IMPRESSED WITH ARIANA UKES

Yet another ukulele brand is born. This time it's Ariana, from famous guitar company Aria. I had an Aria acoustic guitar once and it was great. They also make excellent bass guitars, so I was interested in checking out their ukes. The budget model is Ariana AU-80. Like Mahalo they come in eye-catching colours and the very reasonable price tag includes a sturdy canvas gig bag worth a tenner on its own. The finish and overall quality is remarkably good for a budget uke and I'll be selling them alongside the ever-popular Mahalos at my gigs and workshops.

BROOKLANDS WORKSHOP CONFIRMED

The second ukulele workshop at Brooklands Museum, Weybridge, has been confirmed for Thursday 3 June at 11am – PLEASE NOTE TIME: this was originally pencilled in as an afternoon workshop. It is open to all ages and abilities. Ukes for loan/sale (at a very attractive price!) will be available for those who don't yet own an instrument.

www.brooklandsmuseum.com

SUCCESSFUL EVENT AT VERWOOD HUB, SATURDAY 17 APRIL

My first Ukulele Show at the amazing Verwood Hub in Dorset was very successful. Due to a small communication mix-up the workshop was actually oversubscribed, but I coped, and every one of the 6 spare Mahalo ukes I had with me was sold to a happy beginner. There was also an excellent turnout for the concert. It looks likely that I'll be returning for further workshops in the not-too-distant future.

The Hub must be Dorset's best kept secret: a large and impressive venue in a small country town that, to be honest, I had never heard of till I got the booking. Great facilites, great staff and, from what I saw, great patrons.

www.thehubverwood.co.uk

UKEY DE VEKEY

Thanks to the encyclopedic knowledge of my latest ukulele pupil Paul McKeown I have just discovered something very interesting about the beat-up and genuinely (as opposed to artificially) distressed uke I dragged around and thrashed mercilessly for years on Roaring Jelly gigs. He spotted it in my office and cried out in excitement, "Ah, a de Vekey!" Yes, folks, it turns out I am the (newly proud) owner of a century-old tenor ukulele made in Bournemouth by the Hungarian luthier Aladar de Vekey. Apparently they're quite rare and very collectible. I must take better care of it! Oh, by the way, I bought it for a fiver in a junk shop about 35 years ago.

MYSPACE

To hear complete songs and to see more photos visit the new MySpace site:

www.myspace.com/cliveharvey

CH, 2010