Yes Sir, That's My Baby

from me: 

i love your description of this 'sexy little beast'. i mostly play piano and synth but i got a ukulele recently and i love it, even though i'm just learning. mine is the mahalo cherry sunburst in the les paul style, i wanted a more traditional one but when i stopped in windows i tried quite a few and even 4 just like this one and it had the best sound so i took it. but would like a slightly better one, and the case of yours is so lovely and in a nice vintage style, and the ukulele is a lovely one, i've seen one like it in the shop, i think! also if i have two then when someone comes around we can both play one. so i'd decided to get another one on tuesday! how lucky is that (:

i'm a music photographer living in newcastle. i was wondering since you had such a nice little ukulele if you're in a band? and i will have to admit having a ukulele with a little character that has been played is a lot more  exciting than buying a brand new one.

tell me about it...where did you get it and when? there's a girl holding the case in the photo with an amazing skirt on. at least i think so! and do you name your instruments and if so what did you call this one?

to me:

Bizarrely enough, I was also more a piano and synth player before my uke-love began. I bought my first one rather randomly during a drinking session by the Thames two years ago! A cheapo blue Mahalo thing, but still lovely. I'd wanted one since I started messing about with guitars a couple of years before. They feel so good to play, such a sweet sound. I'd much rather pick up a uke now than a big old acoustic guitar. I find them great for ideas and sketches - I write mainly electronic music or short film scores in spare hours, and if I hit a block I pick the uke up and get messing! Perfect cure.

Sadly I'm not in a band. Oh, I wish! I'm a struggling actor (who does a bit of music... it stops them from sacking me if I'm doing both!). It's not anywhere near as cool or fun. And it's nowhere near as brilliant as being a music photographer! Do you have links on Facebook? I'll add you. I'd love to see your work! 

I was in a version of "Spring Awakening" early last year. There's a popular musical of it, but we did the play it's based on. During one of the rehearsal workshops, I brought the uke in with me. The director loved the idea, so it stuck. To be massively pretentious for a moment, I built the character around having this ukulele! He became this completely geeky Buddy Holly wannabe. It was great fun!

We took the show up to the Edinburgh Festival last year, so I 'upgraded' to the Kala (and the case) around June/July. It was bought online... the Southern Ukulele Store on eBay, I think. Because the show was set in the '50s, the Kala uke had the right classic look and sounded wonderful in the performance space. So, it hasn't been with me long, but it's seen some action.

At the end of the show, I was covered in white grease paint and stage blood to come back as a uke-playing, Chuck Berry-singing ghoul. 

Yes, it was mental.

The ukulele would be covered in the stuff after every performance, so I'd spend an hour post-show cleaning her up whilst the rest of the cast buggered off to the pub...! That's dedication. But the audiences preferred the uke over me, so she had to look her best! Quite right too.

Some people call her 'the best ukulele in the world'. I call her 'Baby'. It's not creepy. 

(It is a bit creepy)

from me:

baby is a wonderful name for a ukulele. first of all there's a song Yes Sir, That's My Baby that was in the film A Thousand Clowns (one of my favourites!) and they're playing that on the ukulele, the other reason is that's what he calls the girl in dirty dancing PERFECT.

C
Yes sir, that's my baby 
G
No sir, don't mean maybe  
G7                      C      C7
Yes sir, that's my baby now 

C
Yes, sir, we've decided 
G
No ma'm, we ain't gonna hide it 
G7                        C
Yes, ma'm, you're invited now 

C7                 F
By the way, by the way
G                               G7 
When we reach the preacher I'll say, 
C
Yes sir, that's my baby 
G
No sir, don't mean maybe  
G7                      C      C7
Yes sir, that's my baby now