Over the past two decades, Jake Shimabukuro has proved that there isn't a style of music that he can't play on his ukulele. Since becoming a viral sensation on YouTube, the Hawaii native has had the opportunity of a lifetime to collab with some of his biggest idols including Jimmy Buffett, Jack Johnson, Bette Midler, Ziggy Marley, Sonny Landreth, Billy Strings, and Willie Nelson... to name a few. For his latest musical venture, the renowned ukulele virtuoso was joined by legendary drummer and co-founder of one of the best-selling bands of all time, FLEETWOOD MAC, Mick Fleetwood. The duo recently released, Blues Experience , a fresh take on the genre with reimagined versions of Blues classics. Joining Shimabukuro and Fleetwood on the album are bassist Jackson Waldhoff and keyboard player Michael Grande. Special guest Mark Johnstone from The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band also lends his keyboard prowess to "Need Your Love So Bad" and "Rockin' In The Free World." Over two intense three-day sessions, the band recorded nine tracks live in the studio, with Sonny Landreth contributing slide guitar to the Jeff Beck/Stevie Wonder classic "Cause We've Ended As Lovers." Not long after the completion of the record, Maui was devastated by historic wildfires. At the benefit concert in Honolulu, Fleetwood once again joined Shimabukuro and the band to perform the songs on Blues Experience for the first time. We were lucky enough to have Shimabukuro stop by the LifeMinute Studios for a second time (the first time to talk about his 2021 album Jake & Friends ). The ukulele star gave us an inside look into making his latest record with the drum icon, and he also played for us. This is a LifeMinute with Jake Shimabukuro.
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00:00Aloha, I'm Jake Shimabukuro and you're watching Life Minute TV.
00:10Over the past two decades Jake Shimabukuro has proven that there isn't a style of
00:15music he can't play on his ukulele. Since becoming a viral sensation on YouTube
00:19the Hawaii native has collabed with some of his biggest idols from Jimmy Buffett
00:25and Bette Midler to Ziggy Marley and Willie Nelson. For his latest musical
00:30venture the renowned ukulele virtuoso was joined by legendary drummer Fleetwood
00:36Mac's Mick Fleetwood. They just released a new album Blues Experience, a fresh
00:41take on the genre with reimagined versions of blues classics. We were
00:46fortunate to have Shimabukuro back to our Life Minute studios for a second
00:50time to tell us all about it and play a few of the songs. This is a Life Minute
00:54with Jake Shimabukuro. The new album is called Blues Experience and it's a
01:00collaboration with Mick Fleetwood, one of my all-time favorite musicians. It was
01:04such an honor to collaborate with him. It's kind of a bluesy themed record
01:08because some of the early Fleetwood Mac stuff was very blues based with Peter
01:12Green and so we did some old Fleetwood Mac stuff. We did some Gary Moore, some
01:16Jeff Beck and some Albert King. So we had a lot of fun with this record. I still
01:21can't believe it happened. I mean it was just such an honor to be in the studio
01:23with the great Mick Fleetwood. So we met a few years ago. Well, Mick's been a Maui
01:30resident for many, many, many years and so we've always kind of seen each other
01:35and met each other, you know, casually. But we went to their concert, Fleetwood Mac
01:40reunion concert, a couple years ago and it was awesome. And then we got to go
01:45backstage to talk with him and we kind of mentioned maybe doing something
01:49together, you know, just kind of threw that out there and here we are. He
01:53invited us out to his studio in Maui and we took a handful of songs and we
01:57just thought, well, let's just see what would happen, you know, if we played
02:00together because we had never played together before. Everything was just live
02:04in the studio.
02:07This album is the result, you know, of these spontaneous jam sessions, you know,
02:13that we had in the studio. But it was so fulfilling and just so inspiring because
02:17Mick, when he plays, you know, he's so present and he plays with this energy
02:25and intensity that just inspires everyone around him. I think one comment
02:29I made after the sessions, I said he's kind of like a point guard, you know, like
02:33on a basketball team. He just makes everyone around him play so much better.
02:37This was kind of new territory for me, you know, so he was very encouraging and
02:41he was kind of just trying to push me out of my comfort zone and just telling
02:45me to just go for it, you know, have fun, you know, don't worry. And it felt really
02:49good to have that encouragement and to play freely, no holds barred. Normally I
02:55try not to overuse a lot of the effects that I have when I play, but this one was
02:59kind of like, all right, let's just go for it, you know, and then he had an old
03:03Fender Princeton amp in there, which I'd never played through. I usually would
03:06play through a twin, reverb, or like Marshall or a Mesa Boogie or something.
