Kickstarter

Hello, my name is Paul.  I play the ukulele and I have a band called The Paul Hemmings Uketet, a jazz trio based in New York City. We recently finished recording our debut album, Introducing... The Paul Hemmings Uketet, and now we want to share it with the world.

The Uketet came together as a group earlier this year when I decided to start a project that would be a constructive outlet for my obsessive relationship with the ukulele. I've been working as a jazz guitar player since moving from California to New York ten years ago, but I caught the ukulele bug on a trip to Hawaii in 2005 and haven't been the same since. I started taking my uke with me on jazz guitar gigs to play a song or two on it, and the response from audiences was overwhelming. Crowds were incited to riot, mass faintings ensued, and throngs of screaming teenage girls swarmed my motorcades throughout the city. I knew I was on to something.

So I enlisted the help of my friend Gaku Takanashi to play bass and our buddy Mike Campenni to play drums and voilà, The Paul Hemmings Uketet was born. We immediately headed to the studio to record our debut album and, all kidding aside, I couldn't be happier with the results. This recording exudes the exact blend of warm Hawaiian aloha spirit and sophisticated New York jazz that we hoped to capture.

At this point, the recording is all finished so we're launching this Kickstarter campaign to offer our supporters a unique opportunity to help bring this project to life. We're trying to raise $5000 in one month to pay for mixing and mastering, pressing CDs, and publicity and promotion. With the way that Kickstarter works, this is an all-or-nothing campaign, meaning if we fall short of our goal we won't receive any of the contributions raised.

To thank you for your support, we're offering some cool incentives that can be found on the right-hand side of the screen. You can choose from downloads, ringtones, CDs, and more. Please consider making a contribution that fits your budget, and remember that your greatest contribution, regardless of the amount, will be your show of support in helping us to realize our goal.

(Keep in mind that we'll also be touring to support this album next year so if you want to see us at a venue in your neck of the woods, let us know!)

Thank you so much for checking out our Kickstarter page -- we invite you to get involved at any level and hope that you enjoy our debut album!

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To find out more:

• Listen to complete tracks from Introducing... The Paul Hemmings Uketet on our website.

• Watch a short YouTube video, featuring live performance and interview footage, on our YouTube Page.

• Read some of the great pre-release reviews we've received on the Live 'Ukulele website and in the most recent issue of Ukulele Player Magazine.

• "Like" us on Facebook.

• Follow us on Twitter.