AJ Leonard concert - 12 July and other news

Contents

Scroll down for the details.
1. AJ Leonard Concert - 12 July
2. UUU - this Saturday
3. CWA Ukestra gig - 23 July
4. Ukestral Voices Video is out!
5. Price Rise from July 1
6. Next Beginners Workshop
7. Some gorgeous unsolicited praise about the power of the uke
8. New Video by The Do Riders
9. Thanks to the men's gig participants
10. Ukulele Jamboree - Barrington Tops - early November.

1. AJ Leonard Concert - 12 July

We are delighted to have Australia’s premier and most congenial ukulele player, AJ Leonard and partner, cellist Jenny Rowlands as they narrate and accompany their new Theme Concert; “In A Little Hula Heaven” a wonderful tale of the Ukulele with amazing old images gathered over the years. Book here.

The concert will also feature 3 songs from each of:

• The public performing debut of the Paterson Pluckestra (Monday nights at the Paterson Tavern). One person from a more Newcastle-based ukestra went once, never to return, saying - "they're all professionals!" I wouldn't go that far, but they are pretty damn good! Have a listen here. 

• Ukestral Voices - the Friday ukechoir with Jane. Their video was released yesterday. It's wonderful (click here!) 

• The Ukastle Ukestra (Hawaiian version). The concert is days before most of the 2013 Hawaiian contingent leave. Come farewell them and wish them luck! More information on the Hawaii Ukulele Festival is here. In years past you have also been able to listen to it livestreaming online.

2. UUU

This weekend is the first UUU session. We meet at the Wickham Croatian Club this Saturday morning at 11:30am. Click here to find out about the UUU? Some people are debating the first U. What does it mean?  - 'Ultimate'? 'Uber'? Uninhibited?  You decide.

Please feel free to join us - there are, however, some participation criteria. And it will be an evolving idea.

3. CWA Ukestra Gig - 23 July

Hi Ukestrans
I have been asked to put a Ukestra group together for an upcoming CWA gig.  Along with a dozen or so other ukestrans available on the day, we would like to invite a further 8 or 10 more, as space is limited, to join us for this performance. Brief details are:
DATE: Tuesday 23 July, 2013
VENUE: Belmont Senior Citizens’ Hall
PERFORMANCE TIME: 11:00am to 12 noon
UKESTRA LEADER - Danielle will be the Musical Coordinator for this gig and will also be providing and organising the operation of the PA.
REHEARSAL - Danielle will be running a Rehearsal on Saturday 22 June at the Croatian Club Board Room, immediately after the Uber Ukastle Ukestra practice, about 1:10pm.
SET LIST (not in order, Danielle will advise order and final leads at rehearsal)

• Price Tag – vocal lead tba
• Bring Me Sunshine – Martin, vocal lead
• Pokarekare Ana
• My Island Home – Kiri, vocal lead
• Sloop John B
• All I Want Is You
• The Middle – Susan G, vocal lead
• Trains & Boats & Planes – tba
• Sway
• Better Be Home Soon – Christine, vocal lead
• My Girl – tba
• Under The Milky Way – Lindsay, vocal lead
• Don’t Sing Aloha When I Go
• All I have to Do Is Dream
• I Can See Clearly Now

We are being paid $300 for this gig of which Danielle will receive $150 and the balance of $150 will be deposited into the Newcastle Ukulele Community Folk Club Account.

If you would like to, and are able to be part of this gig would you please let me know by return email in the next few days please? I will then send you the final details for this gig during the weekend.
Ukestrally yours
Martin Bond : )
email: martbond (at) ozemail.com.au (replace (at) with an '@')
Mob: 0419 985 254

4. Ukestral Voices Video is out!!

We were privileged a few weeks ago to host Benoit and Gaelle. They are a young French couple who have a small production outfit called Groovy Banana. Jane and Mark met them very briefly at Hanoi airport. They had a ukulele in their backpack so of course we spoke to them. Then, some weeks later, they lobbed up on a front door step, with a swag of talent and cameras and lenses in tow. This is one of the outcomes.



Ain't that just fabulous!!! Well done to all the guys who participated in this.

This is us, and them ... Groovy Bananas indeed!

We wait with bated breath for the release of the video that we filmed at Newcastle Baths and at the Thursday night ukestra. That will be a real hoot (we did Price Tag).

5. Price rise - from July 1, 2013

Speaking of Price Tags. In early 2012 we introduced prepays (and we had to start paying GST). Since then we have not had a price rise. The world spins, and costs continue to rise (I can't believe the price of petrol this week), so, from July 1, we are basically raising everything by 50c. If you already have a prepay Uketen, then that of course remains until you use it (but they expire one year after purchase).

So the new prices (from July 1st) for ukestra sessions are:

City Prepay Uketen: $120 (for ten sessions at a city ukestra that expires a year after purchase). Some people use this to work out private arrangements (friends sharing a uketen, even some husbands and wives have been known to!).
City Casual: $14.50 per session

City Second in a week: $8 (yes, that's more than 50c, but so be it).
Regional Prepay Uketen: $140 (This applies to Cessnock, Tomaree and Paterson where the numbers are much smaller than city ukestras)
Regional Prepay Casual: $15.50

6. Beginners Workshop - this Saturday 22nd - 1:30-3:30pm

If you have friends / relatives who you think might benefit from some uke / music joy, then please do refer them on. Details at our website. If you are wondering what benefits they might get, read the beautiful email we got just today from a regular.

7. Unsolicited Praise (names changed to protect the innocent)

Dear Mark and Jane,
Just wanted to add a personal thank you for all you've done for me - and now for my big brother Godfrey (Moscomen). He started with Danielle in March and is really enjoying the uke. We're so grateful to her for encouraging him. So picture last Saturday, here at Stratford, my 73 year old brother and me playing the uke together. The first time in our whole lives we've ever done such a thing. Godfrey has never learnt a musical instrument before and not shown any inclination to do so. I was thrilled when we played "Four Strong Winds" and "Sloop John B". As Godfrey said, our darling Mother would be so happy looking down on us. So, again thank you for all you are doing for so many people. You touch us in ways you could not possibly have imagined. With much love and gratitude, Myrtle.xx

8. Do Riders video

The Do Riders also benefited from the visit of Groovy Banana. This was the quick live video done on the Legge's verandah, in the pouring rain. Utterly delightful.

9. Men's gig

I just want to thank the gents who joined me for the performance at the Ethnic Communities Council during Men's Health Week. We had a very blokey time. It was fun. Thanks dudes....Mark.

We did get a thanks email from Mark Toohey (the organiser). It said....

On behalf of the Interagency Co-ordinating Committee and the ECC I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for the generous contribution you and your guys made to making our event a wonderful day for all who participated. You were by far the most popular part of the day and so many people commented how uplifted they felt by the performance. Please find attached a token of our appreciation.

Kind regards
Mark

About the uplifting bit - we knew that. And the attached token? A lovely e-certificate of thanks. 

10. Ukulele JAMboree - 8-10 November - Barrington Tops

We are proud to announce the Ukulele JAMboree to be held on the weekend of 8-10 of November at "Riverwood Downs" on the edge of the beautiful Barrington Tops World Heritage Area.

The Ukulele JAMboree is a weekend of ukulele jamming. There are no "acts", just a whole bunch of ukulele players from all over the world who want to play together. There will be a blackboard stage for those who want to get up and do their thing.

The venue is "Riverwood Downs" - a beautiful farm that kangaroos and platypus call home. Accommodation is pet friendly and ranges from unpowered camp sites to luxury cabins. All about 3 hours drive North of Sydney.

Bookings can be made through Riverwood Downs. Tel: 1800809 772

The event is FREE apart from accommodation, so come along and join in the fun.

PS If you feel that this ok appropriate please distribute to your mailing list.

For further information:
Check out our facebook page: Ukulele JAMboree
See our website: www.bluemugs.com.au/ukulelejamboree
Contact Dean Newbold: 0425 242 959.

Lotsa news again ... Kala ukes, Kotara Bowling Club (new Alder), video tomorrow, session fest - read on!!!!

Contents

1. Kala ukes for sale
2. Alder Park Ukestra moving to Kotara - a great new venue!
3. Next Beginners - 22 June
4. Next Ukulele Entree Course
5. Individual Ukulele Lessons with Danielle
6. Strum workshop with Danielle - 29 June
7. Children's Ukulele groups
8. Video filming - tomorrow - Newcastle Baths
9. Upcoming gigs (including Brisbane) and some other stuff (read it! You might find something you like at the end!)
10. Folk Club News (including Session Fest on June long weekend).

1. Selling Ukes and Cases/Bags - Straight Up Lower Prices

We now have for sale a limited range of Kala ukuleles. Kala is the grown up high-quality version of the beginner Makalas that we sell.

We figure that some people might want to upgrade, some may want to spend more (though not too much) on their beginner uke, or some may just want to have a different special uke to meet their UAS addiction (Ukulele Acquisition Syndrome).

We don't have a shop, and don't specialise in retail, but we do know ukes. This means we can sell cheaper than others, but we also double check the high quality ukes that we sell.

Jane is in love with her new ubass (and we have only one of those for sale at $550).

Mark is particularly enamoured (and has been for a long time) with Kala's Travel Ukes. Since we got the ukes in last week they have sold in droves.  Like the ubass, this is really amazing and innovative technology. Something so small and compact really does pack a punch. $200 for a soprano, $210 concert, $220 for tenor.

But we also did buy some cheapies, that are a bit different – for the same price as one of our Makalas you can get a Makala Pineapple ($40).

We usually bring a small selection of these ukes to ukestras, so check them out there or if you want a special uke we also have some lovely ones (ask us – more at home).

2. AldNewKestra relocating to Kotara Bowling Club as of this week!

Danielle penned this email today to a bunch of AldNewKestrans, so I'm just going to quote it to you verbatim. Tells it like it is.