03:10It was just this tone that I really loved and it just seemed to work, you
03:15know, with this configuration. Jackson Waldhoff, longtime friend of mine, he's
03:19touring with me now. He played electric bass and our other friend Michael Grande
03:23on keyboards. We just kept looking at each other the whole time, just like, I can't
03:27believe we're in here with Mick Fleetwood, you know. But it was just an
03:30incredible experience and I really feel like he pushed me out of my comfort zone
03:34so I got to explore new sounds and different things, you know, that I never
03:38really explored before. So it was great.
03:42So the album was recorded on Maui at Mick's studio. Mick lives in Kula, Maui.
03:47So one of the songs, it's the only original song on the album, it's called
03:51Kula Blues. So I guess, you know, kind of pays tribute to the area that we're in.
03:56It was just neat being in that studio because it's on his property in Maui and
04:01so she's got this vibe and this energy. I think one of the last songs we recorded
04:05was an old Neil Young classic, right, called Rocking in the Free World. And I
04:09think at that point already, I was so pumped and having such a great time that
04:14I think when you listen to that track, the energy on there. Normally when I'm in
04:18the studio, I'll sit and play or sometimes I'll stand, you know, I'll stand
04:22too. But usually when you're focused and you're like trying to play, but I
04:26remember on that song, we were like jumping up and down like it was a live
04:30concert. I mean, it felt like we were playing at a stadium show or something.
04:34It was so cool. But that energy, I feel like, you know, was really captured on
04:40this record. Another thing that was so magical, I think, about this recording is
04:44because Mick and I, you know, we were all in the same room together playing. When
04:48Mick plays his drum, he's so, so intense. The sound of his drums was actually
04:53feeding into my ukulele and going into the pickup or the microphone on my uke.
05:00So actually, his drums were feeding into my ukulele, which was also feeding
05:04through all of my effects and my delays and my overdrives and then going through
05:09the amp, right? So there was this really cool synergy that was happening, I think,
05:12between the drums and the ukulele. Very conversational. It was a certain gel, you
05:18know, to those two instruments. I think a lot of it had to do with just being in
05:22the same room and the instruments just kind of resonating together.
05:27It was very different, you know, for me to figure out how the ukulele can work in
05:32some of these arrangements. But I think with Mick's encouragement, just telling
05:37me to, oh, just go for it, you know. There was a couple of songs where I swear I
05:41reached down to my pedalboard and I just cranked, turned everything on and
05:44cranked everything up. It just made me play in a different way, to really just
05:48go for it. And I think the ukulele is very interesting, you know, because on one
05:53of the songs, we did a tribute to Christine McVie, you know, which was
05:56Songbird. And so on that song, the ukulele, it's almost like harp-like or
06:00piano-like. Very beautiful and delicate. Even when I did switch on the
06:05overdrive and the distortion on that song, still a very, like, ambient kind of
06:09sound, you know. And Mick really set the vibe and the groove foundation for that
06:14song. He just started on this groove on the tom and it was amazing. I mean, he
06:18just, like, transported all of my emotions. And I think that's what I
06:22was trying to do, you know, with all of us, you know, with this groove. And we
06:26slowly kind of crept in and then I started taking the melody and it was
06:30almost like the song played itself. At the end, you know, we just kind of faded
06:34out, but Mick kept the groove going. And then I remember when he ended the
06:37groove, it was like this silence, like this pause. And it was just something
06:42very special. And then he opened his eyes and he told us that he could feel
06:47Christine's presence with us in the studio as we were playing that. That was
06:52this magical moment. You have that very delicate side of the ukulele and Mick's
06:57playing. But then on the opposite side, you have something like rolling and
07:01tumbling where it's just the drums are very, like, tribal and aggressive. And,
07:05you know, the ukulele is, like, playing all these long delays where they're just
07:09layering over each other with the overdrives and then the wah pedal giving
07:13it a different voice and a different place in the mix. There was just a lot of
07:17just kind of covering a pretty wide range of sounds and color. That was very
07:22interesting for me because every time I switched over to a different sound, I
07:28felt like I was a different player for me. That was kind of a new feeling that I
07:32really appreciated.
07:39He wasn't just playing these songs with us. I mean, he lived these songs, right?
07:45In between tracking these iconic pieces, you know, he's sharing these stories
07:51with us, right? Of, like, Peter Green and The Beatles and, you know, Jeff Beck and
07:56Eric Clapton. And we're just sitting there like, oh my goodness, this is
08:00unbelievable. So all those stories and everything he's sharing with us, then we
08:04go step back into the tracking room and then that experience, like, translates
08:08into the next song. It was pretty incredible. It was very special and
08:13something that I'll never forget.
