Uke Jam tonight. Bring Songs!

I saw Elvis Costello and a bunch of ridiculous (in a good way) musicians play last night in Cary and was reminded of yet still surprised by his general awesomeness as a musician, collaborator, and writer. In celebration, I'm bringing two Elvis tunes to uke jam tonight, one "classic" Elvis tune, and one classic country tune from his new record (erm, neither of which he actually penned... that's for another time). Come on out and play!

As always:
1st and 3rd (today!) Mondays, 7-9 p.m.,
High Strung, 1116 Broad Street in Durham

If you're new to uke jam, it's best to come at the beginning so we can get you started.

Ukulele Challenge benefits Ukuleles for Peace tonight!

What happens when you mix a bunch of ukulele players, a bunch of great local musicians inspired to pick up a uke, a supportive music store, a cool club, and a fantastic cause? Find out tonight at Pinhook in downtown Durham.

First, the basics:
Tonight, Friday, May 15th
Pinhook - 117 Main Street, Durham
10 p.m. - Durham Ukulele Orchestra plays first!

Now, from the Ukulele Challenge blog:

With the generous help of High Strung Violins and Guitars of Durham, we challenged local musicians to break out of the confines of their normally gigantic instruments and have fun experimenting with the versatile, forgiving, beautiful, goofy, sad, bright, recession-proof, every person's instrument that is the UKULELE!

The result? LET'S GET SMALL!: A Ukulele Challenge and Benefit Concert! It'll be an 8 act line-up of fancy and not-so-fancy panted musicians from the area, each plying their trade to "The Tiny Art" at the Pinhook on Friday May15th, in what promises to be a hot damn grab bag of genres, original tunes, cover tunes, original cover tunes, and other noises. There will be ukes of all kinds, accompanying instruments of all flavors... (read more here)

Also, check out this great article in this week's Independent Weekly.

All proceeds will benefit Ukuleles For Peace, a small non-profit children's ukulele orchestra based in Central Israel that brings together Arab Palestinian kids and Jewish kids, with the broader purpose of fostering a sense of connection and shared community between Jewish and Palestinian families in the region. We're asking for suggested donations at the door of $5 for this event, but anything you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Come on out and support local musicians and their ukuleles!

Uke jam tonight; Thanks to High Strung

It was great to see a lot of uke jam faces at the Jake Shimabukuro show on Thursday night. What a musician, huh?! I loved the comment by a young audience member when asked if she was going to learn to play like Jake: "Are you kidding? I can't even fake move my hands that fast!" I can't either, but still I'm more inspired than ever to play more and to find ways to bring out the beauty of my little ukulele.

To that end, come play with us at the uke jam tonight. Bring songs. Bring ideas! We can always look up songs on the ol' net and print them out.

Special thanks Lee and Christine at High Strung for making tickets to Jake's show available on Thursday. I'm glad some of you got to use them. For anyone else who missed the show, I recommend taking a listen to Jake Shimabukuro's Live CD.

Intro to Uke workshop this Sunday (tomorrow)!

I'll be teaching an introduction to ukulele playing workshop at High Strung tomorrow, Sunday, April 26th, 1 - 3 p.m. The cost is $20 for two hours. Get to know your ukulele and discover its potential through melodies, basic chord strumming, rhythm, and ensemble playing. The workshop is aimed at adults and will be useful whether you're a first time player or have recently started playing and want to work on your basics. There will be lots of time for practice and questions.

Please sign up in advance, if possible, through the High Strung web site. Or you can register at the door, starting at 12:30 on Sunday.

Future workshop plans include an advanced beginner workshop for adults, and an introductory workshop for kids.

Ralph Shaw/Joel Eckhaus uke workshop this Thursday

The ukulele workshop with Ralph Shaw and Joel Eckhaus is on for this Thursday at High Strung. Sounds like this workshop will be a chance to learn and practice some great strums. Here's the description from Aaron at High Strung:

Techniques for the Advanced Beginner with Joel Eckhaus and Ralph Shaw. Joel and Ralph will be presenting a workshop for ukulele players of all abilities featuring the strumming techniques, songs, and instrumental solo styles of both Roy Smeck and George Formby. Come ready to push your playing to the next level.

$20
6-7:30pm Thursday, April 16, 2009
High Strung Violins and Guitars 1116 Broad Street, Durham, NC 27705
919-286-3801
email aaron @ highstrungdurham.com

Check the High Strung web site or call them to sign up.

