This Is Book’s Music

Yours Truly Presents: BANDITOS Episode 1 with Dent May & His Magnificent Ukelele from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

So what happens when a young man who has a love for old pop and the ‘ukulele goes into a restaurant, and unknown to everyone starts singing and playing? This is what happened when Dent May wwalked into Taqueria Cancun in San Francisco and… well, you’ll have to take a look in this first installment of a new video series called Banditos.

There’s a guy from Jackson, Mississippi named Dent May and he presents himself as a lofty sort of fellow who plays the ‘ukulele. As a Hawaiian, I want to know if he’s true to the instrument or if he’s being a dork about for the sake of being a dork.

You see the photo above. Definitely not Ted Nugent or The Great Kat, maybe the kind of guy who would take his lady to a park with a blanket and picnic basket as he takes out the uke and plays a few tunes. But does that make him a dork, a novelty, a scam?

Hard to say, because it seems he knows who Serge Gainsbourg and Lee Hazlewood are, and that doesn’t come from watching old reruns of The Courtship of Eddie’s Father or Rockford Files, oh no, you have to work on this to become a dork.

Then I think: the reason why the ‘ukulele is considered cheesy is because of how people on the mainland turned it into a novelty. The instrument itself did not originate in Hawai’i (its roots come from Portuguese immigrants), but the ‘ukulele (which translates to “jumping flea”, which is why when you tune the strings and play it, it should play “My Dog Has Fleas”) is something that is cherished in the islands and thus is an instrument that has a rich legacy and history, especially through such musicians as Don Baduria, Herb “Ohta San” Ohta, Peter Moon, Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, and more recently Jake Shimabukuro. So now here comes… Dent May?

Now let’s look further. May is someone who was in a synth-pop band and apparently recorded “recording erotically charged novelty tracks with friends on the side”. Novelty? Considering the fact that he had attended NYU’s film school (he didn’t finish), maybe he’s someone who wants to explore the world through sight and sound, and feels that the novelty factor (if it is that) is more about exploring the novelty and not so much the taking or mocking of a culture.

What happens? Well, May recorded a full-length album at home, a double-wide trailer in Taylor, Mississippi. It’s called The Good Feeling Music of Dent May & His Magnificent ‘Ukulele (Paw Tracks), and he’s about to head on the road in support of it. Here are the concert dates, leading him to this year’s SXSW before heading over to the United Kingdom for a few shows:

February 20 Vancouver, BC The Biltmore Cabaret *
February 21 Seattle, WA Neumos *
February 22 Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge *
February 24 Sacramento, CA Harlow’s *
February 25 San Diego, CA Casbah *
February 26 Los Angeles, CA Troubadour *
February 27 Santa Barbara, CA SOho Restaurant and Music Club *
February 28 San Francisco, CA The Independent *
March 01 Eugene, OR John Henry’s *
March 02 Boise, ID Neurolux
March 05 Minneapolis, MN 400 Bar
March 06 Chicago, IL Schubas
March 07 Pontiac, MI The Pike Room at The Crofoot
March 08 Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom
March 10 Ithaca, NY Castaways *
March 11 Toronto, ONT Lee’s Palace *
March 12 Montreal, QC Il Motore *
March 13 Providence, RI Club Hell *
March 14 Boston, MA Paradise *
March 15 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom *
March 18-21 Austin, TX SXSW
March 22 Bristol, UK The Trinity #
March 23 Nottingham, UK Rescue Rooms #
March 24 London, UK The Forum #
March 25 Leeds, UK TJs #
March 26 Liverpool, UK The Static Gallery #
March 27 Dublin, IE The Tripod #
March 28 Belfast, UK Stiff Kitten #

* = w/ A.C. Newman
# = w/ Animal Collective

Can dorks tour like that? Truth is once you hear his music, you may realize there’s a hidden Lenny Kravitz in there, with a hint of Dan Reed and Carrie Akre.

To make it more interesting, May is also recording some dance music under the nom de plume Dent Sweat. Something tells me this purveyor of the uke is a smart one, and isn’t one to be laughed at. Take a deep listen and discover the places he wants to take you.

FREE MP3 DOWNLOAD: “Dent” (3.08mb)