Author Archives: Austin Ukulele Society

A Great August Meeting!

Wow, what a crowd at our great August meeting at Central Market. We’re wondering whether we should have more meetings on Thursdays. (What do you think? Leave us a comment if you have an opinion on the subject.)

Anyway, here’s Bob’s report, which you may have received already by email:

Thanks to everyone who came to our August meeting Tuesday night. By Jen’s quick headcount, 35 players were strumming away – our biggest turnout since we started meeting back in January! A very warm welcome to the many first-timers who joined us — we hope to see you again soon!

Special kudos to everyone who played a solo for the group. Every song was a gem.

A reminder that you can find downloadable PDF versions of all our song sheets on our blog, http://austinukulelesociety.wordpress.com/. Click on the “Ukulele Music Library” link. We mail out copies of any new songs we’re going to play, but you can always check the Library for the complete set.

Reserve the date on your calendar and spread the word: our next monthly meeting will be Tuesday, September 13th, at 7:00pm. We’ll be sending out reminders and posting on our blog and FB page. Please send in suggestions for our sing-along — we’re building a great repertoire.

For those who can’t wait until next month, come to “Sweetpea’s Ukulele Night” at Skinny’s Ballroom next Wednesday, August 17th, from 7:00 to 9:00pm. Skinny’s (http://skinnysballroom.com/) is located downtown at 115 San Jacinto. This month’s theme: the British Invasion, with guest hosts Bill “Monster” Jones and Kathy Murray!

As always, it’s a pleasure to play with you all.

Don’t forget–if you have any ideas for songs to sing at the meeting, please let us know. See you in September, folks!

Our Thursday 8/11 meeting

Remember, we’ll be meeting again at Central Market North’s Community Room on Thursday, August 11th, 7 – 8:30 p.m. Two new songs will be featured–one is the oldie (way oldie: we’re talking 1928 here) My Blue Heaven, suggested by one of our members. But we’ll also have a relative newie–Crazy, the 2006 Gnarls Barkley hit. Download ’em here, or come get ’em, plus all our other featured songs, in our Ukulele Music Library.

See you on the 11th.

We’re meeting again on THURSDAY, Aug 11

Jen sez: “As most of you know, the AUS usually meets on the second Tuesday of the month –and we’ll continue to do so, in the future.

“For August, though, there is a one-time date change – we’ll meet on Thursday, August 11th – same time, same place (7:00pm – 8:30pm, Central Market’s Community Room – 4001 N. Lamar).”

So… if you haven’t been able to attend AUS meetings because Tuesdays don’t work for you (but Thursdays do), here’s your chance! Come and join us. More info coming soon about the meeting.

Our July meeting wrap-up

If you were at this past Tuesday’s meeting, we hope you enjoyed it. Quite a few new folks were there–hooray! If you weren’t there, we hope we’ll see you again soon.

Here’s how Bob described our get-together on July 12 at Central Market:

Thanks to everyone who came to our July meeting Tuesday night. Despite the blistering heat outside there was plenty of cool music in the room — and we had a lot of fun. A special shout out to the first-timers who joined us — hope to see you again!

The Austin Ukulele Society reached a milestone this week: David Salazar, who we met at this week’s meeting, was the 100th person to “like” us on FaceBook. Thanks David, and welcome!

Reserve the date on your calendar and spread the word: our next monthly meeting will be Tuesday, August 9th, at 7:00pm. [Note: It’s now Thursday, August 11th.] We’ll be sending out reminders and posting on our blog and FB page. Please send in suggestions for our sing-along — we’re building a great repertoire.

And for those who can’t wait until next month for a ukulele event, come to “Sweetpea’s Ukulele Night” at Skinny’s Ballroom next Wednesday, July 20, from 7:00 to 9:00pm. Skinny’s (http://skinnysballroom.com/) is located downtown at 115 San Jacinto. This month’s theme: Elvis!

As always, it’s a pleasure to play with you all.

Cheers,

Bob G.

Pine Beetles coming July 9th

Here’s an upcoming uke event… Our own Bob Guz will be playing with the Pine Beetles next Saturday, July 9, 6:30 to 8:30 (these times are changed from the earlier version of this post). He sez: “We’ll be playing old-time music, American and Celtic folk, country, and Tin Pan Alley with guitars, banjo, concertina and, on every song, ukulele.”
The venue is:
Patsy’s Cowgirl Cafe
5001 East Ben White Boulevard in South Austin

Next meeting is July 12

Hey, folks… if you haven’t fled northward during Austin’s 100-degree-plus (and rainless) summer, remember that the next meeting will happen Tuesday, July 12, 7 – 8:30 p.m. at Central Market North’s Community Room (the usual place).

We’ll be playing “Hey Jude,” which has been on our list of songs for a few months, but we haven’t gotten to yet. Our other song for July is “Singing in the Rain,” the old Gene Kelly classic, in an interesting arrangement in which the chords we play change every two beats. Take a look and try it out. Both are in our Ukulele Music Library.

June 14 meeting was lots of fun… but aren’t they all?

Bob sent along this message about the June 14 meeting at Central Market North’s Community Room, attended by (we think) 23 people:

Thanks to everyone who came to our June meeting Tuesday night and made it so much fun. There was a lot of energy and enthusiasm in the room! A special welcome to the first-timers who joined us — hope to see you again!

Hats off to those who played and sang (and low-yodeled) a solo number, and to Walter for his dizzying kazoo solo break on “Runaway.” Thanks for sharing!

Mark the date and spread the word: our next monthly meeting will be Tuesday, July 12th, at 7:00pm. We’ll be sending out a reminder and posting on our blog and FB page. And please send in suggestions for our sing-along — we’re building a great repertoire.

As always, it’s a pleasure to play with you all.

If you missed this one, will we see you at the July 12 meeting? We hope!

Are ukuleles too popular?

Steven Sproat, a uke player who’s well-known in the UK, says that, um, maybe the uke’s become too popular for its own good. Nobody likes to be part of a fad, right? Let’s quote him from this June 3 BBC story:

“On about one in every seven TV adverts there will be a ukulele part. It’s on documentary programmes. It’s been taken up in education – it’s a rival now to the recorder [as a first instrument to be taught in schools] – it’s being used by celebrities. There are ukulele clubs springing up in every town.”

Hey, things could be way worse. We remember the ’90s, when almost no one played the uke at all, and if you said you played the ukulele, folks would look aside and roll their eyes.

Join us Tuesday night, June 14, at Central Market

Yes, it’s time on Tuesday evening, June 14, for our monthly meeting at Central Market North, 40th & Lamar, between 7 and 8:30 p.m. in the Community Room, which is located to the right as soon as you enter through the Produce Dept door. We have some new songs for you this time: the Beatles’ “Hey Jude,” Del Shannon’s “Runaway,” and the Kinks’ “Sunny Afternoon.” Oh, and about this last number–if you get a chance, download it and take a look at (and try out) the wonderful descending intro chord progression that Bob has developed. If you’re familiar with the song, we think you’ll agree that it’ll be lots of fun to play as a group.

Remember that all the songs we perform at meetings will be posted permanently (or as permanently as things are ever posted on a blog) in our Ukulele Music Library. We plan to have the projector on the premises, but just in case, it never hurts to bring along the songs on paper.

See you Tuesday!