The turnout was smaller–unlike the 40 to 50 folks we had at some recent meetings, about 30 attended on September 13–but, as always, we had a great time. We sang the classic “The Letter,” and asked aloud with our tongues in our cheeks, “Hey–what’s a letter?” (What would the title of the song be in 2012? ‘The Email’? ‘The Tweet’? ‘The Text’?” None has that same ring, don’t you think?) We also brought back a favorite we hadn’t done for a while, “Secret Agent Man,” and that was a lot of fun to sing again.

Plenty of folks also had material to share during the “open non-mike” period of the program. It was a real mix. Woody sang the Dan Daly song “Still in Saigon.” Sandra and Ray sang the classic uke number “Tonight You Belong to Me”  (made famous by the first Steve Martin movie “The Jerk”). If you’ve seen Martin perform the song in the movie, you should know that the uke on the soundtrack was played by the famous studio musician Lyle Ritz, and that immediately after the last take, Ritz stepped on and crushed the vintage Martin uke he’d been playing.

Other performers included Bill and Kathy, who performed the old and awesomely cool surf instrumental  “Mr. Moto” (the Challengers, 1963). Mardi sang the John Prine song “Let’s Talk Dirty in Hawaiian,” Bob sang the Nick Lowe/Elvis Costello number “(What’s so funny about) Peace, Love and Understanding,” and Walter (yours truly) attempted an original song called “Take a Shower with the Blues.”

We all had a great time, and we all (I hope) look forward to the October 11 meeting. We’re not yet certain what the song for October will be, but watch this space and you’ll find out soon. Suggestions are always welcome–send us a comment or write us at austinukes [at] gmail.

Hey, look–another baby-boomer favorite will be the featured song for our September meeting– “The Letter” of Box Tops and Joe Cocker fame. It’s an enduring hit, though, so you probably know it no matter your age.

If you want to hear it again, here you are. First the original 1967 Box Tops version with singer Alex Chilton (who sadly died in 2010 just before traveling to SXSW to perform):

and then the more famous 1970 Joe Cocker version:

Which version of the song will we play at the meeting? Come to the September meeting on Thurs., Sept. 13 at 7 pm to find out. Also keep in mind that Bob will have an enhanced “presentation” version for us to use at the meeting. This version is for you folks to practice before the meeting. We’ll post the complete “Presentation” version on this blog & in the UML after the meeting.

Our next AUS meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 13th, at 7:00 pm, at Memorial United Methodist Church, at 6100 Berkman Drive (Austin, TX 78723) – it’s just southeast of where I-35 and US-290 connect, and a few blocks east of Cameron Road.

September’s song will be along soon; check this space.

We had an action-packed meeting last Thursday! Close to 50 strummers, eight sing-along tunes (three of them brand new to the group), and so many great solo performances. Many thanks to Jack, Bill and Kathy, Bailey and Weston, Ray, Kendra, and Gary for sharing your talents with us during the open mic part of the program. The breadth of musical styles and the display of skills was an inspiration.

A special Austin Ukulele Society welcome to the many first-timers who joined us — we hope you’ll come back and play with us again!

Walter will be posting a summary of the meeting and a few pics (thanks Jen!) on our blog soon, as well as the Tin Pan Alley Medley in the presentation format we worked through on Thursday. Give it a try — we’ll be playing it again at a future meeting!

Mark your calendars: our next meeting will be held on Thursday, September 13, 7:00 – 8:30pm. We’ll be sending information soon, so keep an eye out.

I say this after every meeting, but it’s true: it’s such a pleasure to play with you all. Can’t wait until we meet again!

Cheers, Bob G.

[Well, folks, I wasn’t there–the first AUS meeting I’ve missed! But I will see you in September. So I’m posting Bob’s message. Looks as if you folks who were there had a lot of fun. Between now & then, look for September’s song. —Walter]

PS: Here’s one more thing–we have now posted for everyone’s delectation the Tin Pan Alley Medley – Presentation Format that Bob shared during the August meeting. It’s now here and in the Ukulele Music Library.