"I am glad to announce that instead of folding, which has been on the cards, we have changed location and will now meet at the Kotara Bowling Club, Park Avenue, Kotara, as usual on a Wednesday from 10.30am - 12.30pm.
This will commence on June 5.
Mark came in to AldNewKestra to announce our demise on Wednesday, but instead, after a great deal of discussion, left with the conviction he could do no such thing!  A short while later he returned with the news that he had secured a new location, this having been one of his own strongly felt concerns.
Since the board at Alder Park has changed, we have not had the use of the bar as the club does not officially open until midday. Likewise, the bistro stopped operating on Wednesday lunchtimes shortly after we started, so we have not been able to reciprocate the club's support – via the bar or the bistro or by entertaining the patrons – in the way ukestras usually do.
As a positive though, since word was out that the Ukestra might fold due to dwindling numbers, there has been fantastic support from a number of ukestrans. This has boosted not only the attendance but the happy and welcoming spirit of the group, which has always been its trademark.
So THANK YOU to the persistent and wonderful AldNewKestrans: from those who have seen through more than a year of playing, learning and performing (including Elizabeth with all her hard work with the aged care gigs); to the more recent participants who have brought their enthusiasm, experience and support; and to Mark for taking rapid action in line with his Ukestra philosophy after facing the music, so to speak.
Now...let's start thinking up a new name!!
Danielle
p.s. we had our regular end of month lunch at the Kotara Bowling Club bistro on Wednesday and the food is well priced and very good.

3. Next Beginners - 22 June

The next beginners class is on Saturday 22 June at 1:30-3:30pm at the Wickham Croatian Sports Club. Right after the inaugural UUU at 11:30.

4. Next Ukulele Entree Course

We are going to run another entree course for beginners and novitiates soon and it will run during the day on Wednesdays (about 12.45-2.30pm)  in the Hamilton or Kotara area.
Please let us know if you are keen to join this course. It runs for 6 weeks and goes through the basics of ukulele techniques including strumming, riff playing, reading a bit of musical notation, reading tab, and learning about 15 chords. The course costs about $16.50 per class prepaid ($99 total) or $18.50 per class casual.
Please let us know you would like to do this as we can only run it if we have enough people (min. 8, max. 15). 

5. Danielle teaching ukulele at Jack's Music.

Danielle is teaching ukulele for individual lessons at Jack's Music. She is also giving ubass lessons.

Check out Danielle's website for more information.

6. Strum workshop with Danielle

A couple of months ago Danielle ran a very popular strum shop at the New Lambton Community Centre. It sold out, so she is running another on 29 June. Contact Danielle directly at chat@daniellescott.com.au or on 
 











 

7. Children's Ukulele

We are continuing classes at Cardiff South (45 kids this term!) and have an ongoing Jukestra at Charlestown (who plan to perform at the New Zealand Ukulele Festival in late November!) Jane has also just started another Jukestra at Waratah. 

In Term 3 we plan to make Jukestras more accessible and popular. The kids who are building their skills need more friends to join them! And the only way to do that is to keep training up new children in the joys of music-making. Talk to Mark or Jane on 0430434291 if you are interested for your child / grandchild / friend's child / school.

8. Filming a Ukestra video tomorrow!

We are making a video clip of the ukestra tomorrow (Saturday 1 June) morning. The songs we are going to do is Catch My Disease and if we can manage a second song then it will be Price Tag. Please practise both of these songs!




We met some young French film-makers at Hanoi airport - they are doing the filming for us! (True story).

We recorded some audio last night, so Saturday morning will be just the visuals (lip synching). We are meeting at 8.30am at Newcastle Baths.


This will be visual and audio recording of the song/s so you need costumes (bright colours, hats, flowers, theatrical stuff,  no stripes or checks, no plain black, gray or beige).

We will be singing to camera and so we won't be using music stands for this part of the recording. Please understand it is all about looking good!!

Secondly we will be taking small videos of people to make a montage (eg Susan and Christine belly dancing). Bring a prop, costume or just something silly! Nothing rude or vulgar please.

Hopefully we will be finished by 10.30am at the latest. If you can only be there for a hour then please do so. We may need to move venue so be aware that we might move around. Mark will have his phone on him (0430434291) so you can chase us down if for some reason we move elsewhere (nearby).

9. Upcoming gigs

AJ Leonard - we are still organising a gig with AJ Leonard - hopefully 12 July. Keep your ears tuned.

Hawaii
The Hawaii group met on the weekend just past, meeting each other and making a first pass at the selected songs. Only 7 weeks ish to go!

Men's Health Week Performance - 12 June
We have been asked to provide a ukestra performance for men's health week in Waratah (Wednesday 12 June 11:15-11:45am). Mark is taking a small group of men to perform at this. If you wish to be a part of this, please email Mark .

Brisbane

We have a few people already committed to the Brisbane Ukulele Festival. Mostly these are people who are already planning a holiday up that way, or who have relatives that they would like to visit. Please send us an email now if you are going.

Our presence (including Mark & Jane) will be small but notable - 20-22 September.
Central Coast Uke Festival - 24/25 August. We are playing!






Cruise Ships
We have finished the cruise ship season. Thanks so much to all who sailed in the welcomings! We hope you had fun! We know that many people did, and a significant amount of money went into the Folk Club's Ukulele Community Fund. The last one was a real pearler with some relos of Kiri's joining in - they were on the boat! The many kiwis insisted that we play Porekarekare Ana many times!

