Molly Lewis (also known as Sweetafton23) is an American musician who is known for her

ukulele The ukulele ( ; ); also called a uke (informally), is a member of the lute (ancient guitar) family of instruments. The ukulele is of Portuguese origin and was popularized in Hawaii. The tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and con ...

playing and who rose to prominence on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

. She plays both covers and original songs. Her original music consists of comedic songs that deal with relevant pop culture topics. She is currently signed with

DFTBA Records DFTBA Records, commonly known as DFTBA.com, is an e-commerce merchandise company that was co-founded by Hank Green and Alan Lastufka in 2008. Originally a record label, the company focuses on selling merchandise for prominent YouTube content cre ...

through which she released her first EP ''I Made You A CD... But I Eated It''.

History

Lewis attracted attention by recording ukulele covers of popular songs such as

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

' "

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" and

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...

's " Poker Face", then posting videos of her performances on YouTube. She also recorded videos with other Internet-based musicians, such as 'WadeJohnston', 'thedoifter', and 'doctornoise'. For

Mother's Day Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in Mar ...

in 2009, Molly recorded a cover of " Two of Us" by

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

as a duet with her mother. Her version of

Jonathan Coulton Jonathan William Coulton (born December 1, 1970), often called "JoCo" by fans, is an American folk/comedy singer-songwriter, known for his songs about geek culture and his use of the Internet to draw fans. Among his most popular songs are "Cod ...

's "Tom Cruise Crazy" was featured on Episode 226 of the UkeCast. Her song "It All Makes Sense At The End" appeared on the creator album from the first

VidCon VidCon is an annual convention for influencers, fans, executives, and online brands. The event primarily features prominent video stars from across the internet. It was founded by veteran YouTube creators John and Hank Green ( Vlogbrothers), a ...

conference in 2010. She uploads YouTube videos under the name of SweetAfton23, an allusion to a Scottish poet

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...

' lyrical poem ''

Sweet Afton "Sweet Afton" is a lyrical poem describing the Afton Water in Ayrshire, Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, ...

''. She was inspired by a rendition of Jonathan E. Spilman's 1837 musical accompaniment to the poem, as played by

Chris Thile Christopher Scott Thile (; born February 20, 1981) is an American mandolinist, singer, songwriter, composer, and radio personality, best known for his work in the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek and the acoustic folk and progressive blue ...

with

Nickel Creek Nickel Creek (formerly known as the Nickel Creek Band) is an American bluegrass music, bluegrass band consisting of Chris Thile (mandolin), and siblings Sara Watkins (fiddle) and Sean Watkins (guitar). Formed in 1989 in Southern California, the ...

. The 23 refers to her birthday, November 23.

Public appearances

She was a regular performer at

w00tstock w00tstock was a touring variety show billed as "3 Hours of Geeks & Music". It was created in 2009 by Wil Wheaton, Adam Savage and Paul and Storm. The first shows took place in 2009 in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and continued until 2016, a ...

, a traveling variety show that began in 2006, alongside

Paul and Storm Paul and Storm are an American, Arlington, Virginia-based comedic musical duo, consisting of Paul Sabourin and Greg "Storm" DiCostanzo. They are best known for their humorous songs about geek culture and for amassing an internet fan base. They ...

Adam Savage Adam Whitney Savage (born July 15, 1967) is an American special effects designer and manufacturer, fabricator, actor, educator, television personality, and producer, best known as the former co-host, with Jamie Hyneman, of the Discovery Channe ...

, and

Wil Wheaton Richard William "Wil" Wheaton III (born July 29, 1972) is an American actor and writer. He portrayed Wesley Crusher on the television series ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'', Gordie Lachance in the film ''Stand by Me (film), Stand by Me'', ...

. She has also performed with the Presidents of the United States of America. During live performances, she occasionally forgets to bring key instruments, like the

kazoo The kazoo is a musical instrument that adds a ''buzzing'' timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. It is a type of '' mirliton'' (itself a membranophone), one of a class of instruments that modify the player's v ...

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 Laurence T (born Laurence Tureaud; May 21, 1952), known professionally as Mr. T, is an American actor and retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is known for his roles as B. A. Baracus in the 1980s television series ''The A ...

