Folks– Bob just released two PDF documents we’ve been waiting for– Up On the Roof – Presentation Format and House of the Rising Sun – Presentation Format. These are the “final” versions of the songs that we played and sang at the May and June meetings. Get ’em here now!

When we played for the participants at the Keep Austin Weird run on June 22, a parade official drove by the spot before the event began, saw our ukuleles, and told us, “Remember–no heavy metal.”

We laughed, but our fearless leader Bob also took this as a challenge. He decided that the song for our July meeting would be that KISS classic, “I wanna Rock and Roll All Nite (and party ev-er-y day).” Take a look at the song sheet and give it a spin, but to get in the mood, here are two YouTube videos to get that KISS feel.

Oh; a warning. Bob says that the band performs the song in A flat, but because A flat is a tricky key on the uke, he’s dropped it a full step down to G. The first one is the original recording, supplied with sing-along lyrics:

And here are the oddly groomed band members themselves performing the song live under the Brooklyn Bridge in 1996. Given that it’s July and all, don’t you think the fireworks are a nice touch?

See you at the Memorial United Methodist Church for the meeting at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 11. Will we rock and roll all night?

Here are some more photos of the AUS crew performing weirdly (and surrounded by weird runners) at the Keep Austin Weird run on Cesar Chavez St in downtown Austin on Saturday, June 22.

We had a great time, and we hope that maybe the next time an AUS crew goes out for an event, you’ll join us.

Our crew from the AUS were out last Saturday evening, June 22, serenading the weirdly-garbed participants of the Keep Austin Weird run. We were stationed, wearing aloha shirts, leis, and grass skirts, on the north side of Cesar Chavez Street as the participants ran and sauntered by. We had our pictures taken. The runners posed in front of us. They gave us thumbs up.

But there was indeed a lot of positive energy shared among everyone out there. Oh, and did you see the woman wearing a double-ukulele bra over her running clothes? Quite an impression was, um, made. Actually, all of us were very impressed.

Needless to say, we had a great time.

More photos soon!

Deb Porter’s workshop and concert at the Memorial United Methodist Church Parlor this past Thursday, June 20, shared with us some critical lessons on being a good musical performer:

First, you’ve got to feel confident about what you’re doing when you pick up your instrument and open your mouth. Don’t go halfsies when you start to sing; believe in yourself and your abilities.

Deb stressed the importance of warming up before you begin singing for an audience. There are now a number of phone and pad apps out there to help you.

Find a key you can sing in comfortably. Deb demonstrated the importance of key with a song she often performs in which the first verse is sung in low notes she can comfortably reach, but heads for the top of her range after that. But because it’s sung in a key in which she can sing, she can perform it without anxiety.

Many of the points she covered are here in these workshop handouts, including a Guitar [sic] Transposition Wheel that you can use if you want to transpose a chords-and-lyrics sheet like the ones we make available to a friendlier key.

Deb, along with her accompanist Andrew Hardin (and during one medley of Hank Williams tunes, with our very own Bob), ended the evening with a concert of some great songs. If you get the chance to hear Deb Porter sing, go for it. Thanks, Deb.

Oh, and yodeling? Here’s the main trick: you must find the spot at which your voice “breaks” when you pass from a low note to a higher note. It may take hours to find it, she warns, and you must try for it in a place in which you aren’t driving others crazy. “I learned during a very long, lonely drive,” she told us. Once you know your break, you’ll be able to yodel.

Our June 13 meeting was fun, but it also spread the word on lots of other stuff happening around Austin that involved AUS members. After the meeting was the “Voyage to Uketania” show at the Sahara Lounge, and then on Thursday, June 20, Deb Porter comes to town to do her “Shine when you sing with your ukulele” workshop and concert at our home base, the Memorial United Methodist Church. It’s at 7 p.m.–you won’t regret it if you come and join us! It’s for those who want to sing as they play more effectively.

