Orchestra tunes up for a ‘sexier’ sound

IF you thought the ukulele was an outdated musical instrument associated with eccentric ditties like George Formby’s When I’m Cleaning Windows or Tiny Tim’s Tiptoe Through The Tulips, a group of West Cork musicians aim to completely debunk the notion.

The West Cork Ukulele Orchestra, consisting of 10 local musicians, all of whom play only the ukulele, are determined to make the instrument “sexier, smokier, and louder than ever” as they build on theirsuccess in 2012.

Having broken out from being a local phenomenon in music haunts like De Barra’s in Clonakilty and Kinsale’s Charles Fort during arts week to a national stage at the Electric Picnic festival, the group rounded out a perfect 2011 with a rousing appearance on the Late Late Show in December.

“The Late Late was really a quantum leap for us, and not something we were expecting,” says member Kevin McNally. “Up to that, the biggest audience we played to was measured in the hundreds. Going up to a few hundred thousand overnight completely changed our profile to a much wider audience.”

With most of the group living or working in West Cork, the coming year brings the prospect of recording their first album plus arranging a number of live gigs in the summer. “It’s fantastic to have gotten recognition for what we do, as well as bringing the ukulele back into fashion,” he says.

“But, as many of us are settled with families, we’ll have to decide how best we can balance the music as a great addition to our normal lives.”

While some of the group work as teachers in West Cork, keeping the full group together may become difficult in the times ahead.

“Like many other people in Ireland, some of us may have to contemplate moving away for work reasons and we’ll just have to see how that pans out. For the moment, though, we are looking forward to getting back to playing live again later in 2012.”