Sydney Harbour Ukulele Cruise

Got this email from Wollongong - email Uncle Cyril in Wollongong to book (unkle_cyril@hotmail.com).

Hey up folks, after the raging success of the last Swinagleles' harbour cruise we are running another one. It will take place on Sunday 7th July from 11.00am to 3.00pm.  Like the other one there will be a three piece band(piano, drums, bass) to support ukulele strummers strumming all day from a free ukulele songbook. A bountiful lunch is provided and there is a bar.

The price to non-members is $50 if you make your own way and join the group at the Darling Harbour wharf.

10. Folk Club News

Take your camper van for a lovely long weekend of Folk Music just on the Lake at Swansea.
Sessionfest JUNE long weekend - Fri June 7 to Mon June 10.


Sat  1st June  – 7.30pm -   2 Headliners  Trevor Knight plus SNEZ
Trevor Knight is a musician who has acquired some very nice “moss” while he has been rolling round the world, like his family of ukuleles....including his prized banjo ukulele made for George Formby of music hall fame. Trevor has acquired a reputation as a country singer (two Golden Guitars might have something to do with that) and has worked the TV circuit having a regular spot on the Midday Show with Ray Martin.  He has also toured extensively with John Denver and Tom Paxton amongst others, both here and overseas.
Snez singer/songwriter based in the Blue Mountains, Snez has spent the last two years touring Australia with her co-writer, producer and guitarist; Stewart Peters, squeezing their world into a van for months at a time, visiting remote and regional Australia, sharing stories and songs. She has performed at various concerts and festivals around Australia, sharing the stage with notable artists including Renee Geyer, Jenny Morris, Robyne Dunn, Mahalia Barnes, Gangajang


ENTRY: $15.oo Adults $12.oo Concession. $10.oo Club Members Kids 16 /under free
Contacts: Carole – (02)4929 3912, Ron – (02)4926 1313, Folk Club – Mob: 0421 412 358

Announcing the establishment of the UUU - The Uber Ukastle Ukestra

Y a UUU?

It has been three and a half years since we started our first Ukestra in Newcastle. We now have 8ish ukestras, from Port Stephens to Cessnock, down at the Lake, up to Paterson and of course in Newcastle.
In that time we have always had a rather inclusive policy on how and when people can join in with performances. With such a wide variety of locations, and new people coming in all the time, we have now had to re-think how we get a performance group together.

Our aim with performing is to provide participants with:

1. Opportunities to experience the rare joy that comes from performing
2. An experience and motivation that helps expand and build on their skills.
   

We also want audiences to have a diverse entertainment experience that is more than hum n strum and which shows that the uke can be arranged, played and sung with joy, skill and finesse, yet still be inclusive.
As things stand now, it is becoming more difficult to properly include people from across all of the ukestras, and to successfully arrange songs whilst working with eight different groups. 
With these goals in mind we have decided to adopt a new approach to performance rehearsals. Our aim is to improve performance quality and an improved experience for participants (on all sides of the stage).

The UUU - a specific performance rehearsal group.

So we are announcing the arrival of the UUU - or Uber Ukastle Ukestra - a specific and regular once a month rehearsal for those who would like to be a part of 'key' public performances. Mostly these are festivals and the like (but not, for instance, cruise ship welcoming - which are generally fairly joyous boots-n-all hum n strum affairs). And not to mention of course the fabulous work that a number of groups around Newcastle do in retirement villages. 
But if you want to be part of a more highly arranged and professional ukestra performance, then the UUU - run by The Sum of the Parts (music) - may be for you.
Rehearsals for the UUU will be for an hour and a half at the Wickham Croatian Sports on a weekend afternoon.


The first one will be on Saturday 22 June from11:30-1:00pm at Wickham.

Of course this will evolve, as we see how it all works out. Just like everything in life really - under construction.

What you need to do

At this stage you are all welcome to join in once a month. However there are some participation conditions.

1. You'll endeavour to learn the repertoire, and perform without a music stand. Memorise the songs (or have some other method that does not require a music stand).
2. Be a current member of the Newcastle and Hunter Valley Folk Club (for public liability insurance purposes).
3. You will have attended 1 performance rehearsal in the last 3 months and about 4 in the last 12 months. 
4. You will have attended three ukestra sessions in the last 2 months (so we can keep abreast of your skills). We reserve the right to make exceptions to this based on our knowledge of your experience.
5. We require you to commit to three UUU performances in a year (in the Newcastle region). We presume some people will still want to do the far away trips as well.

Cost

Performance Rehearsals will have the following cost (or not!).

• For regular participants of ukestras - run by The Sum of the Parts (music) - there is no cost. Regular means attending a ukestra session at least 2 times in a month. 
• If you attended a ukestra once in the previous month, the cost is $10.
• If you attend no times in a month then the cost is $15. This option may suit some people who have a high skill level and do not wish to attend a regular ukestra session, but would like to perform.
  

Benefits for you

As with anything, your skills expand at a rate comparable with how much time you dedicate to practising your skill! You will have the chance to learn:

• Parts;
• About arranging;
• How to be an effective leader in your ukestra or amongst your ukulele peers; and
• How to choose your part and be an expert in it.
  

