Look up Jake in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Jake is a modern, short form of the male name Jacob, but can also be a name in itself, as is the case with many people.

Individuals named Jake include:

• Jake Arnott, British novelist
• Jake T. Austin, American actor
• Jake Lloyd, American actor
• Jake Gyllenhaal (born 1980), American actor
• Jake Hager (born 1982), American professional wrestler better known as Jack Swagger
• Jake Humphrey, children's and football presenter
• Jake LaMotta (born 1921), former world middleweight champion boxer who was later portrayed by Robert De Niro in the 1980 film Raging Bull
• Jake Locker (born 1988), American football player (quarterback, University of Washington)
• Jake Long (born 1985), American football player (offensive tackle, Miami Dolphins)
• Jake Plummer (born 1974), American football player (unofficially retired)
• Jake Roberts (born 1955), American professional wrestler (aka "Jake the Snake")
• Jake Steinfeld (born 1958), American actor and fitness personality
• Jake Thackray (born 1938), English singer-songwriter, poet and journalist
• Jake Thomas (born 1990), American actor and singer
• Jake White (born 1963), South African rugby coach

Fictional characters named Jake include:

• Jacob David "Jake" Harper, a main character in TV comedy series Two and a Half Men
• Jake Featherston, Hitler-like dictator in Harry Turtledove's Timeline-191 series
• American Dragon: Jake Long, title character in an animated television series which airs on Disney Channel
• Jake, a video game character in the Ape Escape series
• Jake, a pet dog of Betty Spaghetty
• Jake, the main character dog in the game Dog's Life
• Jake Fischer, a character played by Ashton Kutcher in the film The Guardian
• Jake 2.0, title character in a science fiction television series that aired from 2003 to 2004 on UPN
• Jake Berenson, a character from the Animorphs book series by K. A. Applegate
• Jake Spidermonkey, a main character in My Gym Partner's a Monkey
• J.J. "Jake" Gittes, the cop turned detective and main character in Roman Polanski's 1974 film Chinatown
• Jake Blues, lead vocalist of The Blues Brothers band and one of the main characters in The Blues Brothers film
• Jake Chambers, a boy and one of the main characters in Stephen King's The Dark Tower series
• Jake Martin (All My Children), U.S. soap opera All My Children
• Jake Martin (Degrassi character), Canadian drama Degrassi
• Jake Green, the protagonist of the TV series Jericho
• Jake the Peg, a three-legged man, the subject of a song sung by Rolf Harris
• Jake Sully, protagonist of the film Avatar
• Jake Tucker, a character in Family Guy
• Jake the Dog, a main character of Adventure Time

Jake may also refer to:

• Jake, a young male Wild Turkey
• "The Jake," nickname of the Major League Baseball stadium once known as Jacobs Field, now Progressive Field
• Jake brake, a particular brand of engine brake
• Jake, a slang term in the United States for Jamaica ginger extract
• Jake, a slang term used in Discordianism to describe a prank, often celebrated on Jake Day
• Jake / Bot2, one of the ROVs used during the filming of the documentary Ghosts of the Abyss
• Jake the Alligator Man, an oddity on view in Long Beach, Washington
• Less Than Jake, a skate punk band
• The Japanese World War II reconnaissance floatplane, the Aichi E13A, Allied reporting name "Jake"
• Jake the Peg (Rolf Harris song)
• Jake, a slang term for masturbation

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Jake Shimabukuro (born November 3, 1976 in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi) is a ukulele virtuoso known for his complex finger work.^[1] His music combines elements of jazz and rock.^[2]

History[link]

Shimabukuro's mother gave him an ukulele at age four and he quickly took an interest in the instrument. A fifth generation Japanese-American,^[3] Shimabukuro initially gained attention in Hawaii in 1998 as a member of Pure Heart, a trio with Lopaka Colon (percussion), and Jon Yamasato (guitar). Shimabukuro was working at a music store in Honolulu when the group released its eponymous first album, featuring a sound and style somewhat similar to the Kaʻau Crater Boys. Their first album won them four Na Hoku Hanohano Awards (the Hawaiian counterpart of the Grammy Awards): Island Contemporary Album of the Year, Most Promising Artist(s), Album of the Year and Favorite Entertainment of the Year, the latter determined by unrestricted public vote. Jake also gained attention on his YouTube page, gaining several subscribers with videos of him playing popular songs on his ukelele.

