Kingston Ukulele Society News

April 16 Jam

Greetings Ukulele Fans!

Yeah, I know I'm rather late in posting this notice about the April Ukulele jam. Even with a month between jams, time does fly. I've prepared a couple of songs for this month's jam, and perhaps I'll have one or two more prepared for the jam:

The latter song you may remember from the 2000 movie *Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?* It's a fairly easy 3-chord song. Of course, everyone is welcome to bring along their own choices, and I'll bring a couple of extra binders full of songs we've done in the past.

Beginners are always welcome, as well as more experienced players. As Manitoba Hal often says: "*Music demands participation, not perfection.*" If you've wanted to come to the jam, but were worried you might not be able to keep up, I say: Don't worry about it! Playing together with others is the best way to gain experience and pick up advice.

As usual, we meet at the RCHA Club in downtown Kingston, 193 Ontario Street. At the RCHA, take the elevator to the 2nd floor. (If you arrive early and the elevator button doesn't work for the 2nd floor, go up to the 3rd floor, order a beverage, and ask the person at the bar to turn on the 2nd floor button.)

The jam starts at 7:30PM. But plan to arrive around 7PM for socializing and a beverage.

Cheers! Hans

February 20, 2012 Jam

Greetings!

The February 20 jam is the first following the new schedule: Once a month, on the 3rd Monday of the month. Let's see how this new schedule works for us. I'd still like to find a way to move the jam back to Wednesdays. Any suggestions on venue would be much appreciated.

So far, I've prepared the following songs for Monday:

Gotta Travel On Billy Grammer (video)
I Want You Bob Dylan (play along video)
Puff The Magic Dragon Peter, Paul and Mary (video)
The Wild Rover traditional Irish song (play along video)

I'm sure we've done "Puff" before. "I Want You" has a nice riff with F, Am, and Dm. You can easily skip it if you're not feeling brave. Hopefully, I'll have one or two more songs arranged before Monday. But feel free to bring your own favorites.

As usual, we meet at the RCHA Club in downtown Kingston, 193 Ontario Street. Parking on the street is free in the evening, but spaces close to the RCHA fill up quickly. At the RCHA, take the elevator to the 2nd floor. (If you arrive early and the elevator button doesn't work for the 2nd floor, go up to the 3rd floor, order a beverage, and ask the person at the bar to turn on the 2nd floor button.)

The jam starts at 7:30PM. But plan to arrive around 7PM for socializing and a beverage.

Cheers! Hans

January 16 Jam, First Jam of 2012

We're now will into the new year. Did anyone else wonder why 2011 flew by so fast? It seems like just yesterday that I made my New Years resolutions for 2011! Back then, I resolved to spend more time performing at open mic events. I certainly did a few, but not as much as I had wanted.

Anyways, it's been five weeks since the last ukulele jam. The first scheduled uke jam of 2012 is coming up this Monday, January 16. Bring your favorite songs and we'll do a song circle.

Other upcoming events: First, on January 25, noon, I'll be doing a short talk on ukulele at the Kingston Unitarian Fellowship, 206 Concession Street. Feel free to join me. Bring your own lunch. And if you bring your uke, we can do a few songs together.

Second, we have an invitation to be the feature act at the Sunday night folk club on February 19. On Monday, we'll talk about this possible event.

The jam starts at 7:30PM. But plan to arrive around 7PM for socializing and a beverage.

Cheers! Hans

November 14 Jam

Greetings!

The November 28 jam will feature songs about occupations or jobs. I've found it hard finding good songs to bring to the jam, but here's what I've got so far:

Watching the Detectives by Elvis Costello
Grandpa Was A Carpenter by John Prine
If I Had A Hammer by Lee Hays and Pete Seeger
Blue Collar by Bachman-Turner Overdrive

I'll try to come up a few more before the jam. But you are also invited to bring your own favorite songs too, meeting the theme or not. Here are some songs we've done before that also satisfy the theme:

Yes, We Have No Bananas
Farmer's Song by Murray McLauchlan

As usual, we meet at the RCHA Club in downtown Kingston, 193 Ontario Street. Parking on the street is free in the evening, but spaces close to the RCHA fill up quickly. At the RCHA, take the elevator to the 2nd floor. (If you arrive early and the elevator button doesn't work for the 2nd floor, go up to the 3rd floor and ask the person at the bar to turn on the 2nd floor button.)

The jam starts at 7:30PM. But plan to arrive around 7PM for socializing and a beverage.

Cheers! Hans

November 14 Jam

Greetings!

The next jam is fast approaching, after a 3 week break since the last jam. As is the custom for our jams, this one is a song circle. You'll have your chance to pick the song, solo a song, or even introduce a song of your own devising.

In other news, four of us will show up at the open stage at the Sweet Folk Al(l)ternative at the RCHA on Sunday. Due to a schedule mixup, this is not a feature performance. But rather, a normal 3 song open stage performance.

Also, I've created a page for the Kingston Ukulele Society on Google Plus. Check out Kingston Ukulele Society. So far, just one of you has added the page to your G+ circles. I know most of you don't really want to deal with yet another social networking site, especially one that's still in beta test. But I think G+ has a lot of potential. What I'm really looking forward to is integration between G+ and Google Calendar.

Next, I'm looking for ideas on theme nights. We haven't done a lot of new songs lately. If you can think of a good theme, let me know.

And finally, the holiday season is approaching. The last jam for 2011 is currently scheduled for December 12. I know December is a busy month for most people. And I'm sure most people aren't really interested in Christmas music. So start thinking of ideas for that evening. How about an anti-Christmas theme? For January, the first even-numbered Monday is the 2nd. Is that too early after New Years for everyone? If so, we can resume jamming on the 16th.

As usual, we meet at the RCHA Club in downtown Kingston, 193 Ontario Street. Parking on the street is free in the evