Photo by Ed Sprake
We are delighted to announce that the legendary Manitoba Hal will be joining us at the Hebden Bridge Blues Festival this year and will be putting on a special free Blues Ukelele Workshop in the Town Hall on Friday May 23rd between 4pm and 6pm.
He will also be doing a short set at the world-famous independent record shop, Muse Music in Market Street at 3pm.
The workshop is open to HBBF ticket holders and the general public alike, thanks to some canny grant funding, and will operate on a first-come-first-served basis. There will be some ukes available to borrow, but feel free to bring your own.
For those who don't know, Manitoba Hal is one of the top ukulele players in Canada and he loves playing the blues on his ukulele. He has been a featured performer at ukulele festivals around the world and recently appeared in the ukulele documentary The Mighty Uke.
He has two international ukulele endorsements and is one of a handful of authentic blues performers performing with the ukulele today. “People often think of the ukulele as a happy instrument and they're not wrong, but it is also capable of delivering the mojo that makes the blues so interesting” says Hal.“There are many blues performers like Edgar Winter and Otis Taylor who began on the ukulele before migrating to guitar and I believe the instrument certainly can carry the weight of the blues.”
We are also hoping that Hal will join us at the Paddy Maguire Midnight Jam Sessions later in the evening too.