On Saturday, June 24, a group of AUS folks will be performing to enhance the weirdness of the Keep Austin Weird run and festival. (We’re playing between First and Lamar at 7 p.m.) Hope we’ll see you at at least one of these events.

We had some uke-playing visitors from Houston dropping by, too–Julie, Buck, and David (here they are, on your left). What did they think of our meeting? They left before I could find out.

Our new song (an old song, actually) was House of the Rising Sun. It doesn’t seem as if it would be all that difficult to play, but Bob deliberately avoided leading us down the path of performing it with that “light, happy uke strum” that so many uke players use. So it took us a while to catch the more intense strum and the rhythm he taught us. We played it as we usually do–we spent some time with it near the beginning of the meeting, and then came back to it at the end. By that time, we’d had enough time to digest the tricky strumming pattern, and it sounded pretty good.

In our “open non-mike” section, both Bobs, along with Bill and Kathy, Kendall, and yours truly (Walter) performed, as always, a mix of styles and songs.

It appeared that a good time was had by all (although I still don’t know what the Houston folks thought). Don’t forget to join us at our Deb Porter workshop/concert at Memorial United Methodist Church (6100 Berkman Dr., Austin) at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 20. And our next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 11, from 7 – 8:30 p.m. at–you guessed it–the Memorial United Methodist Church. Will we see you there? Hope so.

Our June meeting will be happening very soon–as in this coming Thursday evening, June 13th, 7 p.m., at our usual spot, the Memorial United Methodist Church at 6100 Berkman Drive in Austin.

Our song will be the old classic “House of the Rising Sun.” Bob says it’s “an old bluesy number that everyone should know.” The Wikipedia article about the song tells us that it’s the story “of a life gone wrong in New Orleans.” The version of the song best known in 2013 is the one played and sung in 1964 by Eric Burdon and the Animals, a group that was part of the British Invasion of the mid-sixties. It was the group’s biggest hit. This song, however, began as an American folk-blues number.

Here’s the YouTube video, which, if you ignore the lip-synching and the stiff stage manner, shows you why this version of the song is important:

Bob will no doubt have a more elaborate “presentation” version of the song for the meeting, and when he does, we’ll post it here. But for the time being, give it a whirl. See you at the meeting.

AUS proudly presents the accomplished east Texas songstress Deb Porter, performing a workshop and a house concert on Thursday evening, June 20, beginning at 7 p.m. in the Parlor of the Memorial United Methodist Church. If you’re an AUS regular, you know where the MUMC is–that’s where we meet monthly. If not, come to 6100 Berkman Drive, Austin, TX 78723. (It’s east of IH35, south of 290, and also a few blocks east of Cameron.)

The workshop, “Shine when you sing with your ukulele,” will begin at 7 p.m., and the concert, in which Deb will be accompanied by uke soloist Andrew Hardin, starts at 8:45 p.m.

What’s the workshop session about? How to sing with your uke, and how to perform with your uke. Many people who start fooling around with the uke want to impress their friends with their music-making abilities. Deb will demonstrate how to find the right key in which to sing a song, how to “sell” your song with a better performance–and, Deb promises–how to yodel.

The workshop costs $25, and the concert $10. We recommend attending both for a money-saving price of $30. If you’re interested in reserving a spot for either or both of these events, send a message to austinukes@gmail.com .

Here’s some information about Deb, her accompanist, and the event:

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Let Deb Porter help you build your confidence in singing, arranging and accompanying your favorite ukulele tunes.  Deb performs and teaches at festivals and workshops around the country. She has released eight CDs and three instructional DVDs.  This fun workshop will help you improve your singing, playing, and add a touch of yodeling just to liven things up. Whether you are aiming for a career in Honolulu or Hollywood, or just mustering the courage for open mic nights, Deb can help you truly enjoy the sound of your own voice!