08:17See, what opens up with one of my favorite Jeff Beck tunes, which was
08:20Because We've Ended As Lovers, we had Sonny Landreth make a guest appearance
08:24on this. And the reason for that is because I met Sonny Landreth years ago
08:27when I used to tour with Jimmy Buffett. Jimmy Buffett was a dear friend who
08:31really took me under his wing, you know, early on and helped me so much. I
08:35wouldn't be where I am today, you know, if it weren't for his support. So that
08:38led to me having the opportunity to do some shows with Sonny. So we used to
08:44play Because We've Ended As Lovers. When we were in the studio with Mick and
08:48we were talking about Jeff Beck, we talked about doing Because We've Ended
08:51As Lovers. I was like, OK, if we do that, though, we've got to get Sonny
08:54Landreth in here, you know, because he's just so amazing. So that's the
08:57opening track. Sonny just sounds so good on that track.
09:01You know, I've been very fortunate to have met so many artists who have
09:06inspired me. Ian, Mac McAnally introduced me to so many people in the
09:10industry. You know, I did a Friends record, this collaborative Friends
09:13record a few years ago, and Jimmy and Mac also played on it. Oh, we had
09:18people like Bette Midler on there, you know, Sonny Landreth. There was about
09:22maybe 18, 18 different artists and about half of those artists I met
09:28through Jimmy. It's just really the people that I've been able to meet and
09:33the people who've really just kind of believed in me and supported me and
09:37continue to do that, you know. And Mick Fleetwood, he's so generous. I mean,
09:42he did not have to do this project with us, you know, but he was just so
09:45generous and wanted to give us this opportunity. And I'm so grateful that
09:51he did. I think the next one was Rolling and Tumbling, the Peter Green
09:55iconic tune, you know, Need Your Love So Bad. I mean, his version of that is
09:59just untouchable. I remember the first time I heard his version. I mean, those
10:04first, like, three or four notes when he comes in with that lick, it's just
10:08like, oh, in like three or four notes, you know, he just has you. I mean, it's
10:12just unbelievable. That was an honor to.
10:16One of the songs on there was actually, it was Mick's idea because we're
10:20talking about a UK tour that I had just recently finished. And so he asked me,
10:25you know, he said, when you play in the UK, do you ever play White or
10:28Shade of Pale? I said, oh, I love that song, but I've never covered it. And he
10:32said, you should do that. You should have your concert with that because that's
10:36such an anthem, right? And then he said, yeah, I've heard that song, but I've
10:39never covered it. And he said, you should do that. You should have your concert
10:44And then he said, yeah, I've always wanted to record that. So I said, oh, we
10:47should record it then, right? Because I needed to figure out how to work it out
10:52on the ukulele. But yeah, like a day or two later, we got into the studio and
10:55then we laid that one down. And that one was was really special as well. Just
11:00such a magical melody. That's such a beautiful song. And it's one of those
11:06that one of my favorite ukulele players growing up in Hawaii, his name was
11:09Otasan. Probably my biggest inspiration for playing the ukulele. He had covered
11:14that song on one of his albums, you know, many, many years ago. So to be able to
11:17do that with McFleetwood and then also remembering and just kind of paying
11:21tribute to Otasan as well.
11:29Oh, what inspires me creatively? I think everything. There's just so many things.
11:34Sometimes it's watching a movie. Sometimes it's hearing a new song. Sometimes
11:38it's an interaction with a friend or something or a family member eating
11:42something new, you know, for the first time. Yeah, I think I think for me, it's
11:46just about an emotional experience and then trying to figure out how to express
11:53that. Sometimes, like when I think a song, you can play it in so many different
11:57ways, right? Just depends on what you know, what you're trying to express or
12:00how you're feeling on that particular day. I've heard people say that music is
12:05the sound of your emotions, you know, kind of in a way. And the ukulele, you
12:09know, I started playing it when I was four years old. I mean, my mom introduced
12:13me to it and she taught me a few chords and I just fell in love with it. First
12:16time I played a chord on it and it just just that sound just made me smile
12:20immediately. And it brought me so I've just been obsessed with this instrument,
12:24you know, for for all of my life. And, you know, I don't want to offend
12:27anybody. But one of the things I love about the ukulele is that it's so easy
12:31to learn and to play. You know, you don't feel like you have to be a musician to
12:35play the ukulele. It's not intimidating, right? That instant gratification is
12:39what I think is encouraging, you know, for someone who's never picked up an
12:42instrument before. So when you pick it up and you strum it, you play it, it's like,
12:46wow, you know, I'm actually making music. When I get to share that joy with people,
12:51that inspires me. Not just receiving inspiration or or experiences that help
12:57me, but being able to share these experiences with other people, you know,
13:01also is inspiring and kind of gives me these ideas and kind of elevates my
13:06spirit. Oh, you know, with all these new tunes, I think there's a lot of diversity
13:12throughout the show. I mean, like a typical show might include a spectrum of
13:17songs from like a Japanese folk tune to Schubert's Ave Maria, of course, some
13:22Beatles classics, right? Some Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody, We Will Rock You or
13:27something, doing like a blues shuffle. A lot of my original pieces, you know, have
13:32influences, have jazz influence, bluegrass, and of course rock, rock and roll,
13:38traditional Hawaiian music, a little bit of everything. That's what I hope people
13:42feel when they come. We just hope that there's at least one song in the night
13:47that they can connect with, you know, and that the music connects all of us, you
13:52know, and it brings us together and allows us to experience something
13:57meaningful together that makes us feel closer, you know, as a community.
