Dominator Ukulele Tabs

On Saturday we headed down to Elk Grove for the Hawaiian Style Grill Summer Kickoff party. It was a great day filled with music, hula dancing and great food. Here are a few pics from the day. There were a number of groups that performed and then I had the pleasure of sharing the stage, for a couple of numbers, with Brad (aka Hippie Guy) who runs the website at Live `Ukulele. Brad's mom shot some video which you can see below. The hickups in the video near the end are from my wife snapping some photos which froze up the video for a micro second.

The HSG group gets together each Friday evening and I hope to make it down for one of them in the near future.

Some of the board members from ‘Ukulele Underground. Left to right: dhkane, Dominator, Hippie Guy, FHS-72 (in front), Torao, and Kanaka916

Dominator and Hippie Guy

The day after the Minden festival, Brittni performs her intimate solo show during Sunday Brunch at Indigo Bar and Bistro. Affectionately called Hawaii's ukulele darling and slack key supergirl for her remarkable instrumental proficiency, Brittni walked away with the 2005 Na Hoku Hanohano “Most Promising Artist Award” at the age of 16 for her debut recording, Brittni X 3 in which she played all three parts—ukulele, guitar and bass. Now 20 with multiple awards under tow, Miss Paiva is a delight to behold in concert.

Again, I am honored to have the opportunity to open for Brittni at Indigo. Check the Uke Fest Website for additional info.

You asked for them and they have finally arrived. The Dominator Ukuleles Online Store is now open. Inventory is limited as I don't have any smalls or mediums at this time. Another order is being placed and should be here within the next 3 weeks (just in time for the Tahoe Area Uke Fest).

Back in 1995, on a chilly Thanksgiving night in Ohio, we rescued a 4 week old puppy (or maybe I should say she rescued us) that had been abandoned along with her 4 other litter mates. They were all huddled fast asleep except for the runt of the litter who was standing up and stretching, just aching to get out of that darned box. As soon as my wife picked her up and saw the mask those two dark patches around here eyes produced she said “Oh, you little Bandit you”. Bandit stole her heart and the rest is history. Bandit stayed in Ohio until she was old enough to travel and arrived in California in January of 1996.

Bandit was a very special dog. She was a little princess. She was without question the smartest dog we ever had. She was always the favorite to take top prize at the annual neighborhood doggie Olympics as she new at least a dozen or more tricks.

Bandit became sick last December and was well enough to come home on Christmas day. She rebounded for a few months and then started to decline pretty rapidly over the last couple of months. Bandit left us this past Thursday and though it is difficult to come to grips with at least we know that she is no longer suffering and is now pain free.

Rest in Peace, Bandit.

Don’t miss the 1st Annual Tahoe Area Ukulele Festival coming up in June. Ukes in the Forest? Ukes in the Cow Pastures? Sort of! Join us in Minden, NV, in the beautiful Carson Valley, June 26-28, just 25 minutes from spectacular Lake Tahoe, as 88 Cups presents the 2009 Tahoe Area Ukulele Festival and Music Filled Weekend!
Most of the UkeFest takes place on Saturday, June 27, but there are events on both Friday and Sunday as well so come early, stay late, and enjoy the spectacular Carson Valley and Lake Tahoe region!

I will be like a kid in a candy store as I get to open for two of the biggest female ukulele stars in the business, Brittni Piava and Victoria Vox. Make sure you get there early as the “Sign up and Strum” on the unplugged stage will start at 9:30am on Saturday June 27. Dan "Cool Hand Uke" Scanlan will also be performing and teaching throughout the day.

This should be a great first year event so make your plans and reservations NOW. Be sure to check out the official website for all the details.

After recording the solo version of Piano Forte my good friend Jon Prown added a second track to it. The result is pretty amazing. As a duet the song takes on a completely different feel with hints of something similar to Canon in D. Jon and I have been wanting to collaborate on a recording for a number of years now and I'm glad we got the first one under our belts. I'm looking forward to recording more with him in the future.

While Piano Forte was still fresh in my mind I decided to record it to video as an entry into the "I Want More Jake" contest that is being held by "thejumpingflea" over at Ukulele Underground. Wish me luck as I would love to be the recipient of the autographed CD of Jake's new Live CD. Hope you enjoy the audio and video recordings.

Piano Forte Duet - MP3

Piano Forte - Video

Jake’s new Live CD is outstanding. His live performances have always been better than his CDs and this is the best I’ve heard him yet. He just keeps getting better and better. One of the standouts on the CD is Piano Forte. I saw one of his Youtube videos where the arrangement is changed a bit. I spent part of my Easter Sunday recording an audio only version based off the Youtube video version.

Piano Forte - MP3

I haven’t had much time available lately for transcribing so I took a couple days off work this week and spent some time working on Here, There and Everywhere. This is a great song from the Beatles Revolver Album which was released on August 5th, 1966. I’ve had a number of requests for this one so I hope it helps those wanting to add this one to the arsenal.

Tabs are located on the tabs page via the link at the top of this page.

Last weekend I maximized my musical intake by attendeding the 5th San Jose Ukulele Jam the day after my gig with the Classic Rock Band in Pleasanton. Heather, one of the members of Ukulele Underground,puts so much effort into these jam sessions making each one better than the one before.

One of the highlights was that she arranged for another well known lurker at Ukulele Underground, Deach, to fly in from the east coast just for the jam. It was a whirlwind trip for him and it was such a pleasure to finally meet him. Deach and Heather collaborated on a custom Fluke design for yet another Ukulele Underground member, Russbuss, and they surprised him with it during the middle of his set. It was an awesome day. Here are a couple videos from my set. I had the pleasure of having Alex back me up on the guitar for Gypsy Ukulele.

Crosscurrent

Gypsy Ukulele

My good friend Ke leo captured some footage from my set in Cerritos at the 7th Annual Southern California Ukulele Festival back in October. He was kind enough to do some editing and send a couple of the videos to me. Shirley T is from my solo set and Gypsy Ukulele is with Dominator & Friends, John Rockwell and Konabob. John is playing his Dominator soprano that I made for him a few years back.

GYPSY UKULELE

Me & Shirley T