Greetings, friends! Our next monthly meeting is fast approaching, on Thursday, May 9, 7:00β9:00pm. We’ll meet at our NEW HOME: St. John’s United Methodist Church, located at 2140 Allandale Rd, Austin, TX 78756. We hope you’ll join us as we kick off our next phase in a new location!
At St. John’s, parking is available on the Wynona Ave. and White Rock Dr. sides of the church. You can also park in the Lamar Middle School lots across White Rock Dr. from the church. Street parking is available all along Wynona Ave. The entrance is on the Wynona Ave. side of the church. Turn left in the lobby and take the stairs up to the Great Hall on the second floor; an elevator is available behind the stairs.
For the lovely month of May, we’ll pay tribute to native Texan Buddy Holly, who left an indelible mark on rock-n-roll. Though we lost Holly sixty-five years ago at the age of 22 in a plane crash, his legacy and influence are unending. Bob crafted a terrific medley of two of Holly’s biggest hits – “Everyday” and “Rave On” – and we’re sure you’ll enjoy strumming and singing these rock-n-roll classics with us.
To get familiar with the songs, you can listen to Buddy Holly’s 1957 original recording of “Everyday” (in the key of Eb) and his 1958 recording of “Rave On”Β (in the key of G). Bob has moved both songs in our arrangement to the key of D, to smoothly transition between the two.
Here are some details about Bob’s song sheet:
- Pages 1-3 have the chords and lyrics.
- Page 3 also has a description of the main strum pattern, with a simplified alternative.
- Page 4 has tab that can be played during the Intro and the Instrumental Verse that follows Bridge 1.
- Page 5 has details on the strum pattern used during the Bridge of “Rave On”.
As always, we encourage practicing the song using the song sheet, Buddy Holly’s recording of “Everyday” and his recording of “Rave On”, before the 9th, if possible. π
At the meeting, Bob will perform the “Everyday / Rave On” medley to demonstrate his arrangement, and then take us through some helpful exercises to get us comfortable with the chords and chord progressions, strum pattern, picking and vocal options, in each section of the songs, before we put it all together to play it through.
Our meeting format, as usual, will begin with introductions and some local ukulele news/events. We’ll also include some open mic time for those of you who’d like to showcase one tune you’ve been working on. A sign-up sheet will be available at 6:30. As open mic time is limited to four participants, please sign up when you arrive and understand that preference will be given to those who have not participated recently or ever before.
After the open mic portion of the eve, we’ll play through our new-to-us song again and record a performance video. We’ll share this video on our YouTube channel about a week after the meeting – so please subscribe if you haven’t yet, and you’ll be notified when the video is available!
Ukulele Society T-shirts!
We’re excited to launch our brand-new 2024 Austin Ukulele Society t-shirt, “Grackle Ukulele,” designed by Lyda Guz. Anyone who’s spent time in Austin is familiar with the enormous flocks of grackles that loudly congregate in trees and parking lots around town, and we pay tribute to these noble creatures with this year’s shirt design.
T-shirts are available for purchase before and after our in-person meeting, and we know you’ll love adding our terrific, new, iconic Austin Ukulele Society shirt to your wardrobe!
We’ll have t-shirts available for purchase before and after our meeting. They are silk screened here in Austin at a fantastic locally-owned print shop and are available for purchase at our meetings for $25. We also have vinyl decals with the AUS logo for $1 each. Please bring cash or a check made out to Austin Ukulele Society; you can also pay via our Square shop.
Location
Our meetings take place at St. John’s United Methodist Church, located at 2140 Allandale Rd, Austin, TX 78756. We meet in the Great Hall on the second floor. Map it!
Parking is available on the Wynona Ave. and White Rock Dr. sides of the church. You can also park in the Lamar Middle School lots across White Rock Dr. from the church. Street parking is available all along Wynona Ave.
For anyone who might be attending for the first time, the entrance to St. John’s is on the Wynona Ave. side of the church. Turn left in the lobby and take the stairs up to the Great Hall on the second floor; an elevator is available behind the stairs. From there simply follow the sounds of ukuleles tuning up. π
Newcomers and beginners are ALWAYS welcome! Even if you’re a complete novice, we encourage you to come out. Many beginners come to the meetings, and it’s so great to see their skills grow over time! There are almost always easier ways to play the songs, even if you can play only a few of the chords. Or just sing along!
For the monthly meetings, our friend Lori brings loaner ukuleles, donated by the TUG (Tuesday Ukulele Group)! They are Makala concert and soprano ukes, and you can borrow one to play during the meeting. You’ll find them at the front of the room; so if you don’t have a uke yet, or you forget your uke at home, or your uke is in disrepair, please join us and borrow a TUG loaner uke. π
Feel free to get familiar with the chord charts for any of the songs in our repertoire, all available on the “Music Library” page. We always play “Three Little Birds” and “On the Road Again” as our opening and closing songs, so if you’re new to the group and want to get familiar with them, you can play along using the presentations and our videos.
Stay tuned and keep strumming! We’re looking forward to seeing everyone on Thursday, May 9, at 7:00pm!
Contact Us if you have any questions, need more information, or would like to be added to our mailing list.