"That Blonde Venus hair, those frilly outfits, that sweet, sweet voice: It could only be Uni & Her Ukelele. The uke's pink, usually, and the girl's obsessed with unicorns; the overall effect is the musical and sartorial equivalent of sucking on a jaw [+]"That Blonde Venus hair, those frilly outfits, that sweet, sweet voice: It could only be Uni & Her Ukelele. The uke's pink, usually, and the girl's obsessed with unicorns; the overall effect is the musical and sartorial equivalent of sucking on a jawbreaker while drinking whiskey straight from the bottle. Although Uni claims both Ol' Dirty Bastard and Stevie Nicks as influences and strays a long, long way from traditional, she does perform a tune called "Mahalo Maui Rose" that brings the old-fashioned plinky romance."
- Michael Leaverton & Hiya Swanhuyser for SF Weekly, November 16, 2005
"Consider the ukulele — which, roughly translated, means “jumping flea” — developed in Hawaii by way of Portugal and wielded ably now by Uni, a petite and soulful singer who is to wacky sexiness what the nitroglycerin dot is to firecrackers. Channeling the spirits of Tin Pan Alley and Joni Mitchell, she’ll unveil songs from her new album, My Favorite Letter Is U (Unicornbread), with her electrified ukulele, Sally Luka — think B.B. King’s Lucille, but with the personality of a fierce kitten. If all you know about the ukulele is Tiny Tim or that kid on Google Video who rips through “Classical Gas” on his uke, you owe it to yourself to have your mind properly blown forthwith."
- David Cotner for LA Weekly, July 14, 2006
"Had it with the guitar? Consider the ukelele. Heather Marie Ellison, aka Uni, was sold on it the moment she heard a friend play a Prince song on one a couple years ago. In a flash as bright as the glitter she wears onstage, she realized she'd found her instrument. Soon after, Ellison acquired a pink ukelele and christened it Sally Luka - Uni and her Ukelele have been inseparable ever since.
With its small size and fanciful name, the ukelele seems a natural fit for a unicorn-obsessed gal who sews her own frilly stage costumes. But Ellison picked the ukelele based on more than quirk appeal; it was also a practical key to creativity and independence. "I was trying to find an instrument to accompany myself, because I'd always been the chick singer in the band," says Ellison, whose formal training was mostly as a vocalist. "I wanted to be able to play, to be able to rely on myself. I was working on guitar, but it was intimidating. And I realized anyt
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