BIO: Deb began her musical career early singing the songs learned from her Grandmother who grew up singing as she picked cotton in rural northeast Texas.  In the ’70s Deb joined the Austin music scene playing at the Checquered Flag and throughout Texas as a singer/songwriter.  In recent years Deb has settled into the folk music scene producing lovely recordings with some of Texas’ favorite musicians and teaching through workshops and DVDs.  She is a favorite teacher and performer in both the dulcimer and the ukulele worlds…  www.debbieporter.net.

Deb will be accompanied by Andrew Hardin during the upcoming June 20^th concert. Andrew Hardin began his musical career as a drummer at age eight, and began playing the guitar as a teenager living in Hawaii. Hardin played progressive country in California in the mid-seventies, major-label rock with the Dingoes from Australia on A&M Records, and hard-core blues with ex-John Lee Hooker partner Eddie Kirkland. Andrew Hardin and Tom Russell performed as an acoustic duo from the early 90’s through 2005, appearing at major music festivals in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and joining tours with Nanci Griffith and John Prine. Hardin has appeared twice on “Late Night with David Letterman.” Hardin’s role as co-producer of the Tom Russell Band recordings of the mid-eighties led to a career producing other major and independent label acts in the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

Andrew Hardin began playing ukulele as a teenager in Hawaii during the seventies when he picked one up in the music store he was working in and couldn’t put it down. He recorded two ukulele CDs with Deb Porter playing lead on both soprano uke and tiple. For more information check out www.andrewhardin.com.

A group of AUS folks were happy to participate in the Zilker Elementary School’s annual Backyard Jam, a fundraiser for the school’s music department, which was held at the school on Friday evening, May 10. In the end, though, instead of a backyard jam, it ended up as an on-the-stage-in-the-cafeteria jam because of a big rainstorm.

Singing in the cafeteria didn’t have quite the same outdoor charm as performing out on the grass, but hey–it was raining in Austin (hooray), so we had little to complain about. Here are a few photos of our group singing our set, beginning with Runaway, moving through Love Potion #9 and Stand by Me, and ending with (of course) On the Road Again.

The folks in the audience seemed to enjoy themselves, and we know we enjoyed ourselves. You will enjoy yourself, too, if you join us next time we give a performance. Bob invited those in the audience who had ever thought about learning the uke to come to our next meeting and try it out.

And hey, here’s a home-movie version of us rehearsing Don’t Fence Me In in the musician’s green room before we went on:

…and here we are singing Stand by Me on the Zilker cafeteria stage.

We had a great time.

Our May monthly meeting, held on Thursday evening, May 9, was just like most of our meetings, and that’s good–folks had a lot of fun getting together, learning a new song, and for a group of us, getting ready to make an appearance. As usual, about 40 people attended, about ten of them for the first time.

We played the new song–well, it’s hardly a new song. It’s that old favorite, Up on the roof, written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin and made famous by the Drifters in the early 1960s. Both Bob and I (Walter) thought it sounded fantastic when the group performed it. I do not yet have a copy of Bob’s final “Presentation” version to post, but I hope to post it soon.

Lots of fun stuff will be coming up in the Austin ukulele community. Jim D’Ville will be doing a workshop on June 1, Kevin Carroll’s uke group will be presenting a recital, and AUS is bringing uke songstress Deb Porter to Austin to do a workshop on How to Sing with Your Uke, plus a house concert, on Thurs., June 20–more details will arrive in the next post.

The appearance mentioned above happened the next evening, May 10, at Zilker Elementary School in south Austin. We had a great time and performed for a receptive audience. More about the Zilker appearance will appear here soon.

Thanks to those who did their solo (or duet) numbers at the May meeting–Kendra, Woody, Bob, Sandra & Ray, Jack, and yours truly.

For anyone in Central Texas who might be reading this post, but hasn’t attended one of our meetings, please join us! No obligations, it’s free, and it’s fun. For any of those who might have attended a past meeting, but is struggling with their instrument, we say “Come back.” We can get you hooked up with someone who can help you feel more comfortable with your instrument.

Our next meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening, June 13, 7 – 8:30 p.m. at the Memorial United Methodist Church. More details soon…