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?”

We had a great time at our March meeting this past Thursday night, March 8. The primary focus was Beatles songs. We prepared for the SXSW Beatles Complete on Ukulele program, Ukulele Mob, on Thursday, March 15th, at noon, at Hickory Street Grill (downtown, 8th and Congress). The program will run until about 6 p.m.; the Ukulele Mob will happen at noon and probably take about 15 or 20 minutes. (If you want to join in–and you are definitely invited if you want to bring your uke and join us–please show up a little early, at 11:45 or so.) The songs we’ll play (and they’re all in the Ukulele Music Library) are “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?.” “All Together Now,” and “Eight Days a Week.” Roger Greenawalt, the maestro of Beatles Complete on Ukulele, will have a band there to back us up, and will be in charge.

Other than the Beatles songs, we had a large group of players doing songs this time. Bob listed the folks he knew: James (Blue Bayou), Ian (rock ‘n’ roll tune), Gary (swingin’ Tin Pan Alley tune), Mike (When I’m 64) and yours truly, Walter, who sang an original song involving UFOs. Steven played a great version of “When You Wish Upon a Star.”

Thanks, and we’re looking forward to the April meeting, which should be held on Thursday, April 12, but it isn’t definite yet, so watch this space.  We’re also looking for an additional free, and centrally-located, space to meet. Any ideas? Let us know.

Our March meeting is upon us, next week, on Thursday, March 8th, at Central Market. We are looking into finding a bigger and equally central and free location for our monthly meetings, but for now, we’ll still be in the Community Room at Central Market (4001 N. Lamar) – from 7:00pm – 8:30pm. We’ll follow our usual format and open with “Three Little Birds” and play some other songs we’ve practiced together. We’ll provide a receptive and supportive audience for solo performances if you should be so kind as to play us something you’re working on.

Secondly, we’ll practice three Beatles’ songs because some of us certainly hope to participate in the SXSW Beatles Complete on Ukulele, Ukulele Mob, on Thursday, March 15th, at noon, at Hickory Street Grill (downtown, 8th and Congress). Even if you cannot participate in the Ukulele Mob, Beatles songs are fun to play and sing, so how can you go wrong?

At the Ukulele Mob, and at our meeting, we’ll sing & strum “All Together Now,” “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road” and “Eight Days a Week” – the last is the same as we’ve previously played together. These are the three songs that will be performed, at noon, to kick off the Beatles Complete on Ukulele SXSW event, where everyone and anyone with a ukulele is most welcome to join in the ukulele merriment.

And now for versions of the two new songs you can listen to… although when you listen to them, know that they’ll be in another key (they’ll both be in C to accommodate the full range of skill levels), so they won’t sound exactly the same. Here’s…

and

For now, have a great week, and we’ll look forward to seeing you on Thursday, March 8th, at Central Market’s Community Room!

What a fun meeting last Thursday. We had a great time with the classic Leiber & Stoller song, “Love Potion #9″ and Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon.” Walter has posted a quick summary of the meeting and a few pics on our blog. (Thanks Walter!)

A very warm welcome to the first-timers who joined us — we hope to see you again soon!

Mark your calendars: our next meeting will be held on Thursday, March 8, 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, February 23, 7:00 – 9:00pm. Skinny’s is located at 115 San Jacinto. 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? This month’s theme: First Women of Country Music.

Also mark your calendars for the Beatles Complete on Ukulele SXSW event: Thursday, March 15, starting at noon at the Hickory Street Grill located at Congress and 8th. We’d love to get a great turnout for this uke mob! More news to come!

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

Cheers,

Bob G.

In honor of the upcoming Valentine’s Day, we sang a couple of love songs as our new numbers at the AUS February 9 meeting. We had a great time with the classic Leiber & Stoller song, “Love Potion #9” (well, it’s sort of a love song), and Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon” (which is definitely a great love song). About 30 people were there. Hooray!

We had several folks, including Bill & Kathie (who sang an original song), Patrick, Kendra, Tim, and more, share some songs in the solo section… and I (Walter) performed “Day Tripper” (inspired by the upcoming “Beatles Complete” session below), and Bob, our leader, played a song from Troy Fernandez that he learned from YouTube. it’s always great fun to watch our members playing and singing. If you haven’t played a solo number yet, think about it; you’ll never find a friendlier and more sympathetic audience.

Soon, we will be posting an announcement about the return of the “Complete Beatles” session, led, as during the past two years, by Roger Greenawalt, which will return in time for March’s SXSW. We’re all invited to join, so watch this space for another announcement, soon!

Our next meeting, as of now, will be held once again at Central Market North on Thursday, March 8 at 7 p.m. Please check back here for more news. New songs are coming, too, so watch this space for them. See you then!

We’ll be doing two new songs for the February meeting (which, once again, will be Thursday, February 9, at 7 p.m., at Central Market North’s Community Room). They are Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon” and Leiber & Stoller’s “Love Potion # 9.” Both are love songs, in their way, which makes them extremely suitable for the February meeting, right? Both song sheets are now in our Ukulele Music Library.

Below are a couple of videos that should get you in the mood… and also to familiarize yourselves with the songs:

See you there! And oh, if you go way to the bottom of the list of the Ukulele Music Library, you will see a link to the music for the classic “Teddy Bears’ Picnic,” the song Walter (me) your AUS blogger, performed at the January meeting, and which Bob turned into a song sheet. Just for fun!

As we’ve mentioned, the cycle of our first year of AUS is now complete, now that we’ve held our January 2012 meeting at Central Market North this past Thursday, January 12. We sang our two new songs–“Viva la Vida” and “You Are my Sunshine.”

We had a great “open mic” (actually open non-mic, since we neither have a mic nor need one in that little room), in which we saw Tim Keough of UkuleleSecrets.org fame pull out a “harp uke” made by the Welshman Pete Howlett and aNueNue Ukes. (Apologies for the fuzzy photo–I (Walter) hope you get the general idea.) Tim played that harp uke, with its four extra low-pitched strings (for a total of eight strings), in a pair of great quasi-Japanese pieces of his own composition.

Our next meeting will be held on Thursday, February 9, 7 – 8:30 p.m., once again at Central Market North, our usual strumming spot. Hope to see you there and see you then!