Folks– If you want one of the AUS “Dia de los muertos” T-shirts (modeled here by our very own Bob, and including an Austin trademark bat), or if you want one of our original shirts , you should drop a line to austinukes[at]gmail[dot]com. Someone will get back to you about how to order them. Both of them cost $20 each.

We’ve had several requests from people near & far. We’re still working out how much the postage/shipping will be (but it shouldn’t be much! Don’t let that stop you from ordering! And it’s for a good cause–namely, promoting ukuleles in Central Texas!).

Can’t you tell we haven’t been expecting requests from non-Austin locations? Thanks for the interest! –Walter

Bob sez: “Hi all,

“We had a lot of fun and enjoyed terrific music Tuesday night during our “Ukes for the Cure” benefit event at Threadgill’s! Great turnout, lots of energy, and a large, appreciative audience! We also helped support a very worthy cause and people were very, very giving: the Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas will be receiving a donation of $600. Wow! Thanks to everyone who came to join the festivities and who gave so generously!

“As some of you may know, I lost my sister, Pam Wassung, to breast cancer several years ago, so this event held a special personal meaning for me – I’m deeply grateful to everyone who participated and made it possible. Special thanks go out to:

• All of the performers who volunteered their time and talents: Ray Carr, Tim Keough, George Traugott and Lisa Alexander of the Pine Beetles, Kendra Korshak and Donna Rich of The Lunettes, Frank Meyer, Kathy Murray, Bill ‘Monster’ Jones, and all the members of the Austin Ukulele Society Ensemble.

• My niece, Kasia Wassung, who pitched the idea: “We should do a fundraiser!”

• Steven, Mike, and all of the fine folks at Threadgill’s North for making us feel so welcome.

• Brady Woodall, who was instrumental in finding us a new home for this event after we lost our original venue.

• Lyda Guz who designed the beautiful posters, as well as our fantastic t-shirts.

• Walter Minkel, our blog-master, who helped spread the word and keep us up to date.

• And extra special thanks to Jen Brown who handled so many of the behind-the-scenes details that made this event such a success.

“Photos are coming in, and many have already been shared on FaceBook. There were lots of cameras snapping pictures – so if you’ve got some you’d like to share please let us know.

“Thanks again so very much — y’all are the best!” –Bob

Yeah, it’s a dumb headline, but true. Our group of AUS members (there were about 40 of us there at the Memorial Methodist Church) appeared to truly enjoy the eternal YouTube ukulele standard “Build Me Up Buttercup.” By the third time through, thanks to Bob’s special arrangement of the song, we sounded great. (The link above is to the “Presentation Format” version of the song he presented at the meeting.)

Bob also made a special announcement about the Ukes for the Cure show coming up on Tuesday evening, October 23 at 7 pm. Among the groups to be featured are our very own AUS team of volunteers, Kathy Murray and Bill ‘Monster’ Jones, the Lunettes, and Bob’s own band, the Pine Beetles. Other special guests are being finalized, so stay tuned!.

We also sold a bunch of our new “Dia de los M-uke-ertos” shirts. They’re still available, in a variety of sizes, but they’re a limited edition, so who knows how long they will last? If you want one, make your intentions known at austinukes[at]gmail.com, or come to the “Ukes for the Cure” benefit show at New World Deli, 4101 Guadalupe, Austin, accompanied by a $20 bill.

As usual, we had a bunch of folks in our “Open non-Mike” segment (we don’t need a mike in our classroom and we don’t have one, anyway). Woody, Kathy and Bill, and Walter (yours truly) sang songs of the spooky season, and Jason, Gary and Bob sang the non-spooky stuff.

AUS meets the second Thursday of each month at the Memorial Methodist Church, 6100 Berkman Drive, Austin,  at 7 pm. Our next meeting is thus November 8! See you then!

Location Change: October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and in support of this cause, the Austin Ukulele Society is sponsoring  “Ukes for the Cure,” a uke-centric benefit concert.  It’ll take place Tuesday, October 23rd, from 7:00pm – 9:00pm at Threadgill’s north location, 6416 North Lamar. Voluntary donations will be accepted and will go to Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas.

Several fantastic ukulele-focused bands are lined up for this event and the Austin Ukulele Society is performing a set as well!  This is a friendly reminder to RSVP if you’d like to participate in the AUS ensemble portion.  We’re planning to play about six songs – they are “Three Little Birds,” “Runaway,” “Stand By Me,” “Love Potion #9,” “Eight Days a Week,” and “On the Road Again.” You can find the song charts here:
https://austinukulelesociety.wordpress.com/ukulele-music-library/

Quite a few of you have already RSVP’d and we’ve got you down, no worries. We are planning to get together for a brief rehearsal on Wednesday, October 17th, at 7pm, in south central Austin. and we’ll also informally practice songs for the performance during our monthly meeting on October 11th.

Those who’ve participated in our previous public appearances can attest to how much fun we have, so please consider joining the show.  Just respond to this message by October 11th – we’ll add you to a separate distribution list for the participants in this event.

Even if you can’t participate in the AUS part of the performance, we’d love for everyone to attend and invite their friends to enjoy some great ukulele music and donate what they can to a very worthy cause!  We’ll share a flyer in the next few days.

Best regards,

Jen and Bob

Ukulele players everywhere have messed around with this song since at least the first days of YouTube–you’ll find many versions of it online. But the original version from 1969 by the Foundations still can’t be beat. It’s a complex song with 12 chords, so it may take some practice–it’s an excellent idea, then, to download “Build Me Up Buttercup” now and start strumming. It’s also in our Ukulele Music Library.

Listen to the song below, and pick up on the tricky rhythms:

Hope you’ll be there October 11!

We just learned that there will be a new AUS T-shirt available at the Oct. 11 meeting. Here’s Bob modeling the new design, with the illustration designed by Bob’s wife Lyda. If you think it’s as cool as we do, and would like one of these all-black, all-cotton shirts for your very own, bring $20 to the meeting; they’ll be there for purchase. Don’t forget; the meeting will happen Thursday, 10/11, from 7 – 8:30 p.m. at Memorial Methodist Church at 6100 Berkman St. Hope to see you there.

Yes, Fall is here. After all that hot Austin summer weather, things are finally beginning to cool down. That means it’s time for our October meeting on Thursday night, October 11, from 7 – 8:30 p.m., at the Memorial Methodist Church at 6100 Berkman Drive. See you there, see you then, and bring along a song to perform, if you’re of a mind to. Soon (meaning, within the next few days) we’ll post the music for our October song. Watch for it!