Ralph Shaw is a well known ukulele entertainer who has produced a good series of uke instructional DVDs. For more info on Ralph Shaw:
Check out the bio on his web site (RalphShaw.ca)
And here he is playing Viva Las Vegas on YouTube.

As well as playing uke and teaching workshop, Joel Eckhaus makes great instruments. See them at his Earnest Instruments web site. And here's a little more information about Joel.

Joel Eckhaus has been playing the ukulele for over twenty years. He studied with Roy Smeck (the Wizard of the Strings) and has performed with the Arm & Hammer String Band, the Blue Sky Serenaders, the New York Banjo Ensemble, the Howitzer Mandolin Orchestra, the Neverly Brothers, the Blue Sky Serenaders, the New England New Vaudeville Review and the Pinetones. He currently plays with the Fore River Jazz Band; a ukulele/tap dance duo, Ham & Legs; and his own group, Ukulele Eck and the Fabulous Lacklusters. Joel was a featured performer in the Ukulele Hall of Fame Museum's Ukulele Masters Tour in 1998. Joel operates Earnest Instruments, building ukuleles, mandolins, tenor guitars and other uncommon musical instruments.

Ralph Shaw/Joel Eckhaus workshop coming

High Strung is hosting a workshop with uke masters Ralph Shaw and Joel Eckhaus on Thursday, April 16th. Here's the info from their web page:

Joel Eckhaus & Ralph Shaw,
Ukulele Workshop
DESCRIPTION - More Info Coming!!
$20. Limit 12 people, so please sign up
early.

Sparkling with wit, charm and an infectious comic energy,
Ralph Shaw is the epitome of the very best that the
golden age of British Music Hall and Vaudeville can offer.
Joel Echaus is an American master of building and
teaching the ukulele. Together, they are coming to
Durham on their Southern Tour and teaching a workshop
at High Strung!!

For More Info on Joel Eckhaus: earnestinstruments.com
For More Info on Ralph Shaw: ralphshaw.ca

Ukuleles Rock at High Strung, says Herald Sun

There was a nice article about the uke jam in the Herald Sun recently.

Victoria Vox: more details

As we head into the weekend, we're looking forward to Monday's uke jam with our special guest, Victoria Vox.

Please let us know if you plan to attend by adding a comment, emailing marilee88 at yahoo dot com, or registering with High Strung.

Here are some important details:

• Workshop topics: Making cover songs original/your own, plus cool strumming patterns.
• The workshop is geared towards players with at least basic uke skills (i.e., you know at least a few basic chords - contact me if you have questions about this). Brand new players, non-players or others who wish to observe and not actively participate in the workshop are also welcome to attend the whole evening for a reduced rate.
• The cost is $10 for workshop participants, $5 for auditors/observers. Please contact me if cost is a problem for you. All proceeds will go directly to Victoria. Cash is much appreciated.
• The evening will start at the usual uke jam time of 7 p.m. with open playing. In addition, we invite you to bring any songs you'd like to sing in a very informal "open mike," or songs you would like to teach the rest of the group. Or songs that, in the usual uke-jam style, you would like the group to just play.
• Victoria will perform several of her songs for us starting around 7:45, and then teach a short workshop.
• Please note: Though Victoria will not start until 7:45, we ask that participants arrive as close to 7 (or earlier) as possible so we can all be signed in and settled before the show starts.
• At the end of the workshop, we will all play together. I expect the performance/workshop portion of the evening will go until 9 p.m., and we will stay until 9:30 for open playing.

Hope you can join us. The more ukuleles we have in one room, the more fun we have!

Victoria Vox coming to jam March 16th!

Victoria Vox, a full time touring singer/songwriter whose ukulele figures prominently in her performances and recordings, is coming to the March 16th uke jam.

Victoria will perform a few of her songs and lead a short ukulele workshop, followed by open ukulele jam madness.

All of this will take place at High Strung during the usual Uke Jam time. We're asking attendees to contribute $10 for the show/workshop, all of which will go to Victoria.

Check out Victoria Vox's web site, where you can also hear her new album in its entirety.
And this is her performing The Bird Song, with ukulele, mouth trumpet (!) and toy piano.

Please call or stop by High Strung to pre-register so we know how many to prepare for. You can also use the comments section on this blog for questions or to RSVP.