Singer-Songwriter & Ukuleleist
genres: acoustic, pop, ukelele
Mike Hind is a Bermudian ukulele artist, also known by his stage moniker, Uncle Elvis, who performs weekly throughout the summer all over the island.
I like to draw… and babble… and play the ukulele. – Mike Hind
BIOGRAPHY
Funny, irreverent and spontaneous, Bermudian ukulele artist Mike Hind, also known by his stage moniker, Uncle Elvis, performs weekly throughout the summer all over the island – Red Steakhouse, Bermuda Bistro at the Beach and, predominantly, The Dock at Waterlot Inn, entertaining crowds with an eclectic range of songs from classic romance tunes to the catchiest pop numbers. He’s been known to burst into song at a moment’s notice… sometimes in the middle of another song.
With years of experience in comedy, theatre and performing with local bands, Kennel Boys & Duty Free most famously, Mike decided to pick up a ukulele at age 41. His show is equal parts joyful and melodious comedy, with audience members often dragged in by playful heckling. In 2013, he released “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” an EP funded solely through donations by friends and fans through crowd-funding website IndieGoGo. And is working on both a live album, recorded at The Dock – with tree frogs in the background as accompaniment – and an album of classic 70s folk-pop covers… and possibly another with disco covers!
In 2012, he became a sponsored artist with Mim’s Ukes, a premier online ukulele dealer and in 2014, he became an endorsed artist with Moku Ukuleles and played and demoed the new Mike Hind Model at the Moku Booth # 1205 at NAMM in January, 2015.
In the winter of 2013 and 2014, he toured throughout the midwest and south with The Flea Bitten Dawgs, the latter year, heading south to Florida in an attempt to stay warm!
After playing and MCing for Craig Chee, Sarah Maisel and Julia Nunes in 2013, in November 2014, he was a headliner at the Tampa Bay Ukulele Getaway alongside the likes of Seeso, Marc “Li’l Rev” Revenson and Victoria Vox and then played at the Milwaukee Ukulele Festival. February, 2015, after launching the MH-1 8-string ukulele from Moku Ukulele – a signature series ukulele that will be put into production in the summer of 2016 – at the NAMM show in Anaheim, California, and a performance at Mim’s Uke’s Travelling Sideshow in Long Beach, brought his first UK tour, traveling all over England, playing with fantastic acts like Phil Doleman, Dead Man’s Uke, The Mersey Belles, Feckless & Fuddle, Ben Rouse, Michael Adcock, Zoë Bestel, Tricity Vogue, Krabbers and the Hedge Inspectors and more! In September 2015, he travelled to Greece with a few dozen ukulele enthusiasts where he performed and held workshops at “My Big, Fat Greek Ukulele Adventure” alongside Francesco Albertazzi and the wonderful Michael Adcock.
He then toured with Zoë Bestel and Feckless & Fuddle in the north of England and Scotland before headlining the Grand Southern Ukulele Festival with Victoria Vox and Aldrine Guerrero. Then, in November, he MCed the Tampa Bay Ukulele Getaway with Craig Chee & Sarah Maisel, Danielle Ate The Sandwich and Aldrine Guerrero.
In February, he toured with Zoë and Feckless & Fuddle again, going from Up t’North to dahn South to Poole and then in May, headlined the first Ukulele Festival Of Scotland with Zoë Bestel and James Hill, as well as Ken Middleton, Manitoba Hal, Dead Man’s Uke and a host of other amazing ukulele acts.
Mike regularly appears at Bermuda Bistro at The Beach and The Fairmont Southampton in Bermuda and thinks he might have finally figured out what he’d like to do when he grows up!
PRESS
- Mike’s found his happy place | The Royal Gazette:Bermuda Lifestyle
- A Man and His Uke – The Bermudian
- Mike Hind Featured On Cover Of UKE Magazine – Bernews.com
- Hebden Bridge/Leeds Portrait Photography | Bermuda’s Mike Hind, Ukelele Musician!