Words by Neil Boland Photography by Indya Connley The ukulele has become an unlikely phenomenon in the last few years, revived as a portable stringed instrument, now spanning genres far beyond the music of Elvis Presley’s amusingly cheesy films and the absurdist ditties of Tiny Tim. Today, from Brunswick to Brooklyn, you hear the ukulele in beardy folk bands, alt-country bands, semi-twee pop country duos with movie stars like Zooey Deschanel, children’s programs and TV advertising soundtracks. In Australia, Melbourne’s at the centre of this renaissance. Born on Brunswick St Fitzroy and now based in Carlton under new ownership, former guitar-only shop, Fretted Instruments, has now become a portion of Australia’s pioneering specialist ukulele store — Lord Uke. Seems kinda niche, wouldn’t you say? Well, within one step inside the Elgin St store, you realise where the real business is generated. Justin Garner of Fretted Instruments has been in the music industry for a handful of decades, currently playing guitar with Nick Barker’s Heartache States and loving watching the ukulele craze grow by the year. In most music stores, the ukulele was considered a small part of a music store’s display; almost a toy. “There was already a section of … Continue reading A TOY NO MORE