He’s strung together a great career

Ukulele maestro Jake Shimabukuro’s life has changed abundantly in the past two or so years.

He and wife Kelly Yamasato have a son now, Chase, born in August 2012.

The man who once hopped the globe rather constantly, uke in hand, is taking more time to smell the hibiscus and hear his baby’s laughter. Still, he does take time to tour and will bring his ukulele to a show Wednesday at the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto. He also played the Gallo Center in 2012.

Shimabukuro, a fifth-generation Hawaiian of Japanese heritage, first learned to play the uke from his mother as a small boy. He was already a celebrity in Hawaii and Japan, known from his work in groups called Pure Heart and Colon, when, in 2006, unknown to Shimabukuro, a YouTube video of him playing George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” went viral. As a result, he was soon far from unknown and off to a stunning solo career and collaborations with artists ranging from Jimmy Buffett to Cyndi Lauper and Yo-Yo Ma.

Work has begun on his next album, which will be his 11th solo offering. Shimabukuro said that the part that comes now, the writing of original material, can be tough. It is a matter of second-guessing himself at times.

“Usually, when you write your own material, there is this sense that there is nothing worth keeping, or putting on tape.”

He admits to being a bit deadline-driven.

“I know I will really have to start committing to some of the pieces I’ve been working on and get them done.”

He laughed and then added: “I tell people that if it were not for deadlines, I would probably still be working on my first record.”

Most songs come to Shimabukuro when he is just sitting and practicing. Some ideas come mid-show.

“I don’t have a system or method. Wherever I am sitting with my instrument – or sometimes even in a performance – I will play to relax, and something will come.

“Sometimes I do play to create, too, just try to come up with an idea, and every once in a while I get lucky and find a little fresh idea that leads to a full song.”

From the start, when he wowed with “Gently Weeps,” Shimabukuro has made an art out of playing covers, too. A few more of his most famous re-dos are “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Over the Rainbow” and Daft Punk’s 2013 megahit, “Get Lucky.”

“I haven’t worked on any new covers recently because I have been trying to write original pieces for this,” Shimabukuro said. “There is definitely no shortage of great songs to learn. I wish there were more time in the day. It is impossible to learn them all, but I’ll keep trying.”

The ukulele, with its cute name and often diminutive appearance, never disappears entirely but has a habit of falling in and out of fashion over the years.

Right now, the instrument is red hot with young hipsters and alt rockers..

“It is so wonderful to go to a new city or country where I have never been, and show up and see people there with their ukuleles,” Shimabukuro said. “I have been very excited about the growth of the instrument and am really excited to see where it grows from here. I think we’ll be seeing more and more really great players.”

This story was originally published October 23, 2014 at 2:20 PM with the headline "He’s strung together a great career."