The following year, they released Pure Heart 2, which earned them another Hoku award for Island Contemporary Album of the year. Yamasato informed the others that he was quitting the group via a newspaper story that ran in the Honolulu Advertiser on Thanksgiving Day, and Shimabukuro and Colon formed another group, Colon, which they named in honor of Colon's father, famed percussionist Augie Colon. The new guitarist was Guy Cruz, younger brother of the Kaʻau Crater Boys' Ernie Cruz, Jr., and John Cruz. Colon won the Hoku Award for Favorite Entertainer of the Year in 2001, after which Shimabukuro decided to pursue a solo career.

As a solo artist after the break-up of Colon he experimented with using effect pedals to make new sounds that few would associate with an ukulele. He has released an instructional DVD called Play Loud Ukulele, and in 2006, composed the music to the Japanese film Hula Girls, which featured hula dancing and a Hawaiian spa resort as its primary theme and setting respectively.

Shimabukuro also performed on stage with Jimmy Buffett and his group, The Coral Reefer Band and is featured on Buffett's CD/DVD release, Live in Anguilla.

In November 2009, Shimabukuro accompanied fellow Hawaiian-born Bette Midler at the Royal Variety Show. They performed a rendition of the Beatles song "In My Life" as the first of Midler's three-song set.

Jake is the key spokesman for the "Music is Good Medicine" organization, which uses community outreach programs - and visits to schools, senior centers, and hospitals - to emphasize the importance of a healthy life and mind as well as promoting music and the arts.

Performing in Stockholm during JazzFest'09

Jake was featured on a January 15, 2012 episode of CNN's The Next List. ^[4]

Instruments[link]

Shimabukuro plays a custom-made 4 string tenor ukulele from Kamaka Ukulele. He uses a Line 6 Pod XT Live.^[5]

Discography[link]

Studio Albums:

• Sunday Morning, (2002)
• Crosscurrent, (2003)
• Walking Down Rainhill, (2004)
• Dragon, (2005)
• Gently Weeps, (2006)
• Hula Girls film soundtrack, (2007)
• My Life, (2007)
• Annon, 2009
• Peace Love Ukulele, (2011)

Another album is to be released on 2 October, 2012.^[6]

References[link]

• The 1999 Hoku Award
• Pure Heart member changes
• Jake Shimabukuro Interview

1. ^ http://www.musicplayer.com/article/jake-shimabukuro/Sep-05/13510
2. ^ Official biography
3. ^ Virtuoso more than a novelty act
4. ^ Belsky, Joshua. "Sneak Peek: Peace, love and ukulele with Jake Shimabukuro Sneak Peek: Peace, love and ukulele with Jake Shimabukuro". CNN. http://whatsnext.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/10/sneak-peek-peace-love-and-ukulele-with-jake-shimabukruo/. Retrieved 22 February 2012. 
5. ^ http://www.musicplayer.com/article/jake-shimabukuro/Sep-05/13510 Interview with Shimabukuro
6. ^ http://jakeshimabukuro.com/home/. Retrieved 28 May, 2012.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jake Shimabukuro

• Official website
• YouTube clip of live collaboration with beatboxer Jason Tom
• Jake in Concert on midnight ukulele disco
• Jake Shimabukuro collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive
• Interview with Jake Shimabukuro 2009
• 2006 Shimabukuro Interview from Modern Guitars Magazine
• 2006 Shimabukuro Interview on NPR
• 2006 Shimabukuro Interview from AsiaXpress.com
• [1] - Photos from live show
• Jake Shimabukuro featured at the Waikiki Shell, Hawaii Romance Festival, May 2008
• Jake Shimabukuro feature by the Pacific Citizen newspaper, Oct. 2009

Joshua Ryan "Jake" Owen (born August 28, 1981) is an American country music artist. Signed to RCA Records Nashville in 2005, he released his debut album Startin' with Me that year. The album produced three singles, all of which reached Top 20 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart: "Yee Haw", "Startin' with Me", and "Something About a Woman". A second album, 2009's Easy Does It, has accounted for three more singles: "Don't Think I Can't Love You", "Eight Second Ride", and "Tell Me". In September 2011, Owen achieved his first number one on the country charts with the title track to his third album, Barefoot Blue Jean Night. He has also toured as an opening act for several country acts, including Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Little Big Town, Sugarland, and Keith Urban.

