Tippy Canoe approached me in 2005 at my opening of Sunset to ask if she could use the installation as a backdrop for a photo shoot for her band Tippy Canoe and the Paddlemen. I was honored and became even more excited when she told me that she plays ukulele and described her music. She just sent me some images from the shoot -- luv 'em! The photos were taken by Kristopher Parra. Tippy is a hottie.
More about Tippy Canoe and the Paddlemen (from their Website):
Tippy Canoe & the Paddlemen play popular music or what the kids call "pop". Now their sound may not exactly be the popular music of today, but it encapsulates what has made people smile, laugh and talk about over the last nine decades. Your ears will perk up when you hear their potent toe-tappers or you'll gladly wrap yourself in the melancholy they cast when performing a dreamy ballad.
Songbird and uke-slinger, Tippy Canoe, is on a mission to bring sincere uplift in a severely down-slanted era. Her voice is a mixture of the 60's girl group sound and classic country with its own quirky nature shining through. Her songwriting bears the stamp of a person who has absorbed a variety of influences. These range from 20's and 30's acts like The Boswell Sisters or Jack Teagarden to 50's and 60's performers like Brenda Lee and catchy post-punk bands such as Squeeze or Blondie.
The Paddlemen use their skill with the drum kit (Rick Quisol-The Frisky Frolics, Cari Lee & the Saddle-ites, Atomic Cocktail), upright bass (Bill MacBeath- Alvin Youngblood Hart, Carlos Guitarlos) , violin/vocals (Steve Gardner- Culann's Hounds), and guitar (Isaac Carter-Carter & Bodlovich, Acme Swing Company) to conjure up a tight-knit mesh of rhythm and melody. The other gentlemen who have worn the badge of Paddleman either live or on recordings include Chris "T.G." Green (The Frisky Frolics, Dogwood Mercy, Atomic Cocktail),Tom Galbraith (Mink Lungs, Blank Stares, Mensclub), Pat Johnson (Penelope Houston, Dave Gleason's Wasted Days) and Bart Davenport (Loved Ones, Persephones Bees) .
You can call it old-timey, you can call it retro, you can even make up a word and call it 20sjazzcountrydoowoppop, but whatever the moniker just let yourself go and enjoy it.
" I do not fear ukuleles, I fear lack of them" -Isaac Asimov, author
