About Mighty Tiny

As each of us announced our Creative Life topics, I started to worry. A ukulele class seemed too nice, too happy. We had just had a long talk about the necessity of tension in a piece, and when I thought about my proposed profile on a ukulele class, I couldn’t find the tension. I began to envision some corny fluff piece where, in an extra thick Minnesotan accent, I say something like “Boy, they’re really making some music together on Cape Cod!” NOOO! That wasn’t the kind of radio that I wanted to make.

Despite my worries, I moved forward with the project. I was most interested in what the ukulele instructor, Steve Gregory, had to say about the instrument. Steve believes that every single person is musical and that the ukulele is the ideal instrument to tap into that potential. This idea intrigued me, so I asked Steve to connect me with some ukulele students that were trying their hand at music for the first time. That’s where the tension came in.

Susan Anarino and Lois Fornier had incredible narratives that illustrated just how powerful a ukulele can be. Susan told me that she used the ukulele to fill her recently empty home and Lois learned the instrument so that she could fulfill her father’s wish to have a musician in the family. I could never have anticipated these kinds of stories. I learned that I just needed to follow my instincts and trust that the tension would emerge, and in the case of Mighty Tiny, it did.

About Joanna Solotaroff

Joanna Solotaroff is an independent producer and community organizer living in Minneapolis, MN. She is the creator and producer of the video series Street Stories, which was recently voted the Best Local YouTube Video by the City Pages. In her free time she is an improvisor and storyteller.

You can hear more of Joanna’s work on PRX.

She is also a member of AIR.