Community Building with ‘Ukulele: Andy Andrews and Fun with P.U.K.A
By Shirley Stoffer
Andy Andrews, co-founder of the legendary ‘Ukulele Club of Santa Cruz in California, is now bringing his love of people, music and fun to the Big Island of Hawai’i. Those of us who know him were certain that it would only be a matter of time until a little “Uke Mecca” would spring up when he settled here, and we were right.
Andy and Pam, his wife of 43 years, are now residents of Puna and have started P.U.K.A., the Puna ‘Ukulele and Kanikapila Association. The group meets semi-monthly at the Leilani Estates Community Center and has been steadily growing in attendance since it was started two years ago. “We now get upwards of 60 people singing, playing ukes and other instruments,” Andy says happily.
Its model, the ‘Ukulele Club of Santa Cruz, was started in January, 2002, by Andy and co-founder Peter Thomas. It is a rambunctious group of more than 200 members that was founded on the idea of inclusivity—not exclusivity. The founders feel very strongly that music is meant to be shared as a community and relationship-builder, not only as a performance by a gifted entertainer given to an attentive audience.
The Santa Cruz ‘ukulele group became so well known that big-name musicians like Rev. Dennis Kamakahi, Herb Ohta, Jr., Cyril Pahinui and Jake Shimabukuro would call Andy to see if they could play at one of the group’s gatherings when they were passing through. (Sometimes, they had to be turned down!) The group’s treasured songbooks of pop and oldies songs, combined with artfully done graphics and photos, have been shipped all over the world.
Andy’s connection to Hawai’i began in the 1990s, when he was traveling back and forth from the mainland to O’ahu for business over a period of about ten years. Having surfed in California since his younger days, he stored his surfboards at the hotel where he stayed near Waikiki. At one point, a 70-year-old surfer asked him what he did for fun other than surf. When Andy told him he really didn’t have another hobby, the man suggested he get an ‘ukulele, saying, “I’m 70 years old and I can still surf, but you might not be so lucky.”
Andy reminisced, saying, “I bought a used, very island-style uke from the ‘20s and, putting my obsessive-compulsive personality to good use, I practiced and practiced
and practiced.”
That purchase not only hooked Andy on the instrument, but it was the beginning of his world-class ‘ukulele collection. “I loved collecting them because they were cheap compared to guitars, and they told a story. They changed quickly over time—the graphics on them and the music played on them. The first music played was Portuguese, and then they went through a huge metamorphosis and were embraced by Vaudeville in the ‘20s. Now they are being ‘legitimized’ as a musical instrument on which many different kinds of music can be played. Of course they were always a legitimate musical instrument in Hawai’i,” Andy says.
The idea that “happiness self-made is music self-played” is one that immediately resonated with Andy when he saw it written on a Harold Teen ‘uke from the ‘20s. “I’m not a particularly good player; I’m a mediocre player—especially here in the islands—but I do love to ‘lead’ kanikapila,” he says. “The songs you thought you’d never hear on the ‘ukulele are my favorite songs to play. They are the songs of my youth. I’m an ‘island guy,’ but it was Manhattan, not Hawai’i!” Songs like The Who’s “Pinball Wizard,” “Nights in White Satin” by the Moody Blues, Beatles songs, and “Here Comes the Rain Again,” by Annie Lennox, are some of Andy’s favorites.
“To me, the single most important thing about the ‘ukulele is how it draws people in who’ve never played an instrument in their life. Certainly it’s fun to see a Ledward Ka’apana or a Neil Young or a James Hill play, but if I had to choose between seeing them play or playing myself, it would be an easy choice to make,” he said.
“I was so fortunate to work with people from a lot of different ethnic groups during those first years visiting here, and some of them spoke Hawaiian,” says Andy. “I was flabbergasted to find out that the Hawaiian language and culture even existed when I first started coming here. ‘Aloha’ was just a word to me; I didn’t know that it underlay a whole way of thinking and living. Typical of the ‘spirit of aloha,’ the people I met taught me things without telling me they were teaching me. I come from a European heritage; we’ve lost complete touch with our culture. We have no idea who our ancestors were. So, to tap into a culture that still has contact with that was very compelling to me.”
Andy and Pam had given up their dream of retiring in Hawai’i; they didn’t think they could afford it until a friend from the ‘Ukulele Club of Santa Cruz came back from a visit to the Big Island in 2005 and said, “I just bought a retirement place in Hawai’i!” and told them about the Puna district. Andy and Pam hopped on a plane, and three days later were the proud owners of their land in Leilani Estates. Over the next five years, they made frequent visits to their lot, building a Hawaiian-style home and turning the spot into the colorful tropical “oasis” that it is now. They relocated in 2010.
