Shelley Rickey plays "Tonight, You Belong to Me" on her handmade cigar-box ukulele

Shelley Rickey plays "Tonight, You Belong to Me" on her handmade cigar-box ukulele.

[#1 posted by Patrick Dodds , February 10, 2009 12:26 PM]

Neat. And nice voice too.

[#2 posted by diggum, February 10, 2009 12:27 PM]

woof!

[#3 posted by Maddy, February 10, 2009 12:28 PM]

ah, reminds me of when Steve Martin was funny and smart ...

[#4 posted by Slicklines, February 10, 2009 12:30 PM]

Epic win. Perfect for a Directory of Wonderful Things.

[#5 posted by richlb, February 10, 2009 12:31 PM]

Where's the trumpet solo?

[#6 posted by se7a7n7, February 10, 2009 12:37 PM]

yea, I was waiting for Bernadette Peters to pop up with her trumpet.

[#7 posted by Anonymous, February 10, 2009 12:48 PM]

beautiful, thankyou cigar box ukulele girl!

[#8 posted by Mark Frauenfelder, February 10, 2009 12:55 PM]

Steve Martin is, in my opinion, as funny and smart as he ever was.

[#9 posted by Jake von Slatt, February 10, 2009 1:31 PM]

Give that lady a steampunk cake! Delightful!

[#10 posted by Anonymous, February 10, 2009 1:46 PM]

Pretty girl!!

[#11 posted by shanespeal, February 10, 2009 1:55 PM]

There's free plans: How to build a cigar box guitar - www.cigarboxnation.com Click the Plans tab.

Songs Inside the Box, the cigar box guitar documentary: www.songsinsidethebox.com

Cigar Box Guitar recordings: www.cigarboxguitar.etsy.com

[#12 posted by David Newland, February 10, 2009 2:05 PM]

It's great for all us uke players to see our fellow aficionados getting all this attention.

Still, I can't help but wonder, in looking at your link list and casting my mind back over other uke posts:

Are you favouring a certain sort of geek chic aesthetic in which the uke features mostly as a cute novelty?

Draw the box wide: the uke is a real instrument with a long history and a vital presence in many musicians' lives.

It is much more than a novelty or a recent web fad. Its proponents come in all shapes, sizes, and sexes and there is much more to it than lo-fi home-made charm.

As much as I love this lo-fi home-made charm!

[#13 posted by Mr_Orion, February 10, 2009 2:16 PM]

Please, marry me.

[#14 posted by Mark Frauenfelder, February 10, 2009 2:18 PM]

What, David, you want me to show amateurs like this fumble fingered guy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcQYt7xvA8M

[#15 posted by Antinous / Moderator, February 10, 2009 2:24 PM]

Hey! Male hotties can play the uke, too.

[#16 posted by David Newland, February 10, 2009 2:26 PM]

Thanks Mark! I feel a whole lot better for that Smeck-down!

[#17 posted by Maddy, February 10, 2009 2:52 PM]

#8 --- guess we'll be seeing you at Pink Panther 2, or maybe one of the father of the bride movies.

[#18 posted by David Newland, February 10, 2009 3:27 PM]

#15

I do love seeing the bookends of the contemporary uke experience - from Jake to the web-cam uke players - I'm just keen to see some credit given to the people who have been dedicating themselves to this most delightful of instruments all along.

[#19 posted by artbot, February 10, 2009 3:34 PM]

Resisitance...weakening........must...make...derisive...cute-girl-with-uke-on-bb-again...comment......steampunk...something....something....voice...too....beautiful....must!..resist!....

[#20 posted by Mark Frauenfelder, February 10, 2009 3:35 PM]

David, you might enjoy a blog I started about five years ago, called ukulelia.com.

[#21 posted by arkizzle / Moderator, February 10, 2009 3:50 PM]

The torrents of cute ukers will continue unabated, and no body will get hurt!

[#22 posted by ShelleyRickey, February 10, 2009 3:56 PM]

Wow, Thanks Mark for posting me on BoingBoing....Neato!!!

And thanks for all the compliments everybody...
sweet!

[#23 posted by arkizzle / Moderator, February 10, 2009 4:09 PM]

Shelley, you rock!!

[#24 posted by Anonymous, February 10, 2009 4:12 PM]

Can you haoles please learn to pronounce it correctly?

It's not YEW-ka-lay-lay!

It's OO-ka-lay-lay.

[#25 posted by jimh, February 10, 2009 4:43 PM]

I dunno about the rest of ya's, but I cannot get enough of the cute girls with OOks! Keep 'em coming, Mark!

[#26 posted by Anonymous, February 10, 2009 5:38 PM]

I am so in love! But not in a creepy way, honest. If only a smart talented pretty soulful woman like this would cross my path in RL... Post more of her and her creations, and anyone else remotely this wonderful.

[#27 posted by weatherman, February 10, 2009 6:25 PM]

shelleyrickey; you are deservedly "obnoxiously proud" of your creation, but that uke still does a disservice to your voice.

[#28 posted by ill lich, February 10, 2009 7:42 PM]

Yeah "you haoles". . . it's pronounced "cavaquinho-tuned-incorrectly." ;)

[#29 posted by Takuan, February 10, 2009 7:49 PM]

Dear Miss Rickey:
I would consider it an honour to consume your Eternal Soul. (In a non-creepy way of course).

[#30 posted by stuiethegod, February 10, 2009 8:01 PM]

Somebody give this girl some zither pins, I be she has to re-tune that thing all the time.

Otherwise, it's an awesome uke.

[#31 posted by grimc, February 10, 2009 8:07 PM]

Yeah, but is it ha-WAI-ee or ha-VAI-ee?

[#32 posted by Anonymous, February 10, 2009 10:37 PM]

She's beyond cute: She's edible.

[#33 posted by hadlock, February 10, 2009 10:46 PM]

Note, don't use the make magazine instructions word for word, they suggest gluing the neck to the top of the box(!!) I made my first one using their plans, but there's a 100% increase in satisfaction when you create the throat joint so the neck goes through the body instead of on top of it. Hers is constructed pretty well, but I'd probably go with some real tuners and some metal frets(transmits vibration better, gives better tone).

[#34 posted by Jack, February 10, 2009 11:46 PM]

This was excellent!

[#35 posted by kiddr01, February 11, 2009 2:43 AM]

cute girls with ukes are really starting to get on my tits - where are they all coming from!! is there a school or something!

[#36 posted by Tyro Prate, February 11, 2009 5:42 AM]

Along the same lines, here's an Instructable on how to build a cookie tin banjo. The author's comments are pretty funny, too.

http://bit.ly/6CCd

[#37 posted by boxbrown, February 11, 2009 6:38 AM]

Can someone please find a chick playing a ukulele that doesn't feature a mock-soul sounding voice? American Idol has penetrated the alt-ukulele scene, sadly.

[#38 posted by Anonymous, February 11, 2009 9:00 AM]

Boxbrown, try Janet Kllein's version of this song on youtube-she sings it in a very period 20s mode(as well as gives a tutorial on how to play this very song, that methinks this woman has watched too). More fun.

[#39 posted by hg, February 11, 2009 9:33 AM]

Captivating video. Great voice !

[#40 posted by Anonymous, February 11, 2009 9:35 AM]

I have zero problem with Shelley's voice. In fact, this is the first voice I've heard in quite a while that would draw me to the store to buy her albums.