Ralph Shaw – King of the Ukelele

The “Bowtie” part of Bowtie & Petal is Ralph Shaw. Showman extraordinaire, Ralph has toured widely in the USA, Canada and Australia as “The King of the Ukulele”.

His career began by crooning classics from the early 20th Century and moved on to write hilarious original songs and other more modern material. His acclaimed performances, ukulele workshops and Ukulele Entertainer books have reached thousands in his 25+ years of performances and teaching.

Catherine Embleton is a proud Geordie who often gets called Petal. She plays clarinet and saxophone for orchestral and dance band shows (such as The Northern Swing Orchestra).

Alongside her work with Ralph she teaches, conducts and likes hitting things (she’s also a percussionist). In recent years Catherine has discovered another calling as an award winning abstract visual artist. Her colourful and vibrant works are often described as beautiful, joyful and inspiring.

The sentence that possibly best sums up Bowtie & Petal is the following:

“A little bit classy, a little bit jazzy and sometimes a little bit silly.”

Whether you’re there for the music, the lyrics or the warm-hearted dialogue everyone gets something from this delightful and inspiring duo.

With a repertoire covering: the American songbook, instrumental jazz standards, original songs, show tunes, folk, classical, comedy and pop – Bowtie & Petal make each and every song their own.

Catherine’s exceptional clarinet playing skills are supported by Ralph’s superb rhythm abilities on tenor-guitar and ukuleles. And, in contrast, when Ralph is belting out a singalong classic or crooning a 1940’s favourite, Catherine’s clarinet hangs back to converse playfully with his voice before taking over to elicit a scintillating solo.

And it doesn’t end there. Other musical skills include Ralph’s flair on the chromatic harmonica and wailing blues harp. And Catherine is also known for a bit of wailing. She does her wailing on soprano and alto saxophones. That is when she’s not playing some form of percussion. For in Catherine’s hands even the lowly triangle is liable to take centre stage, invoking laughter amidst the music.

For further details check out their website: http://ralphshaw.co.uk