Living here, Andy says, has helped him see “the absolute importance of music to the people of Hawai’i. The place and the music are not two separate things, they are exactly the same thing. Living in a place where people write love songs to every single place is amazing. You can’t go to a bay or a mountain or an overlook in these islands and not have someone teach you a song about it. There’s a depth to the Hawaiians’ love for their birthplace that I’ve never seen anywhere. I thought as a hippie-kid that the concept of ‘malama kā ‘aina’ was invented by the Sierra Club. Little did I know that it had been around for thousands of years.”
“One of the things that living in Hawai’i has reinforced to me more than any other place I’ve lived,” Andy continues, “is the concept of ‘don’t judge a book by its cover,’ because people doing some of the most humble things are the keepers of Hawaiian knowledge and culture. You can be talking to someone who might be performing what is thought of as a menial task or something that is a very undervalued job in our society, and if you take the time to talk to them, they’ll pass on to you knowledge and wisdom that can be life-changing. People in Hawai’i don’t wear their knowledge and wisdom on their sleeve. It’s a very humble, wonderful, understated kind of a thing.”
Before each P.U.K.A. kanikapila (jam session), Andy teaches a free, one-hour ‘ukulele lesson for complete beginners up to intermediate level players that is often attended by more than 30 people. There are even “loaner” ‘ukulele available for those who don’t own one yet. Andy’s motivation for starting the group? It’s all for “The Love of Uke,” as a song by Jim Beloff of Flea Market Music declares. “You just come, and we’ll put an ‘ukulele in your hands,” Andy says. “There are no dues; there’s no membership….” Having fun is the goal.
Andy emphasizes that “P.U.K.A. is all about the joy music brings, and never about ‘who’s better’ or being an expert.” The P.U.K.A. group has played for the Volcano 4th of July and the Pahoa Christmas Parades, and they kanikapila at the Maku’u Farmers Market twice a year.
The documentary, The Mighty ‘Uke, which premiered in 2009, features Andy, and his ‘ukulele collection, prominently. The producers had heard of the ‘Ukulele Club of Santa Cruz and sought Andy out, realizing the “specialness” of the group’s attitude toward making music together.
The focus of the film is the resurgence in popularity of the ‘ukulele and the non-traditional ways it is being used in today’s music. The film was shown on the Big Island at the Aloha Theatre in Kainaliu and the Palace Theater in Hilo. Andy led a kanikapila before each show, and attendees were encouraged to bring their ukes and join in. The documentary has just finished a European tour and is still showing at film festivals. There’s even talk of a “Mighty ‘Uke” cruise!
Andy teaches ‘ukulele to 10-17 year olds at the Kua O Ka Lā Charter School in Kapoho. When they performed at the ‘Ulu (Breadfruit) Festival in March, in addition to the Hawaiian song, “Holei,” they played “Jambalaya,” “Here Comes the Rain Again” and Duke Ellington’s “Satin Doll.”
Andy also teaches a free workshop at Hawi Gallery: Art & ‘Ukuleles on the third Saturday of the month at 6 p.m., and regularly teaches workshops at The Wine Country ‘Ukulele Festival in Napa Valley, Keoki Kahumoku’s Hawaiian Music and Lifestyle Camp in Pahala, and at the West Coast ‘Ukulele Retreat at Asilomar, California.
A future goal of Andy’s is to create a “Ukes for Kids” program on Hawai’i Island. He was responsible for getting the program started on O’ahu in 2004, through a donation of about 30 ‘ukes from the ‘Ukulele Club of Santa Cruz’s ‘Uke Fest West. The O’ahu ‘Ukes for Kids project, under the auspices of the ‘Ukulele Guild of Hawai’i, is still going strong.
Andy’s neighborhood in Puna is benefitting from his spirit of fun too. He and Pam have started hosting a monthly movie night, an event for which Andy contacted a shade cloth manufacturer to have a drive-in movie type screen made. (“Pam and I have such fond memories of drive-ins from when we were first dating!”) He also acquired an LCD projector and some big speakers for the family-oriented evening, which has been attracting about 80 people.
One thing you can be sure of: whatever Andy Andrews comes up with will put a smile on people’s faces! ❖
Contact writer Shirley Stoffer: shirley@konaweb.com
For info on P.U.K.A. meetings, email: andy@cruzio.com (Subject line: P.U.K.A.)
Hawi Gallery: Art & ‘Ukuleles: hawigallery.com
Movie Night: andy@cruzio.com (Subject line: Movie Night), Andy’s phone: 808.965.6125
