December 2023

Nicole Keim earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in music education and taught K-5 elementary school music for nine years in the public schools while living in Colorado.  She sang professionally for several years with the nationally recognized Ars Nova Singers and has taught private voice and piano lessons to students of all ages since 2002. In 2012 (after moving to Oregon), Nicole took a sabbatical from teaching elementary school in order focus on her fiber arts business and to perform and travel with Aaron as The Quiet American.

With an urge to explore new and old sounds, Milo Fultz strives to work with as many styles and personalities as he can. From big bands and small jazz ensembles to pit orchestras and classical ensembles, blues, rock, funk, and soul groups to singer/songwriters, ukulele bands, and melodica duos, he finds joy in the variety and loves sharing every minute of it.

Mika Kane is a professional 'ukulele player and Kamaka/Ko'olau artist from O'ahu, Hawai’i. Mika received a Bachelor's Degree in Music with an 'Ukulele focus and a Masters Degree in Educational Foundations from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. Mentored by many of Hawai’i's finest musicians, including Dr. Byron Yasui, Benny Chong, Bryan Tolentino, and Ian O’Sullivan, Mika has a prolific background in Classical techniques and interpretation, musical awareness, and music theory with Jazz harmonies.

Lil' Rev grew up in Milwaukee, WI where he still resides today. Growing up in the shadows of American Motors Corp, Briggs N Stratton, and A.O. Smith, he was inspired by the sights and sounds of an industrial powerhouse in flux.

Jim Beloff is the author of The Ukulele—A Visual History (Backbeat Books) and author, arranger, and publisher of the Jumpin’ Jim’s series of ukulele songbooks with over 1,000,000 copies in print. This series is available worldwide and includes The Daily Ukulele, one of the biggest and best-selling ukulele songbooks ever published. All Jumpin’ Jim’s songbooks are distributed by Hal Leonard LLC. In December 2021, Backbeat books published Jim’s memoir, UKEtopia—Adventures in the Ukulele World.

Heidi Swedberg was born in Hawaii, the youngest in a family of of four girls where music was a regular part of family life. Singing at church, in the car or around the piano are her most treasured memories. When she was 5 years old the Easter Bunny left ukuleles for all four Swedberg girls, and she has played one ever since. Her family relocated to New Mexico, where she grew up in suburban Albuquerque.

Originally from the Washington, DC area, Gracie Terzian is a singer, songwriter, ukulelist and actor living in New York City. Her first EP, Saints and Poets, debuted at #23 on the Billboard jazz charts and quickly became the #3 jazz album on iTunes. Gracie has also worked extensively in theatre and film as an actor and composer and is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association.

Victoria Vox is an award-winning, ukulele-toting, performing songwriter. With a passion for writing songs since she was 10 years old, she went on to graduate with a degree in Songwriting from the Berklee College of Music (Boston, MA). In 2003, she traded in her guitar for the ukulele as her main accompaniment and took the stage name Victoria Vox (Latin for voice). Her acoustic music style shifted to chanson tinged with jazz, which, over the years, has settled in nicely with her pop songwriting flair. 

Jim D'Ville is a music educator and facilitator who is on a mission to get ukulele players off the paper and playing music by ear.

Gerald Ross is one of the finest instrumentalists on the scene today. Whether he is playing the guitar, the ukulele, or the Hawaiian steel guitar, his music expresses a sense of rhythm and melody that is rare in contemporary music.

His musical virtuosity and entertaining mix of swing, blues, Hawaiian, American roots music and Tin Pan Alley are a joy to hear. And eclectic? When the mood strikes him, he’ll pick up the Cajun accordion, mandolin, bass, banjo, harmonica, charango and, as mentioned, the ukulele—the ukulele is not a toy.