Alison Benson Music
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • YouTube
  • Blog
  • ELectronic Press Kit

Do we really need another blog?

8/6/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Probably not, to be fair, but I thought I’d have a go at writing one!


I am a singer songwriter who has recently released an EP called Paths & Stories. It was pretty much me and a ukulele (and a fab producer, Jon Lawton who put in some keys and bass, as well as all the clever things with mics, mixers and all things tech). For me, this blog is a chance to write out some of my musical musings, to share them and see if anyone want to muse along with me! I also hope it might encourage more people to engage with my music.


I’m interested in lots of things; music, reading, thinking, holidays and cats. (I’m not going to blog about cats!) The blog is going to be about music and my particular interests in that, which include singing and songwriting, performing, the ukulele, folk music, bluegrass and Americana...and plenty of other things.


I began a blog a year ago and it remained just one blog post , so I thought I’d lay out what the first few posts will be about with the intention (or commitment to myself!) that I’ll post with greater regularity than annually. Themes will include songwriting when you can’t go out, performing online and learning a new instrument. I hope that’ll be a good start!


So here’s to my new blog. I hope you’ll enjoy it, or at least not hate it!


A

0 Comments

Ukulele’s birthday

8/23/2019

0 Comments

 
Today is the Ukulele’s birthday. It’s the day that the Ravenscragg arrived from Madeira and landed in Honolulu. The story goes that, rejoicing to be off the ship after four weeks, the musicians amongst them began to play their music in celebration. They played a small guitar-like instrument that over the next few years evolved into what we now know as the ukulele.


It was a game changer for Hawaiian music and one of the sounds of Hawaii that we’re just familiar with. It became an iconic symbol of Hawaii in advertising and popular culture and has been adopted across the world, played by virtuosos and hobbyists alike.


The ukulele has been a game changer for the musical lives of many people, including myself. I’d grown up in a musical family and studied music at university, playing a number of instruments, including the guitar and singing but had let that fall by the wayside to some extent. I was having a family dinner with at my parents’ house and it came up that there was a ukulele in a cupboard upstairs. We brought it down and had a little play of it - my brother knew some chords already. It was a battered old thing but I saw something special in it and decided to buy a new one.


And the rest is history. It rekindled my love of performing, songwriting and embracing the challenge of learning new pieces on the instrument. It’s meant that I’ve met loads of interesting and lovely people, all who love the uke. I’ve played at festivals, lovely venues, begun to create an EP (release tbc), won a couple of songwriting competitions and spent countless joyful hours enjoying the cute little instrument.


So the Madeirans gave thanks for the end of a long journey. Today, I’m thankful for their journey and the musical journey that it set so many of us upon.


What’s your ukulele journey?
0 Comments

    Author

    Write something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview.

    Archives

    August 2020
    August 2019

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.