Howlin' Hobbit dot com

I just finished songs 5 and 6 for my upcoming CD—the first of two CDs this year, I fondly hope—and I’m giving some serious thought to trying to get one more tune on the proverbial “digital tape” tonight.

I’m pretty tired so may bag that “one more tune” plan, but there is a chicken in the oven, so I have to stay awake anyways. hmmmm…

I’m using three of my ukuleles on this recording. On a couple of the tunes I’m playing T.R. (my Ohana sopranino) and the rest are split half-and-half between Scarface (the Ohana cedar-faced soprano that’s my main busking uke) and Little Kahuna (my Glyph soprano). So far there’s one done with T.R., two with Scarface and three with Kahuna.

Thanks to all the folk that have been signing up for my mailing list. I hope you are enjoying the mp3 of the first cut from this upcoming CD. I haven’t heard anything back from anyone though… you like it? It sucks? Write me at fanletters@howlinhobbit.com and tell me what you think of it, or just leave a comment here.

I’m also considering putting up another “preview” track in the fans only area. You wanna hear it? Just let me know…

Some of you perceptive folk may have noticed a new link in the sidebar here that says, “Enter Fans Only Area” (hint: right under the “Contact Howlin’ Hobbit” link). Some of you may have even tried it, only to discover that you need a password. You may be asking, “What’s the dealio here, Hobbit?” So I’ll tell you…

The Fans Only Area will contain special stuff, like recordings, videos, special merchandise offers or discounts, etc. that are either not available to the general public or are, at the very least, available first in the fans area (before being “released into the wild”). And yes, there’s something there already.

“So,” you could be asking right about now, “how come I can’t get in there even though I’m a genuine Howlin’ Hobbit Fan-Type-Person™?”

The answer is simple. I had to have some sort of delineation between “nice folks who check me out sometimes” and “true blue Howlin’ Hobbit Fan-Type-Persons™” and I chose “folks on my mailing list” for it. In fine, if you’re receiving the Hobbit Howls newsletter you’re “on the list” already.

Since I have just sent out the February issue of the Howls, there are already people who possess the password and are happily—I hope!—downloading the first of the treats behind the password wall, because it’s in the Howls that I announce the password. (It changes periodically, as does the content behind the wall.)

But do not for to panic. I have made a Solemn Vow™ to personally email the current password to anyone who signs up to receive the Howls. They don’t even have to wait until the next issue of the Howls comes out. How’s that for service, eh?

So if you want to get in on all the goodies, go on and sign up for my mailing list. You’re not going to get spammed. My writing style is gosh darn amusing. You get treats. Since it comes on 100% recycled electrons, it’s even good for the environment.

Whatcha waiting for?

This one is for you sopranino players, especially if you’ve tuned it up to F tuning (FCAD) though it can be used to learn the tune with any instrument—even… gasp!… guitars—by simply ignoring the fingerings I’ve given in favor of the appropriate ones for your instrument and tuning.

The song is Teddy Bears Picnic, nearly 100 years old now and still popular enough that my video of the tune is approaching 12,000 views. I usually only make songsheets for my own tunes, but this one is well and truly into the Public Domain and is one I really enjoy, so I thought I’d share it with you.

The story behind the songsheet is in the songsheet itself, so I won’t repeat it here. You can download it by right clicking its title (above) and saving it to your computer. Or you can visit my free ukulele songsheets page to download it and a number of other tunes.

Let me know what you think of it in the comments!

Enjoy…

For a long time now I’ve had three milestones I’ve wanted to hit with my ukulele videos. Note that these are not goals per se, since I don’t have much control over them (apart from trying to make the best videos I can), but I consider these milestones to be a reasonable measure of any “momentum” I’m managing to achieve with them. So they are, in order:

1. 1000 or more views within a month or less of posting the video
2. 1000 or more views within a week or less of posting the video
3. 1000 or more views within 24 hours or less of posting the video

Mind you, better than half of my currently available videos are over 1000 views—thanks all of you!—but none have achieved that number in so little time. Teddy Bears Picnic is actually within shooting range of 12,000! The thing there is that it’s taken nearly 4 years to get there.

So I’m happy—nay… ecstatic!—to report that sometime between 8:30am (when I first checked it today) and 1:30pm I crossed 1000 views on my latest video, I Like Bourbon. I posted it on January 2nd so it’s taken just a bit over three weeks to do this.

I realize I’m still nowhere near those “YouTube legends” whose video views get into the 5 and 6 figure range practically before you can finish watching them, but I still consider it a WIN and it’s certainly my personal best to date.

I want to thank each and every one of you who’ve watched the video, left comments and, especially, shared it around to your blog readers, social media friends, clicked the like button, etc. Please continue to do such things!

Yes, yes… it’s not viral by any means, but it gives me hope that someday I may achieve at least the bacteriological stage! :-)

(p.s. don’t forget that if you’d like to play I Like Bourbon your very own self you can find a pdf file of its arrangement on my free songsheets page.)

For a variety of reasons I’d like to do some touring this winter, possibly extending into spring. One of the main reasons is that my primary source of income–that is to say, busking–falls flat during this season. You might have heard the huge thud on January 1st as far away as Europe! I figure if I can tour a bit and arrive home without losing money–i.e. I’m not worried about big pay–I’m at worst no worse off than how the winter usually goes. And, best of all, I’ll have an adventure, break out of the usual rut, and get to actually meet some of you fabulous peeps live and in color!

If you, or anyone you know, lives along the I-5 corridor–or within say… an hour’s drive of it–and are interested in hosting me for a house concert and/or helping me find a gig I’d like to hear from you.

Gigs would include opening up for other acts at “traditional” venues, the aforementioned house concerts, and concerts/seminars at ukulele clubs.

If you’d like further details, send an email to tour2012@howlinhobbit.com, or pass this email address on to a friend who might like to participate. Please note that simply indicating interest in the details does not volunteer you for anything! Nor will you or your friends be snuck onto any mailing list.

(Of course, you’re always welcome to opt-in to my mailing list!)

If I get enough interest, even for a smallish tour, I’ll jump on it!

Please drop me a line and let’s get this thing off the ground!

(cross-posted to Ukulele & All That Jazz)