![]() (In the past, he's also performed "Tonight You Belong To Me," the flapper-era tune he shares with Marshall, with Portland's all-star drummer Janet Weiss.) He finds his inner crooner on originals like the yearning "Longing To Belong" and choice covers, including duets with Glen Hansard of the Frames and Chan Marshall, aka Cat Power. Vedder, who played a variety of ukes on the album, values it as a fount of melody. The ukulele is one of the easiest instruments to play, and you don't have to be a musician to play it." "In fact, one of the best things about being a touring ukulele player is that audiences all over the world have such low expectations of the music. "I love that people don't take the instrument seriously," wrote Shimabukuro, who himself is known for kicking out major jams. Jake Shimabukuro, the leading young virtuoso of the instrument, suggested in an email that the instrument's humble nature might be one reason stars like Vedder, Taylor Swift and Zooey Deschanel find it so attractive. "Every time we accomplish that, the outcome seems to be positive, in terms of how it connects to people who hear it. "I think for some reason it might be more difficult to tell a story in a band song," said Vedder. The uke's inherent modesty may be one part of its appeal to Vedder, who feels the weight of his fans' ardent devotion and has worked hard to live a responsible version of the rock star life. ![]() He noted that it's great for stimulating sing-alongs. Vedder has used the uke to provide counterpoint during encores on Pearl Jam tours and on the solo tour he embarked upon in 2008. Yet because it features material written over more than a decade of the band's life, including the driving "Can't Keep," which also appears on Pearl Jam's 2002 album Riot Act, Vedder's album presents itself as part of the band's history – the anima to the group's noisy animus. Ukulele Songs isn't officially part of this commemorative process. The band celebrates its 20th anniversary this year with a Labor Day music festival in Wisconsin, a documentary directed by longtime pal Cameron Crowe, a book and a series of album reissues. Also a leader when it comes to progressive social activism and ethical music business practices, Pearl Jam now defines what it means to be a fully grown rock band, still kicking as many of their peers flounder or find a spot on the nostalgia circuit. With Pearl Jam, Vedder helped invent the sound of millennial hard rock – an open marriage between punk, heavy metal and campfire folk songs that edged toward classic rock, partly because of Vedder's active engagement with influences like The Who and Bruce Springsteen. "A lot's different since I first picked up this instrument my life is quite different than I could have imagined." ![]() "The song selection was easy because those were the ones I had," said Vedder. Though the famously self-protective rocker declares that all the songs are "works of fiction," the more private writing process has led to a set of tracks that are more revealing, frank and sweeter than his usual output. Indeed, Ukulele Songs is a very personal collection - an arc of mostly love songs - dedicated to his wife, Jill McCormick, and their two daughters, Olivia and Harper Moon. "The songs were just written for my own benefit." "If it weren't for the ukulele I would have been by myself," he says of the period. For him, the modest chordophone itself has been a companion in times of loneliness. Some of the material collected on the record was written back in the mid-'90s after Vedder first picked up the instrument. Vedder said he hopes that Ukulele Songs would encourage listeners to step away from their computers and televisions and make some music of their own, preferably with friends. So it's like, imagine the possibilities with that little instrument!" And he played the most beautiful rendition of 'I Can't Help Falling in Love With You.' Elvis. ![]() "His hands were so big it was hard to imagine he could get chords out of it.
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