Here’s our song for our August 9 meeting (well, actually five songs). It’s a medley of Tin Pan Alley favorites from 1926 to 1931 that folks have played on the uke for more than 70 years: “All of Me,” “Ain’t She Sweet,” “My Blue Heaven,” “Five Foot Two,” and “Please Don’t Talk about Me When I’m Gone.” All of them feature the chords C, E7, A7, D7 & G7. A couple of them we’ve played before, but we haven’t played them enough. So start strumming; here’s the Tin Pan Alley Medley No 1 .

This is a brief reminder that we’ll be meeting on the second Thursday of the month, August 9, as usual, from 7 – 8:30 p.m.

We’re still selecting the music for the next meeting, and we’ll be in touch several days before the meeting to share the chord chart(s), so that you can practice ahead of time. Watch for it.

Remember, we meet at Memorial United Methodist Church, at 6100 Berkman Drive (Austin, TX 78723) – it’s just southeast of where I-35 and US-290 connect.  Google will give you good directions from any part of town.

Enjoy the rest of July and we’ll be in touch in early August!

If you were at the July 12 AUS meeting, you know that Bob taught us a version of “Sway” that included a tabbed solo section. It’s great for those who are long-time pickers or those who are just easing themselves into picking their uke’s strings. It has now been added to the Ukulele Music Library as “Sway – Presentation Format.” —W

Our July 12 meeting was one of the best we’ve had yet. Around 40 ukers attended–it was one of those meetings where we had to carry many chairs out of the storage closet at the Memorial Church. Bob led the group in our new song-of-the-month, “Sway.” which sounded great. He taught us how to play a solo for the song, the tabs for which should appear in our Ukulele Music Library soon.

It was also great to see so many folks playing a solo number. We should give out our thanks to our performers: Ray, who played “Pancho and Lefty”; Woody, who performed “Alabama Jubilee” on his banjo uke; Jason, who did a great clawhammer solo, and Bill and Kathy, who sang “Suspicion,” one of their duets we’ve come to know so well.

Celeste played and sang the old Bill Withers/ Grover Washington hit “The Two of Us,” Elaine played a 4th of July salute to the theme songs of the Navy, Marines, Army, and the other services, and Walter (your faithful AUS blogger) performed the Big Joe Turner version of “Sweet Sue.”

We all had a great time, and want to encourage you to join our group of solo performers–there isn’t a friendlier audience anywhere!

If luck is with us, our next meeting will occur on Thursday, August 9, at 7 p.m. But who knows? Watch this space!  —Walter

Our July meeting is coming up on the second Thursday of the month – July 12th, at 7pm at Memorial United Methodist Church!

We’re all looking forward to playing a new-to-us tune on the ukulele–“Sway” (suggested by Bill – thanks!); please feel free to try out the song chart before the meeting. You can find all of the songs we play in the Ukulele Music Library of our blog, thanks to Walter, which, of course, is right here.

As usual, we’ll start out by sharing some ukulele-related news.  Then, we’ll play some songs from our repertoire. We’ll also have an ‘open mic’ section near the end of our meeting for those of you looking for a warm audience.

Reminder on meeting Location:
We’ll meet at Memorial United Methodist Church, at 6100 Berkman Drive (Austin, TX 78723) – it’s just southeast of where I-35 and US-290 connect.  Google will give you good directions from any part of town.

When you arrive, please pull into the ‘enter only’ parking lot on the north side of the church – you can park in any spot not designated for staff.  I would recommend parking just past the covered driveway near the front entrance of the church.  We’ll be strumming in a large classroom adjacent to the gym.  We’ll make sure a door is open till 7:15.  Please try to arrive by 7–if you arrive late, and run into difficulty getting in, please follow the sound of music till you find our practice room and knock on the window–we’ll let you in.

Reminder: If you’ve requested one or more of our awesome Austin Ukulele Society logo shirts, please bring $20 (per shirt) and we’ll get you squared away!

Have a happy and safe Independence Day!  See you in 10 days! —Jen

A big bunch of us were at the Hill Country Galleria Amphitheater in Bee Cave last Saturday, including a bunch of folks from San Antonio, to perform a Uke Mob in the middle of Patricia Vonne’s concert. So here they are, thanks to Trina Woodall and Lyda Guz– “Three Little Birds,” as Bob gathered us onstage:

here’s “Love Potion #9“:

Here’s “Margaritaville”:

and last but far from least, Then, here’s “Runaway” with a kazoo solo by yours truly:

Watch out for more performances & uke mobs, as they happen! –Walter