While I was down in New York at the New York Ukulele Festival, Mimi Tompkins from CBC radio interviewed me for The World This Weekend. Here is the entire ukulele feature edited from the CBC podcast archive. The show was broadcast on April 12th, 2008.

http://www.manitobahal.com/twtw_20080412_clip.mp3

Alright! Well here I am in New York city walking around and taking pics. Yesterday I had breakfast at Times Square and wandered the theatre district stopping at Madamme Toussaud's wax museum. Then I wandered down 7th and found the RENT Theatre. Then I hopped the subway and spent the rest of the day down in Greenwich Village wandering into Alphabet City.

I have a ton of pics of the New York Ukulele Festival as well as of the places along the way on this trip and I'll post a few here once I sort through my camera load of shots. Hope you're having a great week(end)!

For the folks in New York I've put a compilation of my uke tunes together into this CD. Little Box of Sadness features 8 ukulele tracks that are brand new. 4 from my new release "Worn Out Shoes" and 4 that were recorded for this project.

The track list includes 30 Odd Days, Built for Comfort, Cost of the Blues, Let Me In, Call of Angels, Automobile, Somebody On Your Bond and Line & Pole. All the tracks on this CD are fully produced with band and support vocals and the result is a lively fun blues Uke CD that belongs in every ukulele fans collection. Here's what some fans had to say about the cuts...

"NOW you're speakin' MY language! Great song. I may have to cover it." Craig Roberston

"I usually don't care for the whole blues uke thing, but this really works for me. Very cool, Hal! A+ thanks for giving it to us." J Boy Shyne

"...everything is just overwhelmingly polished and professional and just GOOD." Jodi Matthews

"Expressive voice, dirty rhythm (dirty in a good way, of course...). Love it." Amber Nash

This collection is full of hot licks and interesting arrangements. I know you'll love it. See me at the NY Uke fest April 3-6 to get your copy or at the Sidewalk Cafe in the east village as part of the Ukulele Caravan on April 4th at 4pm.

Got Uke?

So it just over two weeks today that the New York Ukulele Festival kicks off with it's large list of artists and vendors. I'm so excited to be going. This will be my first time back in New York since my 2001 appearance in the Ukulele Hall of Fame expo. I'm looking forward to reaquainting myself with the many uke players I met down there and getting aquainted with the city as well! I will be there for 10 days overall and it will probably hardly be enough.

Checklist:
Hang out at the Uke Fest
Drink beer
Play ukulele
See a Broadway show (? maybe)
Eat at some famous NY deli's

In the spirit of the ukulele obsession here is a new track I just recorded. Cost of the Blues

This Friday night I'm at the Watson Arts Center in Dauphin MB opening for The Cruzeros. The last time I saw these fellas was at Lance Loree's wedding in Nanton Alberta. What a party that was!

I'm here on tour in Ontario and the storms are blowing. There was a major storm on Tuesday night and another one scheduled for Friday night. Sure wish it was over already. The forecast looks good though for catching my flight home on Sunday. Wahoooo!

The show in Peterborough went well. There was a small but very attractive crowd at the Spill and we gave them a mess of blues to warm a cold winter night. Too much fun.

OH I got news. I just got notified that I have reached #56 on the Reverbnation website for blues. Check out my tunes at www.reverbnation.com/halbrolunddemos

I had an amazing time at Adair Hall tonight and my new CD was released to the world in fine form. The crowd at the small Ste Anne de Bellvue hall were a hoot to play for and the Second Life audience (about 52 people) were wild and vocal as always. Ian Gray (Montian Gilruth) was a terrific opener and had the tech backbone humming. All in all it was a great night! Bree took loads of pictures and I'll upload them here when I get them via e-mail. Sunday it's off to Toronto! YAY!



The Real Me


The Second Life Me

Well the countdown is on. My new CD, Worn Out Shoes, will be released on Friday Feb 29th at Adair Hall in Montreal. I'm very excited about this release party for a couple of reasons.

#1) I'm excited because it is the official send off of this great recording into the world. I wrote this collection of songs over the past several years and they reflect my belief that love will triumph despite our flawed human nature.

#2) The release party will be physically in Montreal but will also happen in the virtual 3D world of Second Life (www.secondlife.com). The House of Flames will be hosting the performance in Second Life where people from around the globe will be able to attend the release party. This CD has been subscribed to by people from Germany, Japan, the US, all over Canada. It will be so great to include many of them in the release party despite our geographic distance!

After the release party I'll be playing a small number of shows in Southern Ontario. Please check my tour schedule to see if I'll be in your neck of the woods soon.