Ukuleles
Don (DJ) Johnson joined the Ovation Guitar Company in 1968, just about the time Glen Campbell was introducing the unique round-back instrument on national television. DJ worked for the founder, Charlie Kaman, as well as his son Bill for many years and even after the company went through many...
Tony Santorella opened his own music publishing company just north of Boston after learning the trade from the iconic publisher Charles Hansen. Tony was an All State trumpet player who studied music at the University of Miami in Florida. His incredible abilities as a player translated nicely to...
Bill Pitman was a first call studio musician in Los Angles who played on a string of hit records and award winning motion pictures. As a member of the Wrecking Crew he played on the Beach Boy's Pet Sounds album as well as hundreds of top 40 hits beginning in the late 1950s. Bill's ukulele can be...
Dale Webb wanted to create a new design for the ukulele with the hope that it would inspire more people to play a musical instrument. His Fluke did exactly that! The instrument was introduced at the NAMM Show at the perfect time as a new wave of popularity for the ukulele swept the world! Since...
Phyllis Webb and her husband, Dale, formed The Magic Fluke Company in 1999. The company began making ukuleles in the basement of their home in New Hartford, Connecticut. They were inspired and encouraged by Phyllis’s brother, Jim Beloff, an accomplished musician and guitarist who discovered the...
Daniel Ho happily participated in the ukulele boom of the early 2000s. He grew up playing Hawaiian music and studied composition at the Grove School of Music. When given the change to help design a ukulele with luthier Pepe Romero, Daniel proudly added his thoughts and ideas to the design and...
Bill Jones is the founder of Bill Jones Music in Knoxville Tennessee. The retailer started in 1973 with a focus on piano and organs, which was during the height of the organ boom. Over the years the store has developed to fit the changing needs of its customers and has become a full line music...
Orrin Foslien grew up around music. He started out playing the ukulele, then moved to the banjo and guitar. In high school he began singing in the choir and playing the trombone. Around 1962, he traveled to San Francisco hoping to play music, but ultimately ended up working in manufacturing. After...
Ella Jenkins earned the title The First Lady of Children's Folk Songs and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for her dedication to bringing music to children. She began collecting and writing folk songs as a summer camp counselor, which years later tied nicely with her college studies of child...
Peter Hix loves the ukulele. Well, he loves every instrument but does have an extra fondness and appreciation for the ukulele. He was exposed to music from the very beginning, growing up in the music studio his parents established in 1946, right on Benton Street in Aurora, IL. By the age of nine...