who take us in and care for us, cooking, showing
us around, and helping to lighten our way. They have become so dear
to us. I could not do it without them.
2) I love the fans who enthusiastically turn up once a year, as i pass thru
their town to teach and or perform.
3) I love the grandeur that is the American West. While we start our
tour in the south and southwest, i cannot tell a lie, there is something mythical,
magical and haunting to me about the wide open spaces of the "deep west." Parts of
Arizona and even New Mexico hold true, but for me it's Northern California
(Redwood Country), parts of OR and WA...and finally onto Montana and The Dakotas.
This is where my heart really sings, rich in history, big sky, wide open, flowing rivers,
free spirits thrive in this part of the world. Then finally we pass thru the Black Hill of
South Dakota where time often stands still. Where the ghosts of Deadwood and Custer
still elicit and eerie song on the breeze.
4) I love being my own boss, being self-employed and doing what i love teaching
and performing. I made my living as a full time musician from 1993-2000, then i
taught grade school and College for about 5 years before it was time to hit the road.
I never did look back. My heart sure does thrive on the road. The positive juju that
fans bestow upon us is very healing for the soul when one simply does what he or
she was meant to do.
5) I love to see the sunshine. I love when my body makes its own Vitamin D.
Being from WI, the winters are cold, dark and hard on the body, mind and spirit.
Touring the sunbelt is no mistake brother!
Are there things i don't love about being on the road? Heck Yeah!
1) Sleeping in a different bed every night is hard on the body
2) Driving and sitting, performing and sitting, eating and sitting...get the idea...
too much sitting and not enough exercise is no damn good for anybody. I try to jog,
walk, do yoga, meditate when i can, but it is never enough when i am on the road.
3) Poor Eating Habits. That's right, i am gluten free and i have a few other food issues,
so making sure that i am eating well is an understatement. Ultimately, by the end
of 3 months, i am a bit shell shocked diet-wise and in dire need of clean eating and
lots of exercise.
4) Dangerous Weather, Car Problems and Crazy People, mean that i always
have to be vigilant. Mostly cause its my duty to care for a little 4 year girl (my daughter)
as well as my wife. America is a beautiful place to live and see, but beware my good man,
the road can also chew you up and spit you out and it's no place for sissies. To be quite
frank, it takes a ton of courage to set out on the great highway for 3 months. One never
knows what awaits him or her and that's part of the great unfolding, the mystery,
magic and poison.
So here i sit, tucked into bed on a cold WI April night, remembering days
gone by, friends i left behind, gigs, classes, comforting meals, long drives,
inspiring vistas and sweet tunes.
Some choose to make music, others are simply chosen.
So long as i shall breath, the road will call like a dream in the night.
Lastly, i am grateful to my friends, family, wife, daughter and Milwaukee
for giving me a sense of place and purpose. It was here, where it all began.
Like most professional musicians out on the circuit, I am of a curious breed. We are
collectors (not me!), players, tinkerers, and scientists searching for the perfect strings,
gauges, intonation, tonal woods, action, pitch, aesthetics, scale length, acoustics,
amplification dynamics, pickups and hep-factor all rolled into one instrument.
I have played 100's of guitars, mandolins, banjos, harmonicas and yes, ukuleles;
while always in search of the holy grail.
Some beg to differ and call this a disease known as U.A.S. or ukulele acquisition syndrome. The premise being that some
performers are always in search of the next new thing or newness,
only later to discover that all instruments have their pros and cons.
Yet, i see it differently, the professional player is always evolving, pushing him
or herself to be better than the moment allows and in doing so, our ability shifts,
our styles and approaches evolve and so too does our need for professional grade
instruments that can stand up to the rigors of the road and still deliver a honest
tune night after night, in town after town.
While its true that Willie Nelson has had the same guitar for 200 years
and B.B. King has had Lucille since before the days of Jesus of Nazareth,
many of us know that as our ability, taste and repertoire mature, we often
find ourselves needing to upgrade, trade-in or invest in high quality
professional tools.
In part that is how i came to play Mya-Moe.