You will be more guaranteed of being with other people who (like yourself) are more dedicated to developing their ukulele, singing and performing skills. You will also be a part of the team from whom we select lead singers and players.

What we'll do for you

The rehearsal format will involve:

• Practising the selected well known performance repertoire. 
• Introducing new possibilities for ukestrated songs. 
• Rehearsing and arranging new songs.
  

We will give you 2 weeks notice of the old songs that we plan to rehearse. We will chose about 3-4 songs that you need to have memorised. We will expect you to know your part although chords will probably be called out initially.

When we do new songs you can bring the music along and look at it. You do not have to memorise the new stuff for quite a while!

We'd like people from across all the groups to be involved, and we expect that we will get representation from each group.

Repertoire

The repertoire for the UUU primarily consists of 'ukestrated' songs - songs that lend themselves to being arranged for different ukulele parts and for choir-like voice arrangements. These are the songs that you will eventually need to know by heart (with a bit of prompting by Jane). Songs currently on our list include:

1. Price Tag
2. Catch My Disease
3. The Middle
4. Somebody That I Used to Know
5. Sunshine of Your Love
6. My Girl
7. All I Want is You
8. Bring me Sunshine
9. My Island Home
10. Trains n Boats n Planes

Stay tuned. Literally. And metaphorically.

Lots on: Announcements - Karuah, Brisbane, Central Coast, Sydney. Performances, classes and a bit on Vietnam

Contents

1. Ukestra Performance - Karuah - 19 May.
2. Other local(ish) performances (more into the future - Central Coast, Pennant Hills, Wollongong, Brisbane)
3. Upcoming Ukulele Entree Course
4. Banjo Circle - 12 May
5. Beginners Class -  25 May
6. Advanced Ukulele Course
7. Cruise Ship welcoming - 26 May
8. Do Riders news (and at Karuah)
9. SQ3 support
10. Facebook 
11. Thanks to Danielle, Susan and Leigh
12. Our time in Vietnam and Singapore (including Ukestration workshops and some TV reports and youtube links)
13. (An ad for someone else). Andrew Clermont's Supper Club in Woodville (same weekend as Karuah).

 

1. Ukestra Performance - Sunday 19 May - Karuah Bluegrass Music Festival

This is a pearler of a little local festival just up the highway at Karuah (20 minutes north of Raymond Terrace).  Camping is recommended, though we'll be doing some driving that weekend. The festival runs all weekend (from Friday night).

The Ukastle Ukestra will be performing for 30 minutes at the Festival at 11:45am on Sunday 19 May. Participants get free tickets for the day (with some really great acts on, in a beautiful location next to the Karuah River, this is a top day out)

Please email Jane (jane@ukestra.com) about whether you intend on performing.

We are conducting a uke workshop from 10.30.

Set List will be picked from ....

1. Catch My Disease
2. My Girl
3. All I Want is You
4. Price Tag
5. My Island Home
6. Somebody that I used to know
7. I walk the line

2. Other Uke Festivals you might like to attend

20-22 September

Brisbane and Wollongong both have a festival scheduled for the same weekend (20-22 September). Of course Wollongong is closer, but the Newkulele Festival sorta made a commitment to go turn and turn about with Brisbane.

So the BUMS (Brisbane Ukulele Musicians' Society) has announced SPRUKE! A few people from Newcastle have already committed to go and we are looking for a few more. We had a lovely small group up there two years ago.

Decisions decisions!  Brisbane or Wollongong. Bloody 'ell.

23-25 August

In August the Central Coast Ukulele Club have their Uke Festival at The Entrance.

June 15

June there is Ukes in Tune in June at Pennant Hills Bowling Club.

Hawaii - July 21st

We are all locked in for Hawaii - we will start rehearsals soon, with a meeting scheduled for Sunday 25 May at 4pm at the Wickham Croatian Sports Club. If you have a last minute thought to join us, please do!

3. Ukulele Entree

We have a new Ukulele Entree class scheduled to start in the next week or so. It will be either on a Monday or a Tuesday evening night at a city (Wickham or Hamilton) venue. This is a great course for those who need to refresh their (beginnerie) skills over a six week structured class. Contact Susan (admin@ukestra.com) for more info or to book in.

4. Banjo Circle

Hi there. Jane here. Finally I have got my act together and scheduled a banjo session for Sunday 12th May at the Wickham Croatian Sports Club (Albert St, Wickham).  There will be two sessions between 1:00 - 3:45pm.

Beginners - 1-2pm the first session starts at 1pm and this is for absolute beginners; people that want to learn 5 string banjo (note: not tenor banjo), either claw hammer or Scruggs style. I have a couple of banjos to loan for this session (must book for these extra cost $8). The cost for this session is $22 and also means that you can stay for the next session for free.

In the beginners session we will go over a few different rolls (Scruggs style), the claw hammer technique, explain slides, hammering on, pulling off, pushing off and "clucking". You will also start to learn to read banjo tab, which is how most banjo music is written.

Banjo Jam session - 2:15 - 3:45pm. The second session is a jam on banjos and I imagine it will go longer but we will see. If you don't have your own banjo then you can bring a banjolele and play on that. I will bring some music for us to play and you can feel free to bring some of your own music but please photocopy enough for others (say 12 copies). I will coordinate this session, give a few tips if required, but it is not a teaching session per se, more just a jam. There will be some easy stuff for beginners but it is mostly aimed at an intermediate level. Cost for the session is $11.

For the  jam session it would be good to know your notes in the home position, be able to read a bit of tab, to know about eight chords and also how to use a capo. We will use just the open G tuning (gDGBD). For banjolele players you can have the usual ukulele GCEA tuning.

Contact Jane to book in (jane@ukestra.com).

5. Beginners Ukulele Class - 25 May

The next Beginners Class (with Jane) will be running on Saturday 25 May - generally the time is 1/2ish. Goes for two hours, cost is $22. We have ukes to loan and / or sell. Will be at the Wickham Croatian Sports Club.

6. Advanced Course started

An advanced ukulele course, using the James Hill course (Ukulele in the Classroom), has commenced at Charlestown with 8 students. Adults - all of them. Wednesday arvos. Contact Mark if you are interested (either as a latecomer or to express interest for future courses).

7. Cruise Ship - 26 May

Jane will be heading up a welcoming committee for a Cruise Ship on Sunday 26 May (morning - time to be confirmed).

8. Do Riders

The Do Riders are performing at the Karuah Bluegrass Music Festival, Friday night at the pub (with a number of no doubt far more talented people than we!), then Sunday arvo on the main stage in Longworth Park (2:50pm).

We also are performing at the Tea Gardens Hotel on 29 June.

By then we really should have something happening with our CD that we recently recorded!!!!

9. SQ3 - Danielle, Mark & Jane

SQ3 are making a rare appearance on 18 May. We are supporting Kristina Olsen at a fundraiser for the Greens. Kristina is a folk icon/siren from the US.

Kristina Olsen, international singer, songwriter, and Woodford favourite.
18 May. Gallipoli Club, Beaumont St, Hamilton.
Doors open at 7pm for 7.30 start. $30 (or $20 concession). Tickets available through carrie@jacobi-sutton.com (subject: KOlsen gig tickets) or call John on 0411 154 004.
Greens fundraiser for the coming Federal election.

Also:
Tango Dance Workshop, conducted by Kristina Olsen
Wesley Hall, Beaumont St
Sunday 19 May 11am-1pm
$15 each or $25 per couple. Tickets available through carrie@jacobi-sutton.com (subject: Tango workshop tickets) or call John on 0411 154 004.

10. Facebook

Another way for you to get information, and to interact with fellow ukestrans is to 'like' one of the Ukestra Facebook pages. We have had a Ukastle Ukestra page for a while, but we've now set up Tomaree Ukestra (which is fairly well 'liked'), and ones for Paterson and LakeMac. If we get enough interested local 'likes', then we can add some extra admins to it.

Is that confusing?

11. Thanks to Danielle, Susan and Leigh

Our small business - which is all about helping people to play music together - is a fantastic group effort. But this particularly is driven home for us when we are actually able to take holidays, or head off on other projects. So whilst we were away in Singapore and Vietnam, we were very lucky to have Danielle and Susan keeping things running back here at home. Leigh I'Anson is also becoming familiar to more of you.

Thank-you so much for helping us have somewhat normal lives amidst the mayhem of what we have created!

12. Vietnam and Singapore

We had a great time in Vietnam for 10 days, and then Singapore for a couple of days. If you read through this blog (in other parts), you'll find snippets about trials, joys and tribulations.

We had a great uke time, in a number of different ways.  Travelling is where the small size of the uke comes into its own. I reckon it is vital to have a musical instrument when travelling - it is such a fabulous tool for relating to others and especially to other cultures. I particularly found it useful to fend off the rampant H'mong saleswomen in Sa Pa (North West Vietnam).

"Where you from?"
"You buy from meeee???"
"You buy from her! You buy from me now!"
"Me poor, you buy from meeee?"

A surefire way to stop the constant haranguing is to sing them a song. I don't know if they were gobsmacked, or just totally confused.  But they sure shut-up. Here are a couple of photos to give you an idea.

H'mong women are short. Jane is tall.

Subduing the sales pitch. Note the different ways of dealing with the heat!

If you travel in Asia, then I think it is important to learn 'Hello' by Lionel Ritchie, but Let it Be by the Beatles had to suffice for our tour guide - self-named Jackie Chan. Have a listen / watch.

And we worked, delivering a pretty much beginners workshop in Hanoi (North Vietnam) and two sold out Ukestration workshops in Singapore (at a great shop called Ukulele Movement).

This is a 5 minute news report from the Hanoi workshop.



And this is a youtube video of a Somebody That I Used to Know ukestration in Singapore.



A comprehensive bunch of photos and video links is here on Ukulele Movement's Facebook page.

13. An advertisement for someone else!  ANDREW CLERMONT’S SUPPER CLUB COMES TO WOODVILLE (nr Maitland)

Andrew Clermont is a legend on the Australian music scene. He is performing at Karuah Bluegrass Music Festival as well. Here is the blurb I was sent. Talk to them, not Mark or Jane!


Social entrepreneur, Lucie Bruvel, invites you to the initial presentation of her inspiring concept for contemporary village life in an agricultural landscape starting here in the Lower Hunter.
For your enjoyment the evening will feature a Folk/Bluegrass Concert, showcasing the talents of Andrew Clermont’s world-class musicians with song:

Montz Matsumoto (Japan) – banjo
Brian Dover – 40’s ukulele
Tim Rickards (Alice Springs)– guitar & Stories
And multi-talented Andrew Clermont – fiddle, mandolin, guitar, didgeridoo, and Appalachian Dulcimer

Bring your friends and come prepared to share a musically eclectic  experience in a vibrant and convivial atmosphere at historic Woodville.

Friday 17th May
Woodville Hall, Paterson Road Woodville 2321
6.30 pm for 7pm start
Contribution: $28 per person payable at the door will include a savoury supper at the interval

Tea, coffee and cakes will be available after the show.
Macquariedale organic wines also on sale by the glass

Bookings preferred to Lucie Bruvel/ Phone 4938 5880
Mobile (SMS) 0412 355 63 /   Email shepherdsground@gmail.com




Boy. That was a long one!

Keep on uking on,

Mark and Jane

Teaching uke and enduring travel tummies in Vietnam

Hopefully the main vestige of yesterday's travel debacles is being up at 2:37am.

I slept from about 4pm yesterday.

The Perils of Penelope (the title of a children's story from Kyrie's childhood)
Rube was first down with stomach cramps. She stayed close to bed and the facilities all day for obvious reasons. I am so relieved that this has happened for her here, in our most luxurious hotel - the Indochina Legend 2 - right near the lake in Hanoi. My understanding is that when you travel (in lots of parts of the world, but especially Asia), your tummy 'acclimatises' to the local 'flora' (shall we say). Best to wipe out a day here, where the family is around. And best not to have this when you are scheduled for a long bus trip!

2nd to go down was me. The street pineapple gave me some hot flushes, my eye ache, and then the lunch which preceded the pineapple. Maybe it was my body reacting to the idea that I had just purchased two safari suits for Do Rider performances!

Then Jane goes off by herself to get some relief from the two sickies. Comes back in 10 minutes having been hit by a motorbike. Crossing roads is quite the art in Vietnam cities. Pick your time and keep a steady pace. Traffic lights mean nothing. But this one dude was obviously an extra-maniac, weaving through traffic until he came to a halt on Jane's forearm. Jane retreated back to the hotel. We (they) watched movies for the rest of the day, and then they went off for dinner (Ruby having sufficiently recovered by now).

So! With all of that behind us now, we hopefully proceed successfully to Ha Long Bay. Two nights / three days of no internet access, limestone mountains and 300 tourist boats.

Teaching uke at the Hanoi Social Club
The most wonderful thing about teaching uke in Hanoi is being instantly plugged into a local community, both Vietnamese and expat. We had about 13-15 people come along, which was a bit disappointing (in terms of numbers). But we really were able to pool our talents and experience into teaching beginners (and near beginners) and more experienced people all at the same time. Our ukestration 'model' of teaching really assists that goal, and seemed to keep everyone happy.

We go in with some sort of lesson plan, and then in the best of flexible teaching traditions, have to ditch it. We started with going through C, Am, F, and the transitions between those chords. Getting fingers used to transitions is the main goal. The actual chord shape is secondary. It is the transitions which are important.

Within 20 minutes we were playing All I Want is You by U2. With picking, strumming and singing. Sam - an American - sang.

Second up we did Somebody that I used to Know, with Linh (one of the TV journalists who earlier had interviewed us - hopefully we'll get a link to that later) taking some lead singing. Lien was the other journo from the rival channel. They were very civilised in their rivalry.

So in two hours, with a 15 minute break, we achieved two songs. Youth really helped swift learning, but given 60% of Vietnam's population are under 30,  we couldn't expect much more than youth!

The Hanoi Social Club is this wonderful refuge in the city. The three owner type people we dealt with are all groovy Brunswick St types. Two from Melbourne, one from Cronulla. Clearly they have their finger (and market nose) on the expat market and groovy young professional Vietnamese. One of their ads in a local tourist map says "Make the beeping stop!"  How apt. And it does. And you do.

Very expensive by Vietnamese standards, but so worth it (especially for old vego me). I wanted to return yesterday, but Jane has got used to the VND30,000 meal price (about $1.20) in more regular cafes, than the expat prices (VND130,000????) you pay at the HSC.


Must mention Zippy Dee, who, in my googling, was the first result for "Hanoi, ukulele". Zippy is a drama teacher at the United Nations School. A Canadian - 27 yrs old - who, like other drama teachers we know is so full of life =, love and beans. Must be so inspiring for kids. Zippy came to the workshop but is a regular uke performer around town too. It was great to meet her.

Anyhoo. Off to Ha Long Bay for 3 days. Gees I hope there is a toilet on the bus.

Ukers and the Folk Club

Many of you will have already received this through your membership. But I've posted this up here on the Blog so it is there more permanently!

Mark.


From: "Carole Garland"
Date: 25 March 2013 11:56:47 AM AEDT
To: "Debbie Hamilton"
Subject: ATTENTION ALL YE UKERS.doc

ATTENTION ALL YE UKERS!!

Please pass this round to all players of the ukulele, within reach of Newcastle.

There are a couple of guest artists of special interest to Ukulele players, coming to the Newcastle-HunterValley Folk Club, of which most of you are members. Club nights are first Sat. of the month at 7.30 in the Wesley Hall, 150 Beaumont St., Hamilton. You don’t need to book, as the hall is big enough.
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6th April. Warren Fahey, he doesn’t play a uke, but his sidekick, Marcus, has one of every type of string thing known to man. They specialize in Australiana and the old songs.
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4th May, Nick Rheinberger, plus Andrew Rankin, will have, and I quote:

“I will definitely have a uke – plus banjo uke, Bolivian charango, and Greek baglama.”
N.B. He offers to do a special workshop for the Ukers either on Sat. arvo, or Sunday morning,
As he has done at many festivals and uke clubs. He specializes in teaching a simple two chord songs in four different rhythms. The workshop idea can be followed up by contacting him on - nick@fourtwelve.com In my view it would be well worth it as he is a graphic and vibrant communicator.

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1st June. Trevor Knight is bringing a banjo-uke made for George Formby and will perform a segment on the life and songs of George. He is also bringing a custom made KOA Hawaiian tenor, to play some more modern music. Trevor Knight has been playing ukes for decades and is a huge fan of them.

SO NOW GUYS ! Do you see how you are taking over the world? Don’t let me down in the search for interesting and relevant performers. It costs little to attend, but means the world to these musicians who have dedicated their lives to entertaining, as you now do yourselves. They simply want to feel that comradeship of fellow interests – it’s that that makes it worthwhile for them.
Carole Garland, Bookings/Publicity for Newcastle –Hunter Valley Folk Club.

Vietnam, ukuleles and cows blown up for fun

Am not quite sure how you are supposed to write a blog. Do you write it 'live', online, and click send? Or do you write it elsewhere, copy and paste and do a considered post?

I'm doing the first option, at 4:30am whilst Jane and Ruby (my daughter) sleep in our small hotel room.

'Guitar Street'. Nah. Let's call it 'Ukulele Street'
We are in Ho Chi Minh City, where we have discovered 'Guitar' street, renowned throughout the world as a place where you can purchase inexpensive hand made guitars. And of course ukuleles.

Yesterday we spent a harrowing afternoon carrying around 7 million dong across / around / through  HCM City's biggest roundabout. We made it, and paid Binh said money for 1 mandolin (Mark's new toy), 1 baritone uke (for Jane, with newly installed Fishman pickup) and 1 concert ukulele (to see how they handle Australia's climate and to suss out whether we might try to import and sell a few).

International trade is a funny thing. Having such enormous wealth differences across the globe creates great opportunities for both sides of the equation. Huge profits can be made by American / Australian companies that use cheap Asian labour, whilst working for western companies can bring enormous lifestyle / standard of living changes for those Asians.

Some uke businesses in Australia purchase inexpensive ukuleles in Vietnam / China and label them as their own to resell in Australia. We are thinking of the same. But we wonder what are the ethics of this, what is a reasonable cut for us to take and how we can help the ukulele makers themselves more fairly access the more lucrative markets in the West.

Binh is a lovely man who speaks some English, and seems to make a fine instrument. Look him up at binhguitar.com

Colonising Vietnam with the Ukulele
It seems we have stumbled across an un-ukuleled part of the globe. We have scheduled a workshop at  the Hanoi Social Club for Tuesday. There seems to be a lot of interest; even from television stations!

Hi Mark,

Really nice to hear from you :).

Actually we also hope that you guys can bring the Ukulele to the Vietnamese people this time . And I will be more than happy to meet you and that would be great if we can hold an interview with you about Ukulele, as well as the way to tell to Vietnamese audience more about this special instrument :). 

We are one of the Vietnamese Television Stations in Hanoi, which aims to feature the foreigners' activities in Vietnam, and I would love to co-operate with you in this program. So I think that we will come to Hanoi Social Club to film your meeting and teaching on Tuesday in Hanoi, and after that, we could have an interview about this.:). Let get back to me your idea about this, so that I can send you in advance the list of questions for the interview soon.:)

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Best regards, 

Lien.

We'll have to see how it all goes!

Cows and other non-uke stories
There are a lot of Aussies here, including some uke and non-uke friends. We caught up yesterday with old Bendigo muso friend, a young fella by the name of Jack. He described going to the VietCong tunnels and firing an AK47 for fun. Not my cuppa tea, but his shooting buddy described how he was able to fire a bazooka in Cambodia. For fun. 'I blew up a cow'. My how different things are over here.


Travelling is great for stories, but a bit of a challenge for vegetarians (like myself) sometimes. We ate at a pho cafe on the footpath yesterday. Cost us $2.50 ish. 'Vegetarian! I know vegetarian!' says the man. Two minute noodle ok? (yes, I say reluctantly). Then Ruby sees his wife scoot 2 metres across the other side of the lane to the 'supermarket street stall', and come back with a packet of Maggi 2 minute noodles. My lunch, what joy.