My Favorite Letter Is U by Uni and her Ukelele

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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 for LA Weekly, July 14, 2006

"Had it with the guitar? Consider the ukelele. Heather Marie Ellison, aka Uni, was sold on it the moment she heard a friend play a Prince song on one a couple years ago. In a flash as bright as the glitter she wears onstage, she realized she'd found her instrument. Soon after, Ellison acquired a pink ukelele and christened it Sally Luka - Uni and her Ukelele have been inseparable ever since.

With its small size and fanciful name, the ukelele seems a natural fit for a unicorn-obsessed gal who sews her own frilly stage costumes. But Ellison picked the ukelele based on more than quirk appeal; it was also a practical key to creativity and independence. "I was trying to find an instrument to accompany myself, because I'd always been the chick singer in the band," says Ellison, whose formal training was mostly as a vocalist. "I wanted to be able to play, to be able to rely on myself. I was working on guitar, but it was intimidating. And I realized anything you can do on a guitar, you can do on a ukelele. It's just a guitar with two less strings. It's really easy to learn on. And it's forgiving, you can't really hit the wrong note."

Ellison discovered the ukelele was perfect for both learning and songwriting because it was portable enough to go anywhere; she could play it on her lunch break at Amoeba Music in San Francisco. In teaching herself, she bypassed the traditional ukelele repertoire of Hawaiian songs and Tin Pan Alley tunes to create a unique pop sound of her own making. Lyrics emerged alongside her fingering as she made up songs to go with the chord progressions she learned.

Uni and her Ukelele began performing to a warm reception throughout California, interspersed with Ellison's many other projects. She's been spotted in the funky aerobics outfit Get in Shape, Bitch! and the bizarre cooing electroclash duo Lil' Miss Juju B and Uncle Kenny, as well as the Paper Dolls, a ukelele trio that plays mostly covers. After building up confidence both solo and as a member of the Dolls, Ellison decided to focus her formidable energy on putting out an album. "When I do covers, I feel good, but when I get off-stage, I don't feel the same as with my own songs," she explains. "As much as I love covers, I wanted to give my music a chance."

The result of plenty of do-it-yourself elbow grease, plus some help from musically-minded friends, is My Favorite Letter is U, a self-released debut album with a homemade cover that's a fantasia of rainbows, unicorns, and striped stockings. It's a dish of jangly, whimsical pop confections whose irresistible sweetness veers between girlish disingenuity and womanly wryness. All its songs were written on the ukelele, and though other instruments - keys, drums, bass - drop in to say hello, the ukelele's gentle, rhythmic strumming remains Ellison's most constant companion, the weightless support that keeps her aloft.

To be fair, it's not all about the ukelele. Ellison has a gorgeous, throaty voice that vibrates softly around the edges, but purrs into pitches dead on. A trace of huskiness remains when she rises to a breathless falsetto, singeing the sugar of her voice as it turns dryly humorous, or catches with yearning, or gives out an excited squeal. The tones of both innocence and knowledge converge in it, like hearing a grown-up speak from the safe space of a child's room, and Ellison's lyrics mine this ambiguity with artless guile.

"Oh Henry" is a comic but tender song about both a bratty pony and taking another chance on love. On "See your face again," a grown-up heart asks a child's question: "How can I love you when I live here in LA?" And the lilting sigh of the titular refrain on "Love is a lost art now" seamlessly marries the jaded sophisticate and the starry-eyed ingénue.

Ellison strikes a similar balance between chutzpah and humility in approaching her music. While admitting she was insecure about putting her songs out, she says she overcame the obstacle simply by sucking it up and setting a deadline. "I thought, 'It's gonna be raw, no matter what, because I don't have thousands of dollars to put into it.' And I set a date. I said, 'I'm just getting it done and putting it out.' And that's what I did... It was a good learning experience and I'm, well, proud of myself. I figure it'll only get better if I play more and write more. People like to see you grow."

- Rebecca Johnson for Performer Magazine, October 2006

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