Everyone seemed to enjoy our April meeting–we had a crowd of nearly 40 people (one of the biggest groups we’ve had yet). As always, there were several new people, which is always great to see. The big hit of the evening was our new song–“Secret Agent Man.” (Some in the group thought that Bob had called it “Secret Asian Man”; um, no.) Although about 45 years old, this song sounds cool as ever, and seemed beloved even by those who weren’t born yet when it hit the charts. Great with us.

Otherwise, we sneaked into the meeting some of the rehearsal that a group of us who are performing at the Austin Family Music Fest at Pioneer Farm on Saturday, April 21, need to memorize. But they were a bunch of our usual songs–“On the Road Again,” “Eight Days a Week,” “Flamin’ Ukulele in the Sky,” etc., etc. We hope you’ll come see us!

We are going to be selling AUS T-shirts at our next meeting, by the way, as a fund-raiser for the group. Watch for the logo soon, so you can see what you’ll be getting, and they’ll cost $20 each. Watch this space.

We also had a great bunch of solo numbers this time by the Cherrywood Road duo, singing an original song, a mermaid song from Jeanette, another mermaid song from Jack, and songs by Ian (“Imagine”) and Tim (“Chattanooga Choo Choo”). A fine time was had by all. Be sure to be with us at our next meeting, at a Place Not Yet Determined, on Thursday, May 10, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. See you then!

A group of us gathered last Wednesday evening to rehearse for the Family Music Fest on Saturday, April 21. We recorded a version of “You are my Sunshine,” which will be part of a CD given to each family that attends the Fest. But our AUS blog folks can hear it now at:

http://www.box.com/s/7d6d2ea4fe9bdc8ddbe2

That’s Bob singing the solo vocal, by the way. And many thanks to Bill Jones for handling the recording. Leave a comment–what did you think?

Yes, here it is–that baby boomer’s delight, “Secret Agent Man.” Just start strumming and you’re on a great trip back to the mid-sixties. We’ll be singing this one (yeah, just one new song this time) at the April meeting, which is at our usual gathering spot, the Central Market North Community Room. See you there between 7 & 8:30 p.m., on Thursday, April 12!

And here it is, performed by the man who made it a hit–Johnny Rivers:

Wow!

We have about 20 AUS folks interested in participating in the family festival. Thanks! Preparations for the performance are well under way, so we’re not looking for additional participants. We appreciate all the interest.

If you’re on our mailing list, you may have gotten an email from Jen about participating in the Austin Ukulele Society’s performance at the 6th annual Austin Family Music Festival, at Pioneer Farms in North Austin, on Saturday, April 21st, 2012, hosted by the Biscuit Brothers (if you have kids or work in education you will have heard of them). Warning: it will involve rehearsals.

But if you did not hear about it, and you’re interested in participating, please email austinukes@gmail.com and let us know you’d like to be in!

Bob sez: Hi all,

We had a big turnout for the Beatles Complete on Ukulele event last Thursday and we sounded fantastic! I’ve tried to gather together various pics and videos on the event — if you know of others let me know and I’ll share ’em.

My pal photographer Dave Gottlieb took photos, a selection of which I’ve posted here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/Bob.Guz.BG/AustinUkuleleSocietyAtSXSW2012#

Our own Kendra Korshak posted a video of us strolling down Congress Ave. playing All Together Now:

Here’s another vid of the uke procession:

The whole group jammin’ on Eight Days a Week — we sound awesome:

Bill Jones and Kathy Murray (aka Cherrywood Road) playing later that day:

Finally, Kelly West of the Austin American-Statesman posted the following to Austin 360, featuring a mini-interview of Jen Brown:
http://bcove.me/9hwxlr0y

Thanks to everyone for making this such a fantastic time. I can’t wait until next year!

Bob G.

We have a few additional photos of our Beatles Complete Experience at the Hickory Street Grill. The first picture is of our entire group on the outdoor stage. The second is of the group posed on the corner of 8th and Congress, and the third is the group being led up Congress by Roger Greenawalt to the corner of 9th and Congress playing “All Together Now,” after which we turned around, still singing, and came back. It was silliness, but it was the best kind of silliness.

See you at our next meeting on Thursday, April 12, at Central Market North’s Community Room, as usual, at 7 p.m. As soon as we have the next group of songs ready, never fear, we’ll post ’em here.

Here we are at the Hickory Street Grill today, performing “Eight Days a Week”:

We think that about 40 of our members showed up–although we’re a loose enough organization that it was kind of hard to tell.

Bob sez: “We had a fantastic (mostly) Beatles-themed meeting last Thursday night with nearly standing room only attendance. We did some preparatory practicing for the SXSW Beatles Complete on Ukulele program, set for this Thursday, March 15th, at the Hickory Street Grill (downtown, 8th and Congress).

“A very warm welcome to the first-timers who joined us — we hope to see you again soon! Many thanks to those who played a solo number — every month I’m blown away by the incredible level of talent we’re honored to have in our group!

“For those who plan to participate in the SXSW Beatles Complete on Ukulele event on Thursday, March 15: Please arrive no later than 11:45 at N. 800 Congress Ave. Upon arrival check in with the stage manager. I’m going to try to be there early, so if you look for me, I’ll point you in the right direction. I’m told food and drink will be provided for all performers. Get tuned up and be ready to go on stage at about noon. We should be on stage about 15 minutes. Then feel free to stay and watch more of the fun if you have time. Our friendly host is the fabulous Roger Greenawalt. (He’ll be onstage for the entire event 6-hour event, accompanying everyone on his uke. There will also be a crack backing band from NYC featuring drums, lead guitar, bass, and rhythm guitar.)

“Mark your calendars: our next monthly Ukulele Society meeting will be held on Thursday, April 12, 7:00 – 8:30pm, at Central Market North, our usual strumming spot.

“For those who can’t wait for another group sing-along and open mic opportunity, come to Sweetpea’s Ukulele Night at Skinny’s Ballroom, Thursday, March 29, 7:00 – 9:00pm. Skinny’s is located at 115 San Jacinto, http://skinnysballroom.com/calendar/. There’s free parking in the garage across the street and a $4.00 drink ticket if you bring a uke — what could be better?”