Bill Tapia (January 1, 1908 – December 2, 2011), known as “Uncle Bill” and “Tappy”, was an American musician, born to Portuguese parents. At age 8, Tapia was already a professional musician, playing “Stars and Stripes Forever” for World War I troops in Hawaii.

Melvern Taylor writes songs and plays the ukulele. He is backed up by his Fabulous Meltones. Together they make records and play shows.Once upon a time, people like the Everly Brothers, Carole King and Sam Cooke made pop songs—timeless, accessible and instantly familiar music. Melvern Taylor and The Fabulous Meltones craft brilliant songs that remind us that “pop” isn’t a dirty word.

Out of the love for Island and Country-Western music comes the sounds of the Tiki Cowboys. The music is ukulele and hand percussion, written and performed by Eric "Baron" Behrenfeld. Baron has been a working drummer and percussionist in Chicago for over 20 years. The Tiki Cowboys is his solo tropical departure from the usual tenure of playing Blues here in Chicago. But fear not, there are inklings of blues woven throughout this sonic island fantasy, with surf-twang greasing the neo-primitive rhythms.

Herbert Khaury (April 12, 1932 – November 30, 1996), better known by the stage name Tiny Tim, was an American singer, ukulele player, and musical archivist. He was most famous for his rendition of Tiptoe Through The Tulips sung in his distinctive high falsetto / vibrato voice. He was generally thought of as a novelty act, though his records display a wide knowledge of American songs. Tiny didn’t have a legal middle name, he came up with Buckingham because it sounded like royalty.

Aloha my name is Bryan L. Tolentino. I am a self taught ‘ukulele player. I started playing the ‘ukulele at the age of 10. At the age of 12, my best friend Asa Young first introduced me to playing Hawaiian music on the ‘ukulele. Our early influences were the musical groups, “The Son’s of Hawai’i” and “The Sunday Mānoa.” After graduating from St. Louis High School in 1979, my friends and I decided to form a musical group called “The Side Order Band.” The group consisted of Asa Young on 12-string guitar, Delwin Beazley on 6-string guitar, and Chris Kamaka on upright bass, and me on ‘ukulele. We performed at various functions throughout the island of O’ahu.

You only have to hear them once to become fans of Tripping Lily. This young quartet might be described as a string band with pop music sensibilities, or perhaps a cutting edge vocal quartet with acoustic instruments. Last year was a big year for Tripping Lily, highlighted by winning 2 Independent Music Awards for Best Folk Record and Best Acoustic Song, opening for Jazz artist Chris Botti, and being a featured guest for the Cape Cod Symphony’s Holiday Pops Spectacular.

Tony Penultimate is the pseudonym of Peter Brooke Turner of the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. He has released two albums of his own quirky songs which show all the ill digested influences of Jake Thackray, Frank Zappa, Tom Lehrer, the Bonzo Dog Doodah Band, the Temperance Seven and Ivor Cutler, with the occasional touch of Peter Sellers and The Beach Boys…