After arthritis in my hands forced me to give up playing ukulele and producing festivals, I went in search of a new instrument that I could play without pain. I found that I could play in the lap steel position without pain, but the playing style was different and the learning curve was steep.

That set me in search of something I could play similarly to how I played ukulele–strumming with the occasional lick to accompany singing–but in the lap style position. So I decided to create my own instrument–one with a short learning curve that was more friendly to my old "ukulele brain." After much experimentation, I came up with the W5–a family of strummable 5-string lap steels with special tuning and a re-envisioned fret marker system that make for an easy transition from ukulele. 

If you have hand issues like me but want to keep playing, or you are a uke player looking to broaden your horizons, check out my demo videos below.