Biography[link]

Joshua "Jake" Owen and his fraternal twin brother Jarrod were born in Vero Beach, Florida on August 28, 1981.^[3][4] The brothers regularly participated in a variety of sports. Jake eventually took up golf, and began pursuing a career as a professional golfer, winning his first tournament at fifteen.^[3] After graduating from Vero Beach High School, they attended Florida State University. A wakeboarding accident which resulted in reconstructive surgery left Jake unable to continue playing the sport.^[5]

While recovering from his injuries, he borrowed a neighbor's guitar and began to teach himself how to play it. After seeing a guitarist perform at a campus bar, he asked the bar's owner if he could play a gig there. Eventually, he became a regular at the bar, and soon took up writing his own material as well.^[3] He then moved to Nashville, Tennessee, making his first stop at a bank to open a savings account; after telling the bank teller that he was a singer and songwriter, the teller then asked if he had any recordings available.^[4] He gave her a CD of his work, which she sent to the Warner/Chappell Music publishing company.

Musical career[link]

Although Warner/Chappell did not sign him to a contract, Jake Owen eventually met record producer and songwriter Jimmy Ritchey. They, along with songwriter Chuck Jones, wrote a song entitled "Ghosts", which they had intended for Kenny Chesney. Chesney, ultimately, did not record "Ghosts", although it drew the attention of Sony BMG Nashville executives, who signed Josh to their RCA Records label in 2005.^[5] Per their suggestion, Owen changed his first name to Jake, so as to avoid confusion with Josh Turner and Josh Gracin.^[4]

[edit] Startin' with Me

In early 2006, Jake Owen released his debut single, entitled "Yee Haw". He describes the song (an up-tempo party anthem in which the narrator expresses his enjoyment with a cry of "yee haw") as being written "to make people have a good time."^[6] It peaked at #16 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and served as the lead-off single on his debut album, Startin' with Me.^[5]

Jake Owen

Released on July 25, 2006, the album featured 11 tracks, all co-written by him and his producer. Among them were his own recording of "Ghosts" and a duet with Randy Owen (no relation) of Alabama entitled "You Can Thank Dixie".^[7] After the album's release, Jake Owen was signed as an opening act for acts such as Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood.^[8]

The album's title track, a ballad in which the narrator expresses his desire to change everything in his life, was released as his second single. Spending more than thirty-five weeks on the Billboard country chart, "Startin' with Me" became his first Top ten hit, reaching a peak of #6.^[8] Also in 2007, he went on tour with Alan Jackson and Brooks & Dunn.^[8] "Something About a Woman" was released in late 2007 as the third single. In September 2007, he and country quartet Little Big Town joined country duo Sugarland's tour.^[9] During this tour, the three acts began performing "Life in a Northern Town" (a cover of British pop group The Dream Academy's hit single from 1985). A music video of their live performance was aired on CMT. In April 2008, a recording of this performance entered the Billboard country chart based on unsolicited airplay.

[edit] Easy Does It

Jake Owen released his second studio album, Easy Does It, on February 24, 2009. The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard Top Country Albums and #13 on the Billboard 200. The lead-off single to the album, "Don't Think I Can't Love You" became his first Top 5 country hit, reaching #2 on the Hot Country Songs chart in April 2009. "Eight Second Ride", a song which was originally on Startin' with Me and newly recorded for Easy Does It, was the album's second single; it peaked at #11 in January 2010. "Tell Me" was the album's third single.

[edit] Barefoot Blue Jean Night

He released his third studio album, Barefoot Blue Jean Night, on August 30, 2011. The lead-off single and title track to the album, "Barefoot Blue Jean Night" has become his first Number One single on the country chart. A second single, "Alone with You", was released in October 2011, and like its predecessor, it reached Number One on the country chart in March 2012.

In 2011, he joined Keith Urban on his 2011 Get Closer world tour.

Personal life[link]

Owen married model Lacey Buchanan on May 7, 2012 in Vero Beach, Florida.^[10] The couple had become engaged on April 7, 2012 after Owen proposed to Buchanan on stage in front of a hometown crowd in Vero Beach, Florida at his annual charity event.^[11] After proposing, he jokingly asked "You're probably wondering where your ring is, right?" referring to the fact that he proposed without a ring, and his single Don't Think I Can't Love You which he had performed prior to proposing.^[12] The couple have two cats, "Seka" and "Feltcher". Jake is also well known in model railroad circles, and has been an avid collector since childhood.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Singles[link]

Other charted songs[link]

Music videos[link]

Awards[link]

• 2009 ACM Top New Male Vocalist

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• Jake Owen on CMT
• Jake Owen on Myspace