Craig Chee

What a rollercoaster of emotions this week. I tried to focus on things we could control and keep in mind the things we couldn’t. We had almost 90 people who braved the storm to be with us. We gave them our absolute all, which was easy to do because they gave us so much motivation and inspiration right back.

Incredible memories were made, lightbulb moments were had, and friendships forged. Keʻolu Music started us so strong, made us feel like we were among family from day 1.

Sarah Maisel and I are so grateful to our staff, Neal Chin, Cory Mau, Marion K. Travels (Map & Key Travels), Sandra and Pono Higa on making this the smoothest retreat yet!

And of course a big thank you to The Kahala Hotel & Resort. Their staff is always on point and they showed so much patience, understanding and thoughtfulness as we braved the weather together.

Hats off to our very special guests, Herb Ohta, Jr., Bryan Tolentino, Jeff Peterson, Andrew Molina, Jonah Davis, Mika Kane, Krystal Mokuahu and David Kekoamanawalea Woodward. You left such a big impact on our attendees!

Huge mahalo to Jake Shimabukuro for taking some time from his busy schedule to drop off some amazing treats for our attendees.

Another mahalo to Kamaka Hawaii, KoAloha Ukulele, Kanile'a 'Ukulele, Ukulele Lab, The Ukulele Site, Sweet Leilani Florist, Uke Logic Strings, Pro Camera Hawaii for believing in our events, and helping us build and constantly better this retreat.

Thank you to Larry (Ukulele Project Hawaii)and Damon Young for making feel people so comfortable with some impromptu jamming.

Next comes the hard work... we'll go back home and see what we can fix from the the flash foods that hit Mānoa around the house as then we will be putting together a fundraiser that will help provide some relief from the devastation that demolished the homes of our Gamiao ‘Ohana (Kalei Gamiao) and their community. Please stay tuned to see how we can come together to help.

Love and aloha,
Craig

Praying our friends stay safe. Hoping Kalei Gamiao can check in once safe. There will be a lot of help needed after this last batch of storms...

Flooding!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIO0jK_ENcw

No fancy Christmas video this year but we still wanted to say thank you to all of you who make our world an incredible place to live. Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

Mahalo from the Four Strings at a Time Board of Directors - 2025 Reflecting on 2025, our hearts are full. We are so incredibly grateful to this community for empowering us to change lives through the gift of music. We trul...

Sarah Maisel and I had a wonderful chat with Joe Souza from Kanile'a 'Ukulele (& Guitar) this past May and ended up so busy that we couldn't get it out until now. As a bonus we went back a few days ago to see all the new things in their store at Windward Mall! Hope you enjoy this check in, we already have a few more episodes being edited. Hopefully the next one goes live next week!

Craig & Sarah's ‘Ukulele Spotlight - featuring Joe Souza of Kanile‘a ‘Ukulele & Guitar We are back with another spotlight video! I'm sorry that this one took a while to get out (we originally recorded the interview with Joe in May), it's been q...

Sarah Maisel and I will always be so grateful to Kanile'a 'Ukulele for all of their support through the years. It's been amazing to work together to constantly create new ways of expanding our sound and it pushes us to be better musicians. They currently have a 15% off all available and build-to-order at https://kanileaukulele.com

Of course we can't forget how blessed we are to have such an amazing community at ArtistWorks. Thank you to our incredible students who allow us to be a part of their ‘ukulele journey. We love being able to work with you and can't wait for all the big changes to be implemented on the new site. We currently have a Christmas song 30 day challenge and will have a new series of lessons starting in January. You can currently get 50% off at https://artwk.co/CraigSarah and use BLACKFRIDAY50. Can't wait to see your holiday songs!!

Keeping the gratitude going, Sarah Maisel wanted to say a big mahalo to GHS Strings for helping us find our sound and for all of their support through the years. They helped us create our custom Bari-Tenor strings, Re-entrant baritone tuning made for a tenor scale and our other custom high G & low G sets! You can learn more at https://www.craigandsarah.com/store/p/ghsstrings

We also wanted to say another big thank you to Roswell Pro Audio! They have a great sale going on right now at https://roswellproaudio.com For any big recordings we LOVE using their Colares microphone. You'll see it in action again soon for our Christmas video this year!

Roswell Pro Audio Handbuilt boutique microphones, designed to deliver modern performance and vintage tone. Roswell Pro Audio's "Mini K" mic series, a set of condenser microphones that slays competitive options at two to five times the price, are in daily use by recording artists, international touring acts, and Gramm...

One of the most overlooked pieces of our kit are our Analysis Plus Audio Cables! From our ‘ukulele retreats, cruises, livestreams, studio recordings and stages around the world, they have been dependable and able to help keep our sound as consistent and true as possible. Analysis Plus has also been an incredible supporter of our non-profit, Four Strings at a Time!

Be sure to check out their Black Friday Sales going on right now!
https://analysis.plus/specials/

Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving, filled with food, love and music!

Sarah Maisel and I are excited to be helping out the amazing Jeff Peterson with some album artwork! Reminded us of his beautiful backyard concert with us a few years back... can't wait to bring that series back!

Our Halloween Jam is starting in about an hour! We are also hosting our big Four Strings at a Time fundraiser tomorrow, be sure to check out the free workshops. Featuring our board members, Sarah Maisel, Cory Mau, Neal Chin, LinaGirl Langi with the amazing Jake Shimabukuro!

Today's Jam: https://youtube.com/live/pX7KW2NHbYo
Tomorrow's Workshop Day: https://www.youtube.com/live/lkg1wdglww0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SE4xGVnzuU

Phew! Finally had a few days to put together our Los Angeles International 'Ukulele Festival wrap up video! It was so lovely to see so many friends on and off stage! Congratulations to Mitch Chang, all the volunteers and supporters! Thank you Cory Mau for joining us on stage and for you and Keʻolu Music knocking the socks off of everyone!

Sarah Maisel and I can't wait to see what is in store for next year's big 10 year celebration!

Shoutout to our adorable nephews helping at the merch table and to my brother helping take some photos during our set!

Much love to Kanile'a 'Ukulele, Ohana Ukuleles, Kala Brand Music, KoAloha Ukulele, Flight Ukulele, ‘Oli ‘Ukulele, Tom Music Ukulele, Danielle Ate the Sandwich, Abe Lagrimas, Jr., , Bernadette Teaches Music, Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer, Dani Morcillo Usero, Kimo Hussey, Peter Luongo and his Legacy Ukulele Ensemble, Melanie Kareem, Marnie Ward, Hālau Hula La’ikūokealaula, Kalyn Aolani and HUGE thank you to Genevieve Villaruel!

Craig & Sarah's Los Angeles International #Ukulele Festival 2025 Wrap Up! It's been amazing to see this event grow over the past decade! Congratulations to Mitch, all the volunteers and supporters on such a great event! It was grea...