Jake Shimabukuro to Play The Paramount in Seattle, 10/23

Jake Shimabukuro will play The Paramount in Seattle on Friday, October 23, 2015 at 8:00PM. All Ages / Bar w/ Valid ID. Price: $35.00 - $45.00 (not including applicable fees). Reserved seating.

Tickets go on sale this Friday, August 21, 2015 (10:00AM). Available online at Tickets.com, 24-hour ticket kiosks located outside the Paramount, Moore, and Neptune Theatre, Sonic Boom Records in Ballard, in person at the Paramount box office, or may also be purchased by phone at 1-877-STG-4TIX. For more information, visit STGPresents.org.

Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, Jake's life has always centered on the ukulele. He started playing at the age of four, urged by his mother who also played. He's combined the qualities of a long line of virtuoso ukulele players with modern rock musicians to create a sound that's uniquely his own but still firmly grounded in Hawaiian tradition.

Known for his energetic strumming on the ukulele, Jake's performance incorporates elements of thoughtful, sophisticated arrangements to spontaneous, improvised passages. Jake's influences include legendary ukulele players like Eddie Kamae, Ohta-San and Peter Moon. Jake also credits icons like Bruce Lee and Michael Jordan as a source of inspiration. In addition to his original compositions, his repertoire includes Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, Schubert's Ave Maria and Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah.

Jake began his music career in the mid-90's, performing at local coffee shops as a sideman with his first band, Pure Heart. But Jake's solo career began in earnest in 2002 when he became the first ukulele player to sign with Sony Music Japan. While his well-received solo releases positioned Jake as an established musician in Hawaii and Japan, his career skyrocketed when his cover of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" went viral on YouTube with more than 13 million views, opening the rest of the world's eyes to Jake and his unique playing style.

In the years since the YouTube clip aired, Jake has collaborated with an array of artists that include Yo-Yo Ma, Jimmy Buffett, Bette Midler, Cyndi Lauper, Jack Johnson, Ziggy Marley, Dave Koz, Michael McDonald, Bela Fleck and The Flecktones, Tommy Emmanuel, and Lyle Lovett - as well as orchestras around the world. He's sold out world-class venues, played at Bonnaroo, SXSW, the Playboy Jazz Festival, Fuji Rock Festival, the influential TED conference, and even performed for Queen Elizabeth II at the Royal Variety Performance in Blackpool, England.

He has topped Billboard's World Music Chart numerous times, been declared a musical "hero" by Rolling Stone Magazine, He has also won accolades from his peers including Eddie Vedder who states: "Jake is taking the instrument to a place that I can't see anybody else catching up with;" He has continually wowed audiences on national TV with appearances on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," "Good Morning America," and "The Today Show," and along the way has earned comparisons to musical innovators such as Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis. Jake has been the subject of an award winning 2012 documentary "Jake Shimabukuro: Life On Four Strings," currently on Netflix.

Seattle Theatre Group's mission is to make diverse performing arts and education an integral part of our region's cultural identity while keeping three historic venues, The Paramount, Moore and Neptune, alive and vibrant. STG presents a range of performances from Broadway, off-Broadway, dance and jazz, to comedy, concerts of all genres, speakers and family shows - at these three iconic theatres in Seattle and venues throughout the Puget Sound region and in Portland, Oregon. STG is the 501 (c)(3) non-profit arts organization that operates the historic Paramount, Moore and Neptune Theatres in Seattle, Washington.