Sho Humphries ’21 Plays Ukulele on Television

Keya Sampat and Risha Sur| July 21, 2019

  • Sho Humphries ’21 poses for the camera.

    Photo Courtesy of Sho Humphries '21
    '

  • Sho Humpries ’21 and his brother Shin Humphries ’24 pose with their ukeleles.

    Photo Courtesy of Sho Humphries '21
    '
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Seven years after receiving his first ukelele from his parents, Sho Humphries ‘21 got the opportunity to show his passion of playing the ukulele on television. Humphries played on June 25 on the FOX 7 Austin – Good Day channel along with his younger brother Shin Humphries ‘24. When he found out that he was going to be on television, Humphries was initially surprised, but also very excited to share his talent with the world.

“I like to play the ukulele because it’s something that can turn anything into beautiful music. An emotion goes in, and a song comes out,” Humphries said. “Plus, there’s something about strumming a ukulele that just feels incredibly free.”

Humphries was originally scouted for the news station at the OITA Japanese Festival where he performed a few pieces with his brother.

“We had been asked to play at the festival which promoted Japanese culture in Austin and that event eventually led us to playing on TV,” Humphries said.

Before his performance on TV began, Humphries was not too nervous as he had participated in many performances before, however the fact that there would be cameras made him a little anxious. He performed Wipeout by the Surfaris and Shima Uta, a japanese song, by The Boom. At the end, he felt relieved and satisfied with his performance.

“After performing I was really happy, especially because I felt we gave a strong performance and the news crew seemed to enjoy it as well,” Humphries said. “It’s kinda hard to put into words, but while I perform I get a lot of adrenaline pumping, and when I’m done it’s still there and it feels great.”

Humphries also boasts over ten thousand followers on his Instagram account. He gained his massive following through the #100DaysofUkuleleSongs project which was started by jazz ukulele enthusiast Cynthia Lin.

“I didn’t do much on my account until April last year when I decided to invest my time in the project,” Humphries said. “It was very fun and challenging to learn a new piece everyday.”

Humphries plays regularly at many venues, and performs at public and private events upon request.

Website: https://shotunes.com.
Instagram: ukulele_sho