He was sitting on a couple of beer cases, he said in an interview with the Boston Globe, in a small variety store in Hawaii when he spotted a lonely ukulele sitting amid the clutter. He picked it up, began strumming, and had written half a song by the time his friend returned.

The relationship between man and instrument would only get stronger over the years. Vedder says the instrument has “always been there for [him],” and feels just as devoted to it. On some trips he would leave his guitars at home, he admitted, and just bring the small strummer along.

But the 46-year-old musician will be bringing his old guitars along when he takes Ukulele Songs to the road. The 16-city tour kicks off in Providence, Rhode Island on June 15th, and will include stops in Boston, Hartford, New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis, San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Portland, and Washington. The Boston show is already sold out.

Glen Hansard, the Oscar-winning frontman of the Irish group the Frames, serves as Vedder’s opening act and joins him in a duet for “Sleepless Nights.” Hansard also had a hand in the making of the album, playing accompanying guitar in some of the tracks.

Folk rock singer Chan Marshall (better known by her stage name Cat Power) also joins the ensemble with “Tonight, You Belong To Me,” which she performs with Vedder. It’s her part of the “two-for-one” pact she made with Vedder, who did vocals on two tracks for her 2003 album.

Vedder says he resisted the urge to tap into the instrument’s chipper sound, choosing instead the themes of longing and confusion, which proved to be a challenge. A large part of the album features the ukulele in mournful, emotionally charged strains, showing listeners just how powerful a small instrument can be in the right hands.

Ukulele Songs will include 16 tracks, a combination of original songs and covers and a reworked track from Pearl Jam’s collection. The lead single, “Longing to Belong,” is an original. The album will be released along with a live solo DVD titled Water on the Road.

The show is the brainchild of Ellen Snyder-Grenier, a museum curator and consultant. It traces the story of pop and rock music in New Jersey, from the 1940s to the 2000s. Materials were borrowed from over 50 fans, artists, and collectors from all over the state.

But although you’ll find the usual signed memorabilia and album covers, Jersey Rocks offers a lot more. The show boasts over 300 artifacts, including a drum head once used by Carteret rock band The Smithereens and a guitar signed by Jon Bon Jovi, who hails from Perth Amboy. There are the requisite magazine covers, including three (Time, Newsweek, and Crawdaddy) from October 1975 where Bruce Springsteen, who was born in Freehold Township, graced the covers in the same week.

Bon Jovi and Springsteen share the spotlight with The Four Seasons, Southside Johnny, The Shirelles, Gloria Gaynor, Deborah Harry, The Misfits, The Rascals, Queen Latifah, and The 1910 Fruit Gum Company, all of whom hail from different parts of the state.

Morris Museum executive director Linda Moore says it’s the first show of its kind: broad in scope, but just as focused on the New Jersey music scene and how it has contributed to rock-and-roll.

For instance, it puts as much emphasis on things and places as well as people: it takes you to New Brunswick amd Asbury Park, Hoboken and Wildwood, places close to every music lover’s heart. Guitar makers, including Ampeg, Guild, and the late Les Paul, are also celebrated.

The club scene, home to many big moments in local music, is also part of the story. It includes still-present and still-relevant joints like Maxwell’s and Stone Pony, and others where big names once walked—Bob Dylan and The Band first met in Tony Mart’s, and Springsteen had some of his early gigs at the Upstage Club.

New Jersey doesn’t hold claim to the invention of rock and roll—its musical evolution followed the rest of the country in the 50s and 60s—but it was central to the rise of rock music, thanks mostly to its location right between Philadelphia and New York. Its black population, which grew prominently after World War II, is also an important factor—it got white kids listening to African American music early on, and vice versa.

The show kicked off on May 5 and will run until September 14. Admission is $10 for regular visitors and $7 for students and seniors.

Marr’s interest in music runs deep—she started playing the organ her father had bought her at age 5, which came with a two-year admission to a music class. From there, she picked up classical piano, although it was singing that cemented her love of music: she began singing to her pony after her dad told her it was the only way to make it walk.

Her music took a backseat after her father’s death, but she kept up by leafing through pop songbooks. She found refuge in writing—she had been writing in a journal throughout her music lessons—and went off to the University of Miami to study English and Spanish. Later, she moved to Spain and completed her degree at the University of Granada.

She took the FSO job at the Department of State as soon as she got back home, but lasted only two years. A friend from the publishing industry had heard some of her songs, and urged her to change careers.

It wasn’t an easy change—from her cushy government job with a six-figure salary, she found herself working by the hour for a record label and doing occasional gigs in bars. But it was during this stint that she met songwriter Desmond Child (“The Song Doctor”), who had written Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” and Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca,” among other hits.

Child offered Marr’s band, Big, a record deal with Universal Records. Although the band didn’t end up making any records, it opened other doors for Marr. She signed a publishing deal with Ellen Moraskie, formerly a vice-president at Miami-based company Warner-Chappell. She set to work immediately on projects with singer Alejandra Guzman, including the Latin Grammy award-winning album Soy.

Other projects soon followed—she wrote songs for British pop singer Mika, including the chart-topper “Grace Kelly,” collaborated with John Merchant and Red One (Lady Gaga’s producer) on the theme song for the 2010 film Kick-Ass, and has done over 50 songs with producer George Noriega for the likes of Gloria Estefan, Jennifer Lopez, and Shakira.

Her Spanish training has definitely helped her; Marr is one of the fastest-growing names in Latin pop music. She speaks fluent Cuban Spanish as well as Portuguese, French, and Italian.

The emergence of rock music can be traced to the early 1940s where there was the combination of the increased popularity of the electric guitar and prominent musicians such as Chuck Berry who were in a position to push the boundaries.  The conservative nature of that time was gradually being pushed aside and emerging individuals and rock acts such as the Rolling Stones began to develop the style of rock music.

The early 1970s saw rock music become the most dominant form of popular music and also saw the emergence of many new bands that both developed the rock music sound as well as moved this music into new and uncharted territory.  Heavy metal was one of these areas that rock music had developed into thanks mainly to bands such as Led Zeppelin.  At the same time as the birth of heavy metal, the more complex sounds of psychedelic rock was also flourishing on the back of bands such as Pink Floyd.

By the end of the 1970s bands such as the Sex Pistols and the Clash changed the direction of rock music back to the sound of loud guitars, heavy beat and an attitude to match.  This was popular for a while but began to grow stale in the 1980s.  At this time college rock and alternative rock were to move into dominance on the back of bands such as R.E.M which were played throughout college radio stations.  Other bands and artists that were played were called indie rock due to the increasing popularity of small independently owned labels.

The early 1990s saw the rise of alternative rock take a dominant position in the mainstream music stakes.  This was achieved on the back of the popularity of Nirvana and alternative bands such as Sound garden.  Throughout the 1990s to now rock music has continued to grow and change as it is influenced by bands such as Limp Bizkit, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Foo Fighters and Linkin Park.