Science Fiction buffs call it Uke-Quest!
I'm not going to lie and tell you that i play just one brand of ukulele exclusively,
nor am i going to tell you that i am in any way being prompted to write lovingly
about Mya-Moe Ukuleles ( http://www.myamoeukuleles.com/ ), but rather,
let me say that this story has a beard!
It was back in 2007-2008 when i first started to connect with Mya-Moe.
It just so happened that we all found ourselves at The Portland Ukulele Festival at Reed College in Portland, OR
(now known as: http://menucha.org/programs/uke-band-camp ).
The P.U.F. was and is, still the best ukulele camp, festival that the
mainland has ever seen with over a dozen instructors, great food,
jamming, vendors and a couple of days of classes, classes, classes
and more classes; all alongside of evening concerts that still rival
anything i have ever seen at other festivals around the country.
There was always alot of magic when all of the instructors
bonded with one another, jamming on each others set and staying up late
into the night making music.
But that's getting off the subject a bit!
It was at P.U.F that i first playeda few of the Mya-Moe
Ukuleles and was smitten with the idea of a wood bodied
resonator, which was early on, THE main focus of Mya-Moe.
Having owned a National Concert size mahogany resonator
for many years i knew it was the sound i was looking for, but there
were still things that i felt were missing in the National
Brand that Mya-Moe had surmounted via, tone, playability, nut
width/string spacing and resonance. Hands down, the first Mya-Moe
Tenors that i had played (Cherry, Myrtle, Maple, Koa) were simply better
instruments that anything i had seen and/or played before including: Johnson,
Beltona , Ron Phillips, Dobro, Gold Tone, National or
anyone else dabbling in reso-phonic instrumentation.
These are great instruments right out of the case. True grit and power
without the plug. You really don't need a pickup in these babies (though some choose to
put one in), just a good mic and away you go
(matter of opinion people!we call it free speech!)
Not only that, Mya-Moe has proven to be a generous supporter of the working
musicians, making sure that many grassroots, local, regional and national
acts have a good uke to play.It is thru their generosity that i am fortunate
enough to play a number of their instruments made to spec. I am grateful
for this and in turn, if anyone comes up to me at an event and is interested
in a Mya-Moe, i always put it in their hands and say, here, take for a test
drive! I feel no shame in that. If I believe in a product, i promote it.
Today, many of the biggest acts in the world play Mya-Moe.
From Mumford and Sons, Dave Matthews and Eddie Vedder to
James Hill, Bob Brozman and Ben Harper.
If you think that's selling out, think again. The reality is, Mya-Moe
has always had a huge heart in supporting great players big and small.
The real heroes are folks like Gerald Ross,
Aaron Keim, Victoria Vox, Ben Bonham, Moe Dixon,
Brook Adams, Kate Powers, Jere Canote, Daniel Ho,
Ralph Shaw and so many others who all feel the same
way i do, which is nothing but gratitude for a company that
has dedicated itself to perfecting its craft in a highly specialized field,
with unrelenting passion and promise.
Now we're all happily spreading the Mya-Moe Gospel!
Lil Rev's Mya-Moe Quilted Maple Concert known affectionately as "Pearl"
This ukulele travels with Lil Rev about 98% of the time!
As a marketing executive in my past like, i believe that custom-builders
not only need to know their craft, but they also need to be astute businessman.
They need to be consistently professional from start to finish with no bull and,
or ambiguity along the way.
Let me put it this way, say you saved yourgelt
(yiddish for money), done your homework and played
all different kinds of ukuleles and now you know what you want.
You are ready toplace an order with any of a dozen's different
builders across the U.S. What you'll find 9 times out of 10, is
that the builder doesn't have an efficient system in place by which
to market his ability and or his product. Websites are sorely lacking in
quotes, interactive displays of product pictures, prices, pics of players
who endorse the product, history of the company, logo,
and a pronounced reason why their particular ukulele is unique in style,
detail, and/or playability.
In a digital era, there is no excuse for anything less than this!
Alas, Mya-Moe is sure to please with this regard. See for yourself:
