There’s a good story, “Close to Perfect,” in Sunday’s Austin Statesman about Central Texas’s own Collings Guitars, which tells us that they also turn out about 350 deluxe ukuleles a year. Take a look, and watch the video. Interested in buying one? Elderly Music, in Ann Arbor, MI, sells them.
Our first Evening in Triangle Park on Thursday, April 28 was a big success. It didn’t hurt that the weather was perfect. But let’s have Bob tell us:
What a great night! Beautiful weather, 25 ukuleles being strummed, appreciative passers-by, and a bunch of fun songs to play. What’s not to like? We’ll definitely see if we can’t squeeze in one more outdoor meeting before it gets too hot. Thanks to everyone who came — and a special shout out to the first-timers who joined in. Welcome!
As Bob said, we hope to organize another outdoor get-together soon, so watch this space, and our Facebook page, for more information. Please don’t forget to suggest any songs you’d like to see (and hear) us sing by dropping us a line (austinukes@gmail.com) or sending us your comments.
Our next monthly meeting will be Tuesday, May 10th at 7:00pm at our usual spot, the Community Room at the Central Market on North Lamar. See you then!
It’s a small collection, yeah, but we now have a Ukulele Music Library, for the basic lyrics-&-chords sheets we use (and project) at our meetings. From now on, you’ll always be able to find them in one place, and we will be adding more of them as we select ’em for subsequent meetings.
On Thursday, come over to the Triangle to play some uke. Jen sez:
Friendly reminder:
What: Strum-along to “Three Little Birds” “Ring of Fire” “Stand by Me” “Eight Days a Week,” ” (All I Have to Do Is) Dream,” “On the Road Again,” and “Dont Fence Me In” – Be sure to print these out if you don’t have them!
When: Thursday, April 28th; 7:00p-8:30p
Where: Triangle Park (south side of the park, on the grass, near the podium/stage) – it’s between Guadalupe & N. Lamar and 46th & 47th Street – please ‘google map’ “Triangle Park Austin” and zoom in – it works! đ
As we’ll be outside, there will not be a projector. Please bring printed song sheets. Bring a picnic blanket, too, if you like!
Probably many of you have heard about Eddie Vedder’s (of Pearl Jam fame) upcoming album, and that he’s often been seen playing our four-stringed friend. If you haven’t read it yet, check out this story in the New York Times. It gives a great overview of the ukulele’s position in music in 2011.
AUS’s own Jen was at the Old Settler’s Festival this past weekend to see, among other acts, ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro (known in ukulele circles as simply “Jake”). She writes:
I was fortunate to attend the Old Settlerâs Music Festival on Saturday, April 16th, 
and see Jake Shimabukuro perform, to a âstunned silentâ audience, for just over an hour. It was a beautiful day and Jake and his Kamaka 4-string tenor ukulele kept everyone enthralled with gorgeous compositions and the stories behind them as well as the songs for which he put on his âbasketball jerseyâ to cover, including the song that put him on the map, âWhile My Guitar Gently Weeps.â He also covered Leonard Cohenâs âHallelujahâ and Queenâs âBohemian Rhapsody,â both of which can be found on his latest album, PEACE LOVE UKULELE. Â
After his set, I waited in line at the merchandise booth for a chance to chat with Jake and get an autograph and a photo. I told him that I really enjoyed his performance and that Iâd seen him at the Cactus CafĂŠ, exactly three years prior. He remembered that night well as Jimmy Buffet had turned up to watch him play, too. Of course, I mentioned that I had co-founded the Austin Ukulele Society and he was enthused about it and asked what our turnout 
was like and what songs we played. I also mentioned that I had emailed his publicist to see if he would possibly make a guest appearance at one of our meetings while in town for Old Settlerâs but that I hadnât heard back. He (kindly) agreed to try and join us next time he comes to Austin, if we can coordinate a meeting around his appearance.
After spending the whole day at the festival, seeing many great musicians play, I can say (mostly unbiased) that his performance knocked more socks off than any other and clearly garnered new fans and love for our favorite four-stringed instrument.Â
Peace, Love, and Ukulele! -Jen
Bob sez, about our April meeting:
Cheers to everyone who came to our April meeting last night [Tuesday, April 12]. What a great sing-along. My fave was “On the Road Again.” We’ll definitely be doing that one again!
Special thanks to Ukulele Tim Keough for sharing his approach to mastering a very useful finger-picking pattern. For a recap, you can see his online introductory lesson on the pattern here: http://ukulelesecrets.org/2011/03/27/ukulele-secret-2-folksy-fingerstyle/. And check out the rest of his blog, Ukulele Secrets (http://ukulelesecrets.org/). There’s lots of challenging stuff to keep you practicing for hours and hours — you will dig it.
A reminder to come by Sweet Pea’s Ukulele Night at Skinny’s Ballroom, next Wednesday (April 20) at 7:00. Location info and calendar here: http://skinnysballroom.com/.
There are rumors of a bonus outdoor Austin Ukulele Society meeting sometime very soon, so keep your eyes peeled for a note from Jen about that. [See below!]
Looking forward to our next monthly meeting: Tuesday May 10th at 7:00pm. We’ll be sending out a reminder and posting on our blog and FB page. If you have song suggestions for future group play-alongs, please send them in – just reply to this message!
As always, itâs a pleasure to play with you all. –Bob G
And about that second April meeting? Jen sez:
We are planning an outdoor bonus meeting, later this month. It seemed like a great opportunity to get together while it’s still not too hot or buggy out and enjoy our self-made outdoor music! đ
What: Strum-along to “Three Little Birds” “Ring of Fire” “Stand By Me” “Eight Days a Week” “On the Road Again” “(All I Have to Do Is) Dream” and “Don’t Fence Me In” – if we’re going to add any more songs, we’ll send another note and the song sheet! Please let me know if you need any of the above song sheets emailed to you, too!
When: Thursday, April 28th; 7:00p-8:30p
Where: Triangle Park (south side of the park, on the grass, near the podium/stage) – it’s between Guadalupe & N. Lamar and 45th & 46th Street – please ‘google map’ “Triangle Park Austin” and zoom in – it works!
As we’ll be outside, there will not be a projector. Please bring printed song sheets. Bring a picnic blanket, too, if you like!
We’ll plan to meet at the Community Room at Central Market, as usual, on the second Tuesday of May (5/10) at 7:00pm and send a reminder about it as well.
If there are any questions, let us know – looking forward to seeing you on Thursday, 4/28!
See you then!
I knew, as soon as I arrived, that not many AUS members had come to the Lone Star Uke Fest in Dallas from Thurs, Apr 7 to Sat, Apr 9. So here’s my brief report for those who missed it.
The #1 Good Thing about attending any uke fest is that if you are a uke fan, the fest gives you a chance to immerse yourself in uke for a few days. You enter the Holiday Inn in North Dallas, & there are uke folk everywhere. (Well, except for what appeared to be some kind of High School Prom Fashion Show going on at the same time in the hotel, which made for a few interesting situations.) Almost everyone not in a prom outfit is walking around with a uke, and you can compare instruments, have a chance to try lots of different instruments, and hear other players’ experiences with their instruments. And you can play together.
Also, there are lots of classes and concerts; above left, for example, you’ll see “Ukulele Mike” Lynch demonstrating how to read tabulature. There are even classes presented on subjects only tangentially 
connected to ukuleles. On your right, you’ll see John Smith of the Wahooligans demonstrating how to build a percussive washboard. After telling us how difficult it is to even find a washboard in 2011, he showed us how to attach kazoos, bulb horns, and other miscellanea to the board, and create an attention-getting percussive instrument.
In other great classes, we learned the basics of fingerpicking from Mark “Spanky” Gutierrez of 4 Strings of Swing, and how to create a jazz chord solo from Gerald Ross, the uke and lap steel guitar player. You feel pushed past the flap of your envelope, which is good. Pops Bayless offered sessions on showmanship and playing blues uke.
And here is a picture of all the performers. I don’t have everyone’s name here, but among
this group are Pops, Michelle Kiba, Kimo Hussey, all 3 members of 4 Strings of Swing, the 3 Wahooligans, Ukulele Bartt, Gerald Ross, and Ukulele Mike and his wife and fellow performer Collene.
I sure felt that a great time was had by all, and although it may seem a little pricy (the full ticket was $295), everyone there seemed pretty happy to uke 24/7 for a few days while learning a ton of new stuff. Maybe next year, right? —Walter
Our next AUS meeting is coming up on Tuesday, April 12, between 7 and 8:30 p.m. As usual it’ll be in the Community Room of the Central Market, 4001 N Lamar.
What will happen? Our special guest will be “Ukulele Tim” Keough, the ‘mad picker’ at many of our meetings so far, who will provide the Tip of the Month. We’ll hear a report about the Lone Star Uke Fest in Dallas on the previous week, Apr 7 – 9.
And of course, songs! Bob tells us that we’ll play “Three Little Birds” (which appears to have become our official warm-up song), the Beatles’ “Eight Days a Week,” and one or more of the following: “Don’t Fence Me In” (Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, & many more), “All I Have to Do is Dream” (Everly Bros), & “On the Road Again” (if you don’t know who sings that one, you’re living in the wrong city).
Download these song sheets, and build your repertoire. Remember, if you have songs you want us to sing, let us know.
The local ukulele group, The Love Leighs (http://missjess.com/) are performing live on radio station KOOP’s “Adventures in Sound” program, hosted by Dennis Campa. Tune in this Saturday for some lovely ukulele music, 1 to 2 p.m. at 91.7 FM or stream at http://www.koop.org.
Austin Ukulele Society (AUS) 