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Uni, the neo-vintage pop chanteuse/raconteur gathered up kickpants, a rockhawk and magical ruby slippers for the first time in 2004 and her 20’s punk movement has been gathering strength ever since.
On the world tour beat and in the recording studio she competes for the limelight with her prima Donna ukelele ‘Sally Luka’. Originally a singer/songwriter for over a decade, when she met the bawdy Uke she swallowed her pride and joined up for the raucous phenom that became known as Uni & her Ukelele, and having second billing has only made Sally more indignant. Having opened for the likes of James Brown, Huey Lewis, Kids in the Hall’s Scott Thompson, Ray Charles, The Four Tops, Tower of Power, Coco Taylor, Sean Hayes and Jollie Holland to name a few, Sally has had a taste of fame and Uni is now forced to take her to the top.
Uni’s lo-fi folk-pop, first album “My Favorite Letter is U” dropped in 2006 and the response was overwhelming. Her original and sincere take on the Ukelele coupled with her sweetly stirring and sometimes-haunting refrains unite to conjure the spectrum of catharsis.
Her recent EP “I’m On My Way” introduced her rock-ability with hits like the title track and “Twinkle Twinkle”. This new sound gathered more love from the fans and now the word is spreading magical wildfire.
Always keeping it fresh, Uni has recently gathered together a group of, super-powered, classical musicians to accompany her, and has formed “Uni & the Ding! String Trio” who’s album “As Gold” which is truely phantasmagorical brilliant.
“California Gold” formed when LA's favorite couple Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott asked their favorite musicians to write a song for their hit show, Tori and Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood. The song was an instant classic and California Gold was born. After having so much fun working together the songwriters decided to keep the party going and have recently completed their first EP filled with golden gooses.
Everyone loves covers right? Uni and her Ukelele now has a cover album featuring her friends from all over the world! U can get this cd from her or at her shows.
What could Uni and her Ukelele do next? She put out a best of album called “U Comp”! All her hits are available on one album. All the artwork was donated by loving fan-friends!
2010 has been a big year for Uni and her Ukelele! She is finishing up yet another album and has been on tour in the States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand!
This performer’s, pan-demographic appeal is most likely a product of her impeccable synthesis of fantasy and reality, and her ability to juxtapose seemingly incongruous moods and aesthetics. Pundits are often her heard to muse: “That chick f*$kn’ rawks!
Press
"About Uni and her Ukelele: San Francisco-based, world-travelling indie pop solo acoustic act. She spells ukulele like that on purpose. "The songs of Uni and Her Ukelele are feel-good pop anthems." -SF Gate, 2007"
- SF Gate
"Best of Local Live Bands Uni & Her Ukelele If the world has kicked you in the ass, if life has got you down, if heartbreak is imminent, then take a Uni and call me in the morning. Uni is live Prozac. She may be petite, but she's a large presence and Don Ho is a hack compared to Uni. Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/offtherecord/detail?entry_id=53281ixzz0nD6CIYZq "
- Tony DuShane, Off The Record: Good Bye '00s (Dec 12, 2009)
"Love Is All U Need "American ukulele singer Heather Marie Ellison, who’s supported James Brown, Huey Lewis, and Ray Charles, has funded a trip around New Zealand playing her unicorn ukulele. She fell in love with Wellington, and a local boy.""
- Capital Times Wellington (Apr 07, 2010)
" "Not many international artists would sleep at a Tasmanian bowls club. However, not many international artists are as unique as the two that breezed in from San Francisco clutching their ukulele and guitar in one hand and the will to rock our little socks off in the other. The ever-so-cute Uni & Her Uke (they’re inseparable in stage name and spirit) and amazingly-gifted Meredith Axelrod managed to dazzle at the Melbourne International Ukelele Festival and Ukelele Safari before stumbling onto our festival. “I was Adelaide in ‘Guys and Dolls’, so I feel as if a little part of my heart is here even though I’ve never been before”, Uni told FB. It was all ukelele, alligators and Corey Haim from there.""
- Kosta Jaric, Fringe Benefits Australia
"Boathouse to rock to ukulele strings FUN GIG: Uni is known for her '"super-cute pop ditties". Like so much these days, her Nelson date started with YouTube. Nelson ukulele enthusiast Simon Jones invited Uni – born as Heather Ellison – to Nelson after watching her "super-cute pop ditties" on the internet. "A year later I got an email from her saying, We're in Auckland and can you organise a gig in Nelson'?" He says he'd never had anything to do with music until picking up a ukulele a year ago, so it's "been a steep learning curve". A flustered Mr Jones thought immediately of the Boathouse. "
- Stuff.co.nz
"This solo act is the centerpiece of a monthly variety show at Space Gallery that features music and roller skating Seven months ago, Heather Marie Ellison started a monthly event at Space Gallery called Club Unicornbread. It's a variety show that has included burlesque acts, solo performers, comedians, performance artists and more. "I thought the place had so much potential," Ellison says. "It has two floors, it's not a huge space, but you can kind of create an illusion with it. I felt connected to it." Ellison is known as Uni from her solo act, Uni and Her Ukelele. (Ellison uses the British spelling "ukelele" for her solo project.) She performs her songs in the window at the front of the gallery. Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/17/NSGRGPOPCJ22.DTLixzz0nD5FCT1o "
- Tony DuShane, 96Hours@sfchronicle.com, SF Gate of the SF Chronicle (May 17, 2007)
"Consider the ukulele — which, roughly translated, means “jumping flea” — developed in Hawaii by way of Portugal and wielded ably now by Uni, a petite and soulful singer who is to wacky sexiness what the nitroglycerin dot is to firecrackers. Channeling the spirits of Tin Pan Alley and Joni Mitchell, she’ll unveil songs from her new album, My Favorite Letter Is U (Unicornbread), with her electrified ukulele, Sally Luka — think B.B. King’s Lucille, but with the personality of a fierce kitten. If all you know about the ukulele is Tiny Tim or that kid on Google Video who rips through “Classical Gas” on his uke, you owe it to yourself to have your mind properly blown forthwith."
- David Cotner , LA Weekly (Jul 14, 2006)
"This Week's Day-by-Day Picks That Blonde Venus hair, those frilly outfits, that sweet, sweet voice: It could only be Uni & Her Ukulele. The uke's pink, usually, and the girl's obsessed with unicorns; the overall effect is the musical and sartorial equivalent of sucking on a jawbreaker while drinking whiskey straight from the bottle. Although Uni claims both Ol' Dirty Bastard and Stevie Nicks as influences and strays a long, long way from traditional, she does perform a tune called "Mahalo Maui Rose" that brings the old-fashioned plinky romance. "
- Michael Leaverton, SF Weekly (Nov 16, 2005)
