We had a wonderful, well attended February meeting; we’re grateful to our ukulele friends for always helping us feel the love during Valentine’s week. ❤
The evening kicked off with introductions and local ukulele news, including the upcoming Kevin Carroll “Intro to Blues” ukulele workshop we’re hosting on February 27. See more information below and please email us at austinukes@gmail.com for more info and to reserve your spot.
Since our meeting always occurs near (and occasionally on!) Valentine’s Day, we always choose a love song for our new-to-us song. Over the years, we’ve covered many great love/romance songs from a variety of genres and time periods including themes of heartbreak, romantic love, and love/compassion for all. This year, we picked a hugely popular 1983 duet by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers: “Islands in the Stream.”
Bob took us through helpful exercises to learn the chords, chord progressions and picking options. We enjoyed getting comfortable with each section of the song and sounded great when we put it all together.
After playing it through a couple of times, we took a break and enjoyed the talents of Walter M., Walter L., and one of our favorite couples, Aaron and Sana. We always appreciate hearing the great arrangements you’ve been working on!
We then got back to work on “Islands in the Stream” and we were sounding so good, we wanted to share our performance with you in a recording (coming soon to our YouTube Channel). Please enjoy playing along with us from home, and we hope you had a lovely Valentine’s Day.
To play along, you can download the lyrics, chords, and tab for Bob’s arrangement of “Islands in the Stream” 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).
As always, we’re immensely grateful to Aaron for his accompaniment on U-bass and to Jen, Lyda and all the fabulous AUS volunteers, for all their hard work.
“Intro to Blues Ukulele” with Kevin Carroll
The Austin Ukulele Society is pleased to present Kevin Carroll on Thursday, February 27, for a workshop and more. The workshop – “Intro to Blues Ukulele” – will run for about 75 minutes. Afterward, Kevin will have a short Q & A session, followed by a brief intermission and a mini-concert.
Here’s a brief video in which Kevin shares a little about what you can expect:
Where: St. John’s UMC, in the Great Hall (2140 Allandale Rd, Austin, TX 78756)
When: Thursday, February 27th; 7:00pm – 9:00pm (Workshop 7:00 – 8:15pm, Concert 8:35 – 8:55pm). Doors at 6:30pm.
Cost: $20.00 (includes workshop and concert).
Space is limited, so please email us at austinukes@gmail.com for more info and to reserve your spot.
We’ll see you at our next in-person meeting on Thursday, March 13, at St. John’s United Methodist Church.
Be well and see you soon! 🙂
For more downloadable music, visit our Ukulele Music Library. For more Austin Ukulele Society videos, check out our YouTube Channel.
We appreciate your support and interest. If you’d like to make a donation to the Austin Ukulele Society (a 501(c)(3) organization), visit our Square Donation site. If you would like to be added to our mailing list, please fill out our this short sign-up form. For any other inquiries, please contact us or shoot us an email if you have previous correspondence with us.
Ukulele Society T-shirts!
We’re very excited about our 2025 Austin Ukulele Society t-shirt, “Circle of Stars,” designed by Lyda Guz! Each of the 15 stars stands for an action-packed year we’ve been making music together. As always, the shirts are silk-screened right here in Austin at a fantastic locally-owned print shop.
Our new “Circle of Stars” design, “AUS Grackle,” “Classic Ukulele,” “Ukulele Around the World,” “10th Anniversary,” Mermaid, Cowboy,” “Austin Lasso” and other shirts are $25. We also have vinyl decals with the AUS logo for $1 each. We can accept cash or a check made out to Austin Ukulele Society; you can also make payment via Venmo or PayPal. Please drop us a line if you’d like to purchase a shirt (or two or three). 🙂 At this time, we can only ship orders within the U.S.
Austin Ukulele Society (AUS) 