14:02There's one original piece that I normally play night after night, and it's
14:06a song that was inspired by a Japanese phrase, which is Ichigo Ichie, and Ichigo
14:12Ichie means once in a lifetime or one chance, one encounter. And the basic
14:18idea is, you know, it has to do with people coming together and stopping to
14:23recognize that, you know, this moment with this group of people will never
14:27happen in the exact same way again. We'll never get back this experience in this
14:31moment, you know, the same way. It's recognizing that and remembering to be
14:36present and to be grateful. You know, that's something that resonated with me,
14:42you know, ever since I've come across this phrase. When people do come to the
14:46shows, that's my biggest hope is that, you know, we all get to be present
14:51together and to be grateful for each other. Something I always travel with,
14:57you know, besides all the necessary things that I need for our shows and
15:01things like that, when I travel, I do have opportunities to speak to a lot of
15:05students and kids especially. And so a couple of things that I always like to
15:09share with them is I always mention that, especially to the kids that are there,
15:12you want to encourage them to find their passion. Whatever it is, maybe it's a
15:16passion for photography or science or writing, you know, whatever it is,
15:21encourage them to keep practicing and studying and be a lifelong learner, you
15:25know, of whatever that is that they're passionate about. And then the most
15:29important thing is, you know, to encourage them to say no to drugs. You know, I've
15:32been drug-free my whole life and so to encourage them to say no and to know
15:37that you don't need it, you know, in your life. And I just thought of one thing
15:42that I usually do carry with me in my travels is because I have this
15:46opportunity to speak to kids, I carry a wooden back scratcher. You've seen
15:50these, right? Yeah, so there's like a little, you know, they're usually made of
15:53bamboo or something but and there's like a hand on the back and you use it to
15:57kind of scratch your back in places where you can't reach. But when I was a
16:01kid, you know, I remember growing up with that, it's just such a simple tool that
16:07we would have around the house. I mean, my grandma had like three or four
16:11around the house, right? That back scratcher for me always reminded me of
16:15three very important principles in my life. You know, when you look at the
16:18back scratcher, the handle and the curved hand in the front, I like to tell the
16:22kids that, you know, if you look at the fingers on the back scratcher, you see
16:25them folded forward and it reminds me of people bowing, right? And when you bow,
16:30you're humbling yourself, right? Before someone or you're showing your respect.
16:33The first thing is, you know, when I look at the fingers, it reminds me to be
16:36humble. The second thing is when you look at the handle of the back scratcher,
16:40right? To me, that reminds me of if you hold it upright, it just reminds me of
16:45the lineage, you know, the generations of people that came before us to help us
16:49to extend our reach. And there's a term, it's Okagesamade, which means I am what
16:55I am because of you. So it's really honoring the past and all the people,
16:59right? As you get closer to the hand, if the hand is you, it's all those people
17:03that help to extend your reach in life so that you could have a better life
17:08today. So for me, the second part is to be grateful, to be grateful for the
17:14sacrifices that were made. And then the third thing is when you hold the back
17:18scratcher and you hold it with the hand in front of you like this, it looks like
17:21you're offering a hand of service or to help someone in need, whether it's a
17:27family member or a friend or your community or, you know, your state or your
17:31country or the planet, right? Just offering that kindness, you know. So the
17:35third thing is to be kind, to be humble, grateful and kind. And I don't know why
17:40the back scratcher, but I just thought it, especially growing up in Hawaii, you
17:43know, it was something that I knew all kids could relate.
