‘Uke Heads’ unite to collaborate on album

A South Whidbey resident is one of 165 performers on “Uke Heads,” James Hill’s new album.

By Kira Erickson • February 16, 2024 1:30 am

When Paul Marshall broke his left shoulder, playing the guitar was no longer an easy feat. As the fretboard became increasingly difficult to navigate, he began looking for smaller and smaller instruments to play.

At the Maui airport he stumbled upon a more diminutive relative of the lute family – the ukulele.

“I thought, ‘My god, that’s a little baby guitar,’” Marshall said. “I took it home and later realized it was a ukulele.”

The South Whidbey resident is one of 165 players and singers on “Uke Heads,” an album released this week by Canadian musician James Hill. Ukulelists from all over the world recorded themselves playing and sent their recordings to Hill, who mixed the sounds into 10 songs.

Players learned their individual parts and were encouraged to use any sort of recording device. Marshall dabbled with GarageBand on his wife’s laptop before purchasing a microphone and higher quality equipment, a wholly new experience since he had never recorded music before.

“We think of ourselves as a 160-person band that backs this guy up,” Marshall said. “It was such a silly project but we had so much fun.”

The original ukulele music on “Uke Heads” spans a variety of genres, from rock to jazz to psychedelia. All the songs are original works composed by Hill.

During the days of the pandemic, Marshall found that it was a welcome pastime and good for the soul to be part of such a large community of ukulele players.

“I think we all felt that in the time of COVID when we’re all hiding out from the world in some ways, it was a chance for us to do something positive,” he said.

Marshall became emotional when he recalled what it was like to hear the finished album.

“I cried to hear what we had done, it sounded so good,” he said. “And it was so exciting to just be part of that.”

As far as he knows, he’s the only Whidbey Island resident who contributed to the album, although there are several others nearby who are just as passionate about the small four-stringed instrument. Marshall is part of a local group that meets every other week called the Coupeville Ukulele Enthusiasts, or CUKES.

“They’ve been around for a long time,” he said of ukuleles, which were first introduced to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese immigrants in the 19th century. “They come and go in their popularity. In this day and age, there seems to be a resurgence in interest.”

For $20, he added, you can get a “good enough” ukulele to play, making it less of a commitment than some other stringed instruments.

With only three to his name, Marshall said, he has avoided what he calls UAS – Ukulele Acquisition Syndrome, otherwise known as owning too many ukes.

“I’m not great. I’m better than a beginner,” he said. “Mostly, I have fun. I find myself laughing a lot.”

Photo by Kira Erickson/South Whidbey Record Paul Marshall strums a tune on the deck of his Useless Bay home. (Photo by Kira Erickson/South Whidbey Record)