October 12, 2017: Psycho Killer!

For the fourth consecutive October meeting, members of the Austin Ukulele Society got together to learn to strum and sing an eerie song that fits well into any Halloween repertoire. Fans and members have been requesting that we do Talking Heads’ 1977 hit “Psycho Killer” for a long time, and we really enjoyed doing so last Thursday. Our meeting began with some local ukulele news and show announcements, as well as a big thank you to Pastor Cynthia of the Memorial United Methodist Church for so generously sharing her church’s space with us. We then warmed up our fingers and voices with Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds.” We thanked those who wore Halloween-themed shirts and costumes, and we dove right into practicing Psycho Killer’s chord progressions and strum patterns that Bob prepared for us. By the time we put the song together and played it through a few times, we were sounding great. Check out our performance below. We closed out our meeting with “On the Road Again.”

To play along with us, you can download the lyrics and chords for “Psycho Killer” or download a copy of the presentation and instruction guide (what we project on the screen for all to follow along, including exercises and drills).

During the Open Mic Night portion of the evening, we were treated to an awesome and thrilling variety of songs – from blues with Daryl, to punk rock with Helen, to an instrumental by Roger, and jazz by Bob – along with a fantastic camping gross-out song performed by Walter. We were once again amazed by the wonderful talent shared by our members.