17:47Oh man, there's so many things. I mean, I just love spending time with my family,
18:10of course. You know, that family time is so, so precious, especially when I travel
18:14so much. But when I do go back home, you know, the blessing is, you know, I get to
18:18be very present with them and to spend every moment with them. And that's really
18:24nice to be able to do that. You know, my kids love basketball and soccer, so that
18:29has become my favorite thing to do with them, you know, and to watch them at their
18:33games. We love going fishing and, you know, little things like that, spending
18:37time at the beach. My oldest son plays the ukulele and also the bass. And my
18:43younger son plays the trumpet and he likes playing the drums too. I'm just
18:47thrilled that they enjoy music and they appreciate it. You know, they have that
18:51appreciation for music and the arts. I don't know how serious they're going to
18:55be with it, you know, but yeah, it doesn't matter. They love playing and we get to
19:00jam, have jam sessions in our house. Yeah, if you take away family and friends, I
19:04mean, of course, I grew up just enjoying, you know, the ocean. I love being in the
19:09oceans. For me, that's always been kind of like a place of healing and therapy
19:14for me. I do miss that. And, of course, there's certain types of food that I
19:18enjoy that a lot of times I find I can only get there. Once in a while, you find
19:23it in other places.
19:34It's been a little over a year right now, but it's going to take years, you know, to
19:39rebuild. All we can do is provide our support, try to, you know, lift up the
19:44community in any way that we can, especially for the kids, you know, that
19:48are out there. It's heartbreaking, you know, to see those kinds of things, you
19:52know, with Hurricane Helene just coming through the Carolinas and now this
19:57new hurricane that I just saw coming toward Florida. It's hard to see these
20:02things happen and, you know, if we all come together and we support each other,
20:06you know, whether it's financial support or emotional support or spreading the
20:12love as much as we can, I think music helps us to to do that and to be a
20:17vehicle, you know, for that energy.
20:20These are my playlists. Oh, man, gosh, everything. I always gravitate toward
20:25like the 70s, 60s, 70s, that kind of old-school sound of recording, you know,
20:31before digital when things were still like analog and everything was
20:36played live, you know, that I love that sound. There's just something so magical
20:41about that. I mean, gosh, if we had access to like a real two-inch tape machine,
20:45you know, and we would have recorded this whole album analog too, that would have
20:49been awesome. I love the live recordings, you know, even I know it wasn't the
20:54most pristine or like the most perfect, you know, like not, you know, but I think
20:59it was a lot of those imperfections that just brought us some kind of energy
21:05and just this genuineness, you know, that I just loved. And I think when you're
21:10going to be playing it live, you know that we're not going to edit this, we're
21:15not going to just punch in, you know, notes here and there, we're just going to
21:18track. When that happens, you know, it makes you play different. You just want
21:22to put all your eggs in one basket, you know, in a way when you play and I feel
21:26like a lot of those recordings that were done that way kind of inspire that
21:31feeling. I love that, you know, it's exciting and I don't know, it just makes
21:34me feel a different way. And even like listening to albums like on old formats
21:40like vinyl, it's my favorite way to listen to records. There was a period
21:44where I started listening mainly to CDs, you know, went back to CDs, but then
21:48recently going back to vinyl again, it's like something about it, you know, that
21:53I don't know, makes you, makes you just want to sit there and just listen as you
22:00watch the record just spin around and around, you know, it's, I don't know, it's
22:04so hypnotic. But I do appreciate the digital formats as well because it gives
22:09you instant access, you know, to anything that you want to listen to and it's all
22:15great. I think it just depends on what your intentions are in that moment, you
22:20know, when you have the time to listen to something, if it's just, you know, I just
22:24want to put on something as I go drive, you know, take this drive or, you know, if
22:29I'm just going to sit down and, you know, have my coffee, I will put on an album
22:33and just for the next 30 minutes, I'm just going to do this and sit here, right? I
22:36think there's a format now that kind of meets everyone's needs.
22:44I just want to keep learning and keep collaborating. I think collaboration is
22:50so important, you know, whether it's in music or in media or in any industry or
22:57art form, you know, just finding creative ways to collaborate. I think the more
23:02ways that we can bring people together and do things together, you know, that
23:06just promotes greater understanding and I think it's beautiful because there's a
23:11synergy, you know, that happens and able to do things that's so much greater than
23:17some of what you could have done individually, right? And then it's more
23:20meaningful, right? That's just beautiful and I think that's the kind of
23:24experience, the emotional experience that you want to have with every event, with
23:29every experience, right? You know, that I was a part of something very special and
23:34something that will be there for a very, very long time will probably outlive, you
23:37know, most of us and something that will continue to inspire and bring joy to
23:42people.
23:51To hear more of this interview, visit our podcast, Life Minute TV on iTunes and
23:55all streaming podcast platforms.