I heard Ms. Ayano interviewed on npr, yesterday morning. They also played some of her music. They spoke of how she is not conforming to the "J-Pop" girl image, instead choosing to write, play and sing songs which are simpler in sound, more akin to folk. Unlike J-Pop girls she also sings exclusively in Japanese. And, to top it all off, about ten years ago, when in high school, she wanted to sing folk but her hands were too small for a guitar so...she got a ukulele!

I found the clips they played to be charming and beautiful. It took me awhile to find some sound clips online as NPR doesn't have yesterday's show up, yet. If you'd like to hear a couple of short clips click here. If you scroll down to the Real PLayer/WindowsMediaPlayer logos, you can click on each song, then click again on the song with the gold star beside it and hear her and her ukulele. Some of them are too busy and overmixed, imo, but #2 is one they played on NPR and #10 is beautiful. I love what she does with a uke. They are an under-rated instrument imo. Her CDs are available on amazon and other places.

Thanks,

kat