Dominator Ukulele Tabs

Hey everyone, here is the initial copy of the poster for the Tahoe Area Ukulele festival to be held at the John Ascuaga's Nugget in Sparks, Nevada. This is going to be an incredible weekend with the best two solo ukulele players alive, in Jake Shimabukuro and James Hill. Click the poster and it will take you to the PlayUke website where you can print off a hi-res copy. We need everyone's help in getting the word out so please place some of the posters on your blogs or in locations that will allow you to do so.
Thanks in advance for the help.

I just want to wish everyone all the best for 2010. It was great to meet many of you last year and I hope I have the opportunity to meet many more of you in 2010.

Happy New Year!

It's that time of year again. Heading to Kauai` in the morning for a week of relaxation and, of course, loads of ukulele fun. I will be meeting up with my buddy Kirby Keough and hopefully will meet up with Aldrine and the Ukulele Underground crew as well.

I've been working on transcribing Aldrine's version of "The Christmas Song" but it has been very slow due to the work schedule. If I can't get the tab completed then I may do a quick video tutorial when I get back so folks can have time to learn it before the Holidays are firmly upon us.

See you soon.

Ukulele Underground's, one and only, Aldrine Guerrero will be kicking off his 2009 California tour with a concert at DaSilva Ukulele Company on Saturday August 8th. The show starts at 6:00pm and will feature some opening acts including yours truly.

Here is the opening lineup:
Monique Macasaet
Dominator
Russ_Buss and Deach

2547 8th Street, Suite 28
Berkeley, CA 94710
510 649-1548
$20 at the door

It will be great to see Aldrine again and I'm sure there will be some additional group jamming as well. Look forward to seeing you there.

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.

Hi Everyone. I’m really excited about the opportunity to contribute to this very important project. You may already be familiar with the good works of Ukuleles for Peace. The charity is based in Israel and run by Paul Moore who teaches ukulele to Jewish and Arab kids and brings them together in a ukulele orchestra. The goal is to create friendships and links between otherwise entirely separate communities.

Ukuleles for Peace work in two towns - Tira and Hod Hasharon - where it has been hugely successful. There are even discussions about the group performing at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

But they do need money to keep up the good work and, hopefully, expand into other towns in the region. To that end, our good friend Al (Woodshed from Uke Hunt) contacted me to see if I would be interested in transcribing something specifically for this e-book of tabs. Of course, I was honored to participate and decided to transcribe one of Brian Hefferan’s ragtime arrangements, Cotton Eye Joe. Woodshed was able to get together a number of elite online ukulele performers and tabbers and the result is an e-book of tunes from around the world arranged for ukulele. It features tabs/arrangements from Brian Hefferan, James Hill, Ken Middleton, Mark Kailana Nelson, and Wilfried Welti in addition to me. You can find out more about it, read the contents, listen to tracks and buy it here. And the money goes directly to Ukuleles for Peace.

I hope you can find it in your heart to contribute to this project. Look at their little faces (and in this video). It is simply amazing how the power of music and the ukulele can make such a positive impact on these children’s lives.

If you can’t afford it, you can help even more by spreading the word about Ukuleles for Peace and the e-book by talking about it on blogs, forums, MySpace, Facebook, Live Journal and anywhere you can find people who might listen.

Thanks so much and Happy Holidays to all of you.

The 7th Annual Southern California Ukulele Festival was another great success this past weekend. Only a few light showers had people scrambling about for a bit but it cleared up rather nicely. I had the opportunity to meet many new people, match faces with screen names and visit with old friends as well. Among the new Ohana were Joe and Kristen Souza of Kanile’a ‘Ukulele. Such wonderful people. They sent the picture below with me and Bruddah Mark outside Mark’s booth.

Not only is MGM the nicest guy around but he has to be the hardest working person at theses festivals. Not only does he have to pack all those ukes and ship them to the festival to start with, but he then has to transport them, unpack and setup at one location for Club Night, pack them back up at the end of the night, set em up again the next morning and then pack em all up again at the end of the festival. I’m exhausted just thinking about it.

This was my first time as a performer on the day stage and I was very pleased with the way the new Dominator spruce top tenor performed. From where I was onstage it sounded fabulous coming through the house system and it really delivered what I was asking from it. A special thanks to ke leo and misguided musician for recording it on video. It was definitely a “live” performance with a few clams here and there but I think there were a few good spots as well. I opened with Touch followed by Going to California and Shirley T. Then I brought Konabob and John Rockwell up to do Guava Jam, TNC and closed the set with Gypsy Ukulele. Once Ke leo has had an opportunity to edit the video he plans to send it to me for uploading to the site.

Once back at the hotel Bruddah Mark, Charlie, Rockwell, Peter Mari, Preston from Salt Lake and a few others jammed inside the bar until they closed up and cleared us out. Ke leo also got a couple numbers on video that he should be able to see soon.