. Lewis has appeared on NBC's Los Angeles' show ''Music LA''. She recorded the theme music for Episode 2 of Season 3 of ''

The Legend of Neil ''The Legend of Neil'' is a comedy web series distributed by Comedy Central's partner Atom.com and is a parody of the Nintendo game ''The Legend of Zelda''. Sandeep Parikh of '' The Guild'' fame directs the series. Tony Janning writes for the ...

''. She performed at

's first JoCo Cruise in 2011 with

John Hodgman John Kellogg Hodgman (born June 3, 1971) is an American author, actor, and humorist. In addition to his published written works, such as his satirical trilogy '' The Areas of My Expertise'', '' More Information Than You Require'', and '' That Is ...

, Paul and Storm,

Bill Corbett William Daniel Corbett (born March 30, 1960) is an American writer and performer for television, film and theatre. He was a writer and performer on the cult television show ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''MST3K''), for which he voiced Crow ...

and Kevin Murphy from ''

Mystery Science Theater 3000 ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (abbreviated as ''MST3K'') is an American science fiction comedy television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on WUCW, KTMA-TV (now WUCW) in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on November 24, 1988. It then ...

'' and RiffTrax, and Mike Phirman, and remained a regular performer at the event for many years. On February 22, 2011, Lewis performed her song, "An Open Letter to Stephen Fry", to

Stephen Fry Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...

himself at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, during an event marking the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard giving its Lifetime Achievement Award to Fry. 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 The Doubleclicks are a nerd-folk musical duo based in Portland, Oregon and Los Angeles, California, consisting of siblings Laser Webber (formerly Angela Webber and Laser Malena-Webber) and Aubrey Turner (formerly Aubrey Webber). They first bec ...

, performing 19 concerts in the Northeast and Midwestern United States. 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. In 2014, Lewis co-wrote a musical with screenwriter

Josh A. Cagan Josh A. Cagan is an actor and writer, best known as being a writer for the short lived animated series ''Undergrads''. Filmography As actor *''Undergrads'' (2001, as Rob Brody (8 episodes), Nerd 1, Nerd 2, Bobby Whiskey) *''ScriptGirl Report: Hig ...

titled ''Thanksgiving vs. Christmas'', which was staged live on November 19, 2014, at The Triple Door concert venue in Seattle. The show mimics classic holiday television specials, and features appearances by Joseph Scrimshaw,

, and others, with Kevin Murphy of

and RiffTrax as Santa Claus. It was recorded and released on CD in 2015. Starting in 2019, Lewis hosted "The Panalysts", a YouTube web series produced by

LoadingReadyRun LoadingReadyRun, often abbreviated to LRR, is a Canadian entertainment group that produces video and audio comedy. It often covers video games, internet trends, and popular culture. Founded in October 2003 by Graham Stark and Paul Saunders an ...

Awards and achievements

Her cover of Coulton's "Tom Cruise Crazy" earned Ukulele Hunt's "Ukulele Video of the Year" for 2007. That video brought her to the attention of Coulton, which led to her opening for him on several occasions. She won the third edition of

Quick Stop Entertainment Fred Entertainment (formerly Movie Poop Shoot and later Quick Stop Entertainment) is a pop-culture website. The site was founded as Movie Poop Shoot by director Kevin Smith to promote the 2001 movie '' Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back''. The site se ...

's Masters of Song Fu competition in 2009, defeating 16 other artists, including

Hank Green William Henry Green II (born May 5, 1980) is an American YouTuber, science communicator, novelist, Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian, and entrepreneur. He produces the YouTube channel Vlogbrothers with his older brother, author John Green, a ...

and

Discography

* ''I Made You a CD, But I Eated It'' (2009) * ''The Same Old Songs, But Live!'' (2013) * ''Thanksgiving Versus Christmas'' (2015) * ''Like & Subscribe'' (2019) *''Live at Alaska Folk Fest 48'' (2023)

References

External links

Official WebsiteMolly's YouTube Channel

Molly on Show X

''Thanksgiving Versus Christmas''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Molly 1989 births 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American women singers American women singer-songwriters American Internet celebrities American multi-instrumentalists American ukulele players DFTBA Records creators Living people Musicians from Orange County, California Place of birth missing (living people) Singer-songwriters from California American video bloggers American women video bloggers