Have ukelele, will travel

Armed with his trusty ukulele, Bobby Alu will pump out his infectious tunes at the Prince of Wales Hotel next Thursday as he continues a hectic tour across the country.

Alu, the musical alter-ego of Charles Wall, was last in Bunbury in October promoting his newest album Take It Slow.

He describes his run of touring dates at the end of last year, which included a trip to New Zealand, as “insane”.

“I took some time off in January, ” Alu said.

“I just really needed to take a break and I am living in Byron Bay at the moment.

“It definitely rivals some of WA’s southern beaches. It was a really good time for me to recharge before this next run of dates.”

But after that well-earned break, the next phase of his solo tour will focus on one of the singles, Skippin Stones, the film clip of which was filmed in Byron Bay earlier this year.

Alu describes the track as being an upbeat tune that fits in perfectly for summer.

“I guess we are kind of getting the oily rag and wringing out the last bits of summer, ” he says.

“It is a really fun tune. As the album was released late last year, at all the shows this song got a lot of love and people were singing along and commenting that they really liked it.

With Alu’s crushing touring schedule, which literally sees him ‘skipping’ from state to state, it is little wonder that he will often need a break.

“Last year was a really busy year and I was just inspired to keep going and going, ” he said.

“It was amazing and it was exactly what I wanted to be doing, because it is my passion and my love.

“But from that time I realised the importance of taking it slow. That is a lot of what the album is about.”