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Brittni Paiva

Brittni Paiva has a musical gift. She started on the piano at the age of 4 and can play just about any instrument you give her. Still, the ukulele is her first choice. It gives her everything she needs to express herself and at the young age of 23 she has already released 5 ukulele albums. She has recorded with famous studio players, and played on stage with legendary musicians. She self produced a Hoku award winning album at the age of 15 and hasn’t looked back!

Brittni stopped by the store with her mom and husband yesterday and I had the honor of capturing her with her brand new signature Kamaka. It kind of reminds me of Kalei’s custom Kamaka because they both have the red purfling accents and are both masterpieces from Casey Kamaka . It’s interesting because Kalei and Brittni go way back. The two families have always been close and as young kids they would stay up into the night playing ukulele. Their parents would have to make them go to sleep! No doubt the two prodigies spurred each others musical growth. They are now both among the top tier in musical talent.

Brittni borrowed Kalei’s loop pedal here, as if to say, give me that thing, I can be a whole band too. And Ellie Goulding..so fresh! When I took the recording home and started to mix, my 6 year old daughter came running into the room. She looked at me, nodded her head to the beat for a few seconds, then smiled real big and started jumping up and down, cheering! Pure joy. She sang along (one of her favorites), and was so inspired.

When Brittni first got to the store I was trying to figure out my new recording interface. She was trying to figure out this pedal she has just borrowed. For a while we were like 2 old people trying to set up an email. After 15 or 20 minutes though, we figured it out, hit record, and 10 minutes later we hugged goodbye. She left us with this music. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Brittni got to play with Santana at his concert a few days ago! She really connects with the emotion in this song. Her dynamics are just beautiful.

This young musician really shines light on the uke.  Not as “dancey” of a performer as Jake or Taimani, but she’s a Hilo girl with a more relaxed attitude. Her expression is not as “nuts”, but her music and emotion are undeniable. That’s why I call her a goddess of the uke. She rules it in a unique way.

Here’s a few more videos we recorded after that first session four years ago. I had made some equipment upgrades for recording in the meantime.

Follow Brittni @ http://www.brittnipaiva.com/

Comments 11

  1. What can I say?
    Mahalo Andrew for sharing this . Brittni is a class of its own. Not only the way she is playing ukulele although her personality and how she is teaching is really adorable.
    I met her in the Keoki Kahumoku Music Camp down in Pahala.
    Greeings from Switzerland
    Ingeborg

  2. would like to know what pedal /repeat unit she was using ans where to get one model etc

    thanks ,,andy

  3. Awesome performances. Very true that her style is different than the other artists mentioned. There is an emotive quality to her approach that really comes through. Quality stuff.

    mike

  4. Love it. There’s a very distinctive style that shines through when she plays. Thanks for sharing!

  5. I have had the pleasure of organizing a workshop and concert with Brittni. She is such a good teacher it is amazing. She is also a very pleasant person to be around. And so is her mother/manager.

  6. Wow! Brittni’s version of “The Christmas Song” is wonderful. Made me want to learn it. Thanks Brittni>

  7. Brittni’s video of playing “Europa” on this Ukulele site was the push I needed to go ahead and order my Pono tenor ukulele! She plays this instrument like I’d never heard before and I was knocked out. Still at the emerging stage of playing, I can only appreciate the talent and skill ~ and a great Uke!~ required to sound like she does. Thank you for posting that video!

  8. Inspired version of Europa by Brittni. I was fortunate to see her perform when she opened for Bill Tapia.

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