MEMPHIS UKULELE BAND READIES HOLIDAYS AIN’T THE SAME EP

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MEMPHIS UKULELE BAND READIES HOLIDAYS AIN’T THE SAME EP

THE SEASON’S MOST UNLIKELY MUSICAL OFFERING OUT NOVEMBER 16 FROM MEMPHIS INTERNATIONAL
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Typically, holiday music collections are pre-packaged standards by big stars who knock out Christmas music in July and August. Major labels mount massive marketing campaigns starting just before Halloween and so it goes, year after year. The Memphis Ukulele Band is anything but typical as is their innovative 7-song EP, Holidays Ain’t The Same, set release from indie powerhouse Memphis International on November 16. It was recorded earlier this fall, “live on the floor,” at Sam Phillips Recording in Memphis with Halley Phillips, granddaughter of the studio’s founder and namesake, producing.



The group was founded four years ago and has gone on to well-earned notoriety within in the ukulele community and beyond with acceptance among aficionados of Americana and roots music in general. They’ve played Folk Alliance and AmericanaFest, opened for uke legend Jake Shimabukuro at the Memphis In May Festival. They even toured in Hawaii and actually headlined the Kauai Farm Bureau County Fair on Kauai. Their approach to the ukulele, as one might imagine in light of their roots in Memphis, is unorthodox with elements of gospel, folk, Hill Country blues, pop and that certain something they call “ukulele soul.”

In keeping with the soul theme, the leading track on the band’s Holiday’s Ain’t The Same release is “Gee Whiz It’s Christmas,” originally recorded in 1963 by Memphis Soul Queen Carla Thomas as a seasonal follow up to her initial smash “Gee Whiz.” Staying within the musical parameters of the city from which their name is derived, the group tackles “Blue Christmas,” the holiday song most associated with Elvis Presley. Other holiday standards in the set include “Merry Christmas Baby,” the song dating from 1947 when it became a huge R&B hit for Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers with the legendary Charles Brown singing lead. There’s also the Hawaiian holiday standard, “Mele Kalikimaka” that was first recorded by Bing Crosby in 1949 and which the MUB crew sourced from Liz and Jim Beloff’s The Daily Ukulele songbook. Another non-standard standard in the set is Paul Williams’ “When The River Meets The Sea.” The EP’s new songs include “Merry Christmas Broken Hearts,” written by the producer and Jerry Phillips, her dad. Another standard-in-the-making is the title song, written by Mark Edgar Stuart who sings and handles bass uke for the group. On “Holidays Ain’t The Same (Without You)” he’s heard playing “guitarlele,” a hybrid that’s a perfect counterpoint for his poignant Americana ballad.

The band’s current lineup includes founder Jon Hornyak, a veteran of the Mid-South music scene who was primarily a keyboard player. That all changed after a visit to Kauai and Larry’s Music Center in Kapaa. He came back to Memphis not only with Kamoa custom ukuleles but also a passion to spread the good uke word. He was soon joined by the aforementioned Mark Edgar Stuart, a singer-songwriter of renown whose “day job” finds him at Sun Studio – it just doesn’t get any more Memphis than that. Jason Freeman, a roots rocker, has been providing music for such films as Hustle & Flow, Black Snake Moan and MTV’s Savage Country. He not only plays tenor and banjo ukulele but also harmonica and kazoo. Logan Hanna handles guitarlele and baritone ukulele for MUB and, in his “other” life, is an in-demand session player and tours with the “Elvis Live In Concert” touring band. Lastly, there’s MUB’s newest member Kyndle McMahan, a singer’s singer whether she’s fronting a horn-driven R&B band or in a gentle folk or Americana mode. With MUB, her acoustic intimacy of performing at low volume allows her brilliant voice full expression and dynamic control.

Holidays Ain’t The Same is just that: not the same but something very different, very innovative, very fresh, very “uke” and very Memphis. It’s a unique blend of “uked-out” seasonal music to be served at your next Christmas luau or holiday barbeque.