Ukulele performances, lesson, exhibits in Minden and Carson this weekend

Staff Reports

The Tahoe Area Ukulele Festival presented by 88 Cups Coffee in Minden and Comma Coffee in Carson City is Saturday and Sunday.

The event includes sing-a-longs, lessons, workshops and live performances by ukulele artists Brittni Paiva of Hawaii and Victoria Vox of Wisconsin.

Saturday's activities begin at 9 a.m. in Minden Village, 1663 Lucerne St. Instrument builders and music vendors will display wares in an exhibit area and live music is presented on the open uke stage. Paiva and Vox headline a concert at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Sunday's events at Comma Coffee, 312 S. Carson St., Carson City, include sing-a-longs, workshops and a performance by Paiva at 7 p.m.

The exhibits and daytime entertainment are free, while the price of lessons and workshops vary by instructor.

Admission is $20 for the 6 p.m. Saturday concert in Minden Village. Tickets for Sunday's Comma Coffee show are $12 in advance or $15 at the door. Tickets and information at www.playuke.net or Doug Reynolds, (775) 220-0995.

The ukulele is currently enjoying its third era of popularity in the past 90 years.

The instrument first gained favor in the Tin Pan Alley days of the 1920s and caught on again when Hawaii became a state and a uke-playing Arthur Godfrey dominated the airwaves in the 1950s.

The ukulele gained popularity again in the late 1990s when Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" became a hit.

Paiva and Vox, and current uke artists Jake Shimabukuro and James Hill, have helped keep up the momentum. Ukuleles sell for from less than $50 to several thousand dollars.