Molly Lewis

This article is about an American Internet musician. For the Australian basketball player, see Molly Lewis (basketball).
Molly Lewis
Background information
Also known as Sweetafton23
Born (1989-11-23) November 23, 1989[1]
Origin Orange County, California,[2] United States
Genres Acoustic
Instruments Ukulele (concert and baritone), kazoo, accordion, stylophone, melodica, piano
Years active 2008-present
Labels DFTBA Records
Associated acts Jonathan Coulton
Paul and Storm
The Doubleclicks
Website sweetafton23.com

Molly Lewis (aka Sweetafton23) is an American musician who is known for her ukulele playing and who rose to prominence on the Internet. She plays both covers and original songs. Her original music consists of comedic songs that deal with relevant pop culture topics.[3] She is currently signed with DFTBA Records through which she released her first EP I Made You A CD... But I Eated It.[4]

History

Lewis attracted attention by recording ukulele covers of popular songs such as Britney Spears' "Toxic"[4] and Lady Gaga's "Poker Face", then posting videos of her performances on YouTube.[5] She also recorded videos with other Internet-based musicians, such as 'WadeJohnston',[6] 'thedoifter',[7] and 'doctornoise'.[8] For Mother's Day in 2009, Molly recorded a cover of "Two of Us" by The Beatles as a duet with her mother.[9]

She uploads YouTube videos under the name of SweetAfton23,[10] an allusion to a Scottish poet Robert Burns' lyrical poem Sweet Afton. She was inspired by a rendition of Jonathan E. Spilman's 1837 musical accompaniment to the poem, as played by Chris Thile with Nickel Creek. The 23 refers to her birthday, November 23.[11] Her version of Tom Cruise Crazy was featured on Episode 226 of the UkeCast.[12]

Public appearances

She is a regular performer at w00tstock[13] alongside Paul and Storm, Adam Savage and Wil Wheaton. She has performed with the Presidents of the United States of America.[3] During live performances, she occasionally forgets to bring key instruments, like the kazoo from "I Pity the Fool", and substitutes other things from her pocket, notably a rape whistle. In an animated music video of "I Pity the Fool", the kazoo solo is shown being played by a cartoon version of Mr. T.[14]

Lewis has appeared on NBC's Los Angeles' show Music LA.[4] She recorded the theme music for Episode 2 of Season 3 of The Legend of Neil.[15] She participated in Jonathan Coulton's January 2011 JoCo Cruise Crazy[16] with John Hodgman, Wil Wheaton, Paul and Storm, Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy from Mystery Science Theater 3000 and RiffTrax, and Mike Phirman.

On February 22, 2011, Lewis performed her song, "An Open Letter to Stephen Fry", to Stephen Fry himself at Harvard University, during an event marking the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard giving its Lifetime Achievement Award to Fry.[17][18][19]

In fall of 2012, Lewis toured as a solo act for the first time (outside of w00tstock shows) as part of the "Ladies of Ragnarok" tour with the Doubleclicks, performing 19 concerts in the Northeast and Midwestern United States.[20] In January 2013, Lewis toured the West Coast for the first time, also with the Doubleclicks, performing nine shows in California, Oregon and Washington. Both tours were sponsored by fans who could buy postcards or t-shirts to help the musicians cover costs.[21]

Trivia

Her song "It All Makes Sense at the End" is an allusion to the fact that her Wikipedia article was deleted in 2009 for not being notable enough.

Awards and achievements

Her cover of Coulton's "Tom Cruise Crazy" earned Ukulele Hunt's 2007 "Ukulele Video of the Year" for 2007.[22] That video brought her to the attention of Coulton,[23][24] who has since invited her to perform with him and with Paul and Storm.[25][26]

She won the third edition of Quick Stop Entertainment's Masters of Song Fu competition,[27] defeated 16 other artists, including Hank Green and Paul and Storm.[28]

Discography

References

  1. ↑ Lewis, Molly (2009-11-23). "twenty trips around the sun". The Artist Formerly Known as sweetafton23. Retrieved 2011-02-25.
  2. ↑ Bascaramurty, Dakshana (2010-07-02). "Meet Your Vloggers". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2011-08-21.
  3. 1 2 Grandy, Eric (2010-02-09). "Up & Coming". The Stranger. Retrieved 2011-02-25.
  4. 1 2 3 Zouves, Natasha (2010-07-16). "An Unlikely Ukulele Sex Symbol". KNBC. Retrieved 2011-02-25.
  5. ↑ McGinnes, Jeff (2010-10-12). "Musician Molly Lewis makes waves on the Internet". Toledo Free Press. Retrieved 2011-02-25.
  6. ↑ "Christmas #6 - Hey Guys! It's Christmas Time! - sweetafton23". YouTube. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
  7. ↑ "Two Girls, One Uke". YouTube. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
  8. ↑ ""Bone" You (Garfunkel & Oates cover) feat. Doctor Noise". YouTube. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
  9. ↑ "Two Of Us (Beatles cover) - Mother's Day special". YouTube. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
  10. ↑ "Канал користувача sweetafton23". YouTube. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
  11. ↑ Molly (2008-09-27). "Questions & Answers: 1st edition | The Artist Formerly Known as sweetafton23". Sweetafton23.com. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
  12. ↑ UkeCast 226, November 8, 2007 Podcast available UkeCast 226
  13. ↑ "A Night of Geek and Music". w00tstock. 2011-03-01. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
  14. ↑ "I Pity the Fool". Retrieved 2011-04-11.
  15. ↑ "Legend of Neil, Season 3, Ep. 2: The Gloffice | Funny Videos". Atom.com. 2010-08-10. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
  16. ↑ "JoCo Cruise Crazy". JoCo Cruise Crazy. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
  17. ↑ Kenyon, Samuel (2011-02-22). "I Will Not Be Told: Stephen Fry's Speech At Harvard". Science 2.0. Retrieved 2011-02-25.
  18. ↑ Valen, Frédéric (2011-02-25). "Molly und ihre Ukulele". die Tageszeitung. Retrieved 2011-02-25.
  19. ↑ Goodman, William (March 9, 2011). "Molly Lewis serenades Stephen Fry on ukulele at Harvard: "Let me have your baby"". CBS News. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
  20. ↑ "Ladies of Ragnarok Tour". Retrieved 2013-04-12.
  21. ↑ "New Year, west coast, POSTCARDS?". Retrieved 2013-04-12.
  22. ↑ Wood, Al (2008-01-19). "Ukulele Video of the Year 2007: Sweetafton23 - Tom Cruise Crazy". Ukulele Hunt. Retrieved 2011-02-25.
  23. ↑ Coulton, Jonathan (2007-11-05). "More Uke Love". jonathancoulton.com. Retrieved 2011-03-01.
  24. ↑ Bascaramurty, Dakshana (2010-07-02). "Meet your vloggers". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2011-03-09.
  25. ↑ Coulton, Jonathan (2008-04-29). "Thank You Portland and Seattle". jonathancoulton.com. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
  26. ↑ "Blog Archive " SEA–>PDX". Jonathan Coulton. 2009-01-24. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
  27. ↑ "Masters Of Song Fu #3: The Winner Announced! " FRED Entertainment". Asitecalledfred.com. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
  28. ↑ "Masters Of Song Fu #3: Round 1 Challengers and Challenge Revealed " FRED Entertainment". Asitecalledfred.com. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
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