The 2012 festival will feature international and national artists, covering a range of styles, from reggae to blues to jazz to folk. Check back regularly as we’ll be announcing artists over the next few months.
Are you interested in performing at the festival? Follow this link and fill out the form.
Manitoba Hal (Canada)
Manitoba Hal is a consummate blues man, having toured Canada and America extensively – in earlier days with guitar, but since 2008 with ukulele. When picturing him in his 100 year old cottage in frosty Nova Scotia, one can’t help but wonder how come someone can sound like he grew up in the Deep South of the States and play this raw, swamp, delta, Cajun and zydeco style blues. Hal developed the blues sound when he lived in Winnipeg Manitoba (where he also got his name). “Winnipeg is situated in a delta between the Red and Assiniboine rivers. There is a lot of blues in Winnipeg and it is often referred to as the Chicago of the north. I believe that music flows through life like a river and we are all born at different places. Some are born at a classical place, some at jazz, and others at country. I was born at the blues and when I found that music inside me, the ukulele came alive and my soul started expressing itself in songs that flowed with that music. The blues is where my soul came into this world. Where it will end up I don’t know but I’m ready for the journey”.
About why he made the switch from guitar to the ukulele, Hal replies, “I noticed that sonically it occupied this space that was in pitch above my voice. This gave my vocals a lot more room in the song without colliding with the notes of the accompaniment as they did when I played guitar also I noticed that people seemed amazed at the sounds I was producing with the ukulele. The last thing that clinched my decision to switch to uke full time was that for all the years and concerts I’ve given as a guitarist, people usually didn’t tell me stories of their life when I play guitar. [However], people seemed compelled to communicate about their life when the uke is played. I like that.”
The Quiet American – Aaron Keim (USA)
After falling in love with music in the school band and choir, Aaron studied music education and french horn in college. He stumbled 
upon an old time hootenany outside of Cimmaron, NM in 1999, which inspired him to learn the upright bass and start The Paradise String Band. While teaching orchestra in the public schools, Aaron began his career building and restoring string instruments. In 2003, Aaron moved to Colorado and earned a master’s degree in music history from University of Colorado. In 2004, Aaron founded Boulder Acoustic Society, which has played over 1,000 shows all over the US, focusing on a genre bending mix of folk, rock, jazz and classical. While traveling with BAS, Aaron taught workshops and master classes on roots music, studied banjo, ukulele and guitar with the masters, performed for huge festival crowds and embedded himself in the modern folk scene.
In 2009, The Quiet American recorded his first solo record, on an 1890’s wax cylinder machine! Like a voice from the past that seems to know the future, this self titled release is a favourite of old time music and audiophiles alike. His newest CD, “The Quiet American Vol. II,” is a showcase of Aaron as a solo act. The original songs sound like classics and the traditionals sound fresh and new.
During the last few years, Aaron has become a firm favourite on the US ukulele festival circuit, and is considered one of the best ukulele instructors around.
Paul Hemmings (USA) & the Uketet
The humble ukulele has sat on the back burner throughout most of Jazz music’s rich history. Paul Hemmings is determined to change that.
With The Paul Hemmings Uketet, the unassuming four-stringed Hawaiian instrument takes its place front and center, alongside bass and drums, in a well-seasoned jazz combo that pushes the boundaries of what has often been considered a mere novelty instrument. Based in New York City, Paul Hemmings serves up a savory blend of jazz standards, contemporary classics, and original music, all the while showcasing the instrumental virtues of its key ingredient. From the Hawaiian Islands to the Island of Manhattan, he combines the warm spirit of Aloha with the vibrancy of New York’s world-renowned jazz scene to concoct a tantalizing taste of instrumental ukulele music.
Paul is very passionate about the instrument and its use in jazz music. A conservatorium graduate, he is equally passionate about teaching, so festival attendees will get the opportunity to improve their musical skills and understanding of jazz (on the ukulele) at the festival in July in several workshops.
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