James' blog, recent news, concert updates, and more. http://www.ukulelejames.com Wow, lots going on these days. Summer is always a ukulele whirlwind; 2011 shows no signs of being an exception. Just finished up a week of teaching at The Woods Music and Dance Camp with some wonderful folks. It's fun to be fans of your friends, eh? Check out The Once, James Gordon, Chris Coole, Paul Mills and Sarah Burnell. What a week! Heading up to the Summerfolk festival in Owen Sound, ON, this coming weekend. Had a great time at the Vancouver JHUI Teacher Certification Program and looking forward to the Toronto and Truro editions. The Langley Ukulele Workshop (happening in October) is almost sold out (less than 10 places left) so if you're sitting on the fence now is the time to jump one way or the other! New album update: if you pre-ordered Man With a Love Song, your CD has been sent to you (if it hasn't arrived, it will soon!). We're celebrating the release with a slew of concerts in the fall. More to come! Watch this space! One more thing. Ken Middleton (and small army of great arrangers) has just released a new e-book of solo ukulele arrangements. Yours truly wrote the foreword. All the money raised through sales of the e-book goes to support the wonderful Ukuleles For Peace organization. Great music, great cause. http://www.ukulelejames.com/blog-2011.htm June 13, 2011: News flash: if you're coming to the Langley Ukulele Workshop in October, be sure to register before July 1 to get the early-bird rate. Click on the link below for workshop info; hope you can join us, it's gonna be great! In other news, off to the UK for the Ukulele Festival of Great Britain this weekend! Yee-haw! In other, other news I just signed off on the CD layout and design for the new album. Michael Wrycraft did a flat-out amazing job and I'm looking forward to the September release more than ever. Check back for CD release concert listings soon. http://www.ukuleleintheclassroom.com/animato2011/index.htm May 2, 2011: New CD master: check. Music video: check. Photoshoots: check. CD Artwork: in progress. New website: in progress. Yeah! Another big, big thank you to all those who pre-ordered the new CD; it's only thanks to that advance support that I've been able to put this project together. Can't wait to share the new tunes with you! http://www.ukulelejames.com/blog-2011.htm April 17, 2011:I'm staying at a nice little hotel right in the heart of the Parisian red-light district (the Moulin Rouge is a stone's throw away). Spent the past two nights across the street at the Ukulele Boudoir festival at a lovely renovated theatre called Les Trois Baudets ("the three donkeys")... http://www.ukulelejames.com/blog-2011.htm April 7, 2011: I keep waiting... waiting to write "IT'S DONE!" and celebrate with wine and cheese. But, as my friend Ralph Shaw has said, "the last 5% of a project takes 95% of the effort!" How true. Over the past few weeks it's been a whirlwind of mixing, mastering, photo shoots and meetings... http://www.ukulelejames.com/blog-2011.htm March 2, 2011. We started in the recording studio February 23rd... just one short week ago. What a week it has been! A whirlwind of music, song, laughter, questions, decisions, takes and re-takes. It's been exhausting but really exciting to hear the new album take shape. Click on the link for a full update on the new recording. http://www.ukulelejames.com/blog-2011.htm February 15, 2011: Today is the official launch of the 2011 Langley Ukulele Workshop and the 2011 JHUI Teacher Certification Program! Registration is now open for both of these special events; early registration can save you money and will ensure that you have a spot at your chosen event(s); both have limited space so please register early to avoid disappointment! Click on the link to learn which event best suits your learning needs and goals. http://www.ukuleleintheclassroom.com/events.htm January 31, 2011: Really nice article and video in the Toronto Star about Melanie Doane's classroom ukulele program. Go Melanie! Click on the link to watch. http://www.thestar.com/videozone/929308--kids-thrilled-to-strum-ukuleles January 24, 2011: It's that time again: time to get back in the studio and record a new album! All the songs are written and I'm really excited about the way things are going. To offset the expense of recording the album and "doing it right" I've decided to pre-sell it so that friends and fans can be directly involved in its creation! Pre-ordering is a way for you to help me make a great-sounding album, show your support for independent artists, and get some cool "thank you" perks (like personalized autographed CDs, a limited-edition EP, your name in the album credits and more). Click on the link to read through the options and choose the one that's right for you. I can't tell you how much your support means; as funding for the arts dries up everywhere it's direct action like yours that makes it all possible. http://ukulelejames.com/bepartofit