The Duke of Uke

Discovering the ukulele was of monumental significance to Dave's creative career as well as to his personal life, and in becoming The Duke of Uke Dave finally found his musical home. We will eventually add Dave's ukulele origin story here, because of course it's a good one.

Quite possibly the greatest video of all time.

This was recorded by a patron at a ukulele open mic night at Sully's Snow Goose tavern in Seattle, WA, on a snowy evening in December 2008. The Duke of Uke rolled in, played one song, and burned the house down. Although the patron chatter can be distracting, it's worth it for hearing the reaction to Dave's performance. Best comment: "If he were James Brown, they'd be throwing a cape over him right now!"

While Dave was living in Seattle in 2023 he discovered an artisan shop in Poulsbo, Washington, that had a wall full of handmade cigar box and other custom ukuleles. This is a snippet of Dave performing a song, filmed by the shop host. I wish she'd gotten the whole performance -- it was a good one.