Awkward Strangers

There will definitely be some video coming soon, but Andrew is currently experimenting with combining his new Woodskin foot percussion pedal with a MEINL Travel Cajon and this simple plastic crate 🫨

Action shots from our Hills Ukulele Festival workshop! We had a roomful of ukulele players blasting their way through "𝑾𝒆'𝒓𝒆 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝑮𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝑻𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝑰𝒕 𝑨𝒏𝒚𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆". Brilliant stuff. Thanks to 𝗝𝗮𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿 for taking some video for us to pull these from 😁

(For reference, I'm playing my Bondi Anthem Tenor Electric, and Anke is roaring along with her Singing Saw).

Hey ! Does anyone have any photos of us from our workshop or our set at the Hills Ukulele Festival on Saturday?

We are just the WORST at self-promotion and didn't think to arrange for any...

Wow! We're looking forward to 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 as she uses a flurry of fingerpicking and a lacework of lyrics to deliver up a tangle of 𝑻𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒆𝒔!

This is going to be a brilliant Hills Ukulele Festival 🤩

Let's make some virtual noise and welcome Christina Green to the Hills Uke Festival.
Christina Green is a Melbourne-based singer-songwriter who performs original contemporary folk songs and selected covers with a range of ukuleles, as well as guitar. Spanning styles from folk/rock to cabaret/chanson, her songs have been described as “snapshots, portraits, landscapes, stories and moments in time, pieces of mindfulness” – with a lyrical focus on the stuff of everyday life. Christina has been playing ukulele since 2011, with festival appearances along the way including several appearances at the Melbourne Ukulele Festival and Hills Ukulele Festival, and a jaunt to the Central Coast Ukulele Festival. She has also performed as feature artist at Klub MUK in Melbourne.. Christina launched a fingerstyle ukulele workshop at the Maldon Folk Festival in 2023, and looks forward to building on this further. She has worked with UK teachers Colin Tribe and Samantha Muir since 2019 with a focus on fingerstyle ukulele. In 2026 Christina is launching a new CD, Tomatoes, which features ukulele across many songs. Christina’s doctoral work (DCA with composition folio completed at Western Sydney University in 2019) features new works for ukulele including a song cycle for baritone ukulele; a second song cycle for the instrument came out of the Covid experience.
See you all in the Hills very Soon.
linktr.ee/hillsukefest

Time for some 90s grunge! 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀, here for the big sound, and here for the high energy!

This is going to be a brilliant Hills Ukulele Festival 🤩

Stepping onto the Main Stage for the first time, welcome to Here For The Beers.
Here for the Beers is what happens when you add ukuleles and electricity to iconic rock. With songs from the set lists of Queens of the Stoneage, Green Day, Beck and The Dandy Warhols to name just a few Here for the Beers brings a big sound and high energy to the Hills Ukulele Festival.
See you in the Hills very soon.
linktr.ee/hillsukefest

Andrew will be using THREE different Woodskin foot percussion instruments created by 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗔𝘀𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 in our set at the Gala Concert.

This is going to be a brilliant Hills Ukulele Festival 🤩

A heartfelt welcome to Mark Aspland - thank you for being part of our festival family.
Mark Aspland is a lifelong percussionist, craftsman, and innovator whose passion for rhythm began in childhood—first discovered by drumming on kitchen saucepans. Growing up surrounded by skilled cabinet makers, he developed both a love of music and a deep understanding of woodworking, leading him to build and repair instruments from an early age.
Now based in Melbourne, Mark continues to perform, record, and refine his craft. His innovative approach to instrument design led to the creation of the Woodskin Cajon—a versatile, handcrafted percussion instrument inspired by global rhythms.
Mark will be running a workshop on Saturday the 16th of May and sharing his skills on the cajon.
See you in the Hills this May.
Tickets available and links in the bio.

Stunning designs and meticulous detail, 𝗚𝘆𝗽𝘀𝘆 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴's artwork will have you enthralled.

This is going to be a brilliant Hills Ukulele Festival 🤩

Let’s all give Gypsy Spelling a warm, friendly Hills welcome back!
Gyspy, founder, creative mastermind behind Guitar Art Revolution, sponsor of the festival and all round awesome guy is back at the Hills Ukulele Festival for 2026.
Gypsy will be running a workshop, sharing his fantastic pencil tattoo skills on the Saturday 16th of May.
See you in the Hills this May.
Links in Bio

The wizard, 𝗗𝗮𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗰𝗘𝗼𝗶𝗻, steps out from behind the curtain... and turns out to be a actual wizard after all!

This is going to be a brilliant Hills Ukulele Festival 🤩

We can't seem to keep this guy away from the stage.
Dan has been playing the ukulele for a long time.
He has been a primary school teacher for even longer.
There are people in the world who say 'those who can't do - teach'.
There are also smart people in the world - ones who realise that in order to teach really well, you need to understand what it is you are teaching just as well.
Dan is one of those ones.
He has been the President of the Australian Teachers and Leaders Association.
He is the music teacher at Emerald Primary School and he has also been the Main Figurehead of the Hills Ukulele Festival for the past 9 years.
He will be running two workshops on the Saturday 16th of May.
See you in the Hills this May.
Links in Bio.