Sho Humphries

Sho Humphries is a singer-songwriter who combines energetic, powerful ukulele playing with uplifting songwriting, delivered with an emotion-filled voice. Writing from their frustrations growing up in a world devoid of hope, Humphries performs with a stubborn refusal to give in to pessimism. Now a student at the Berklee College of Music, Humphries is performing around the US and in Japan, and teaching workshops, while working on their second album. 

Humphries first started playing the ukulele at age 9, after seeing a YouTube video of Jake Shimabukuro playing “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” Playing in cafes and bars around their hometown Austin, Texas, they took inspiration from the independent musicians of the area, often opening for Japanese action-comic-punk band Peelander-Z. In watching the band perform in their unique, no-holds-barred style, Humphries learned to bring everything to the stage, eventually becoming more comfortable on the stage than off. In 2017, inspired by a co-MVP win of the International Ukulele Contest in Hawaii, they recorded a debut album of original ukulele compositions, Making Summer Memories.

Going into the pandemic, Humphries stumbled across the YouTube rabbit hole of instrumentalists like Ichika Nito and the band Polyphia, and combined with their expanding taste in music, a new vision for their artistry began. They began producing music on the computer, releasing “Love You!” featuring Evan Kolvoord and “Digital Summer,” a collaborative single with Italian pianist Cere, in 2020. In 2021, they took the plunge and became a full-fledged singer-songwriter by writing and releasing their first song with lyrics, “Dream Again,” shortly before accepting a scholarship as an ukulele principal to study at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Now, combining newly acquired skills in singing, producing, songwriting, and performance, Humphries is back in the studio recording their second full-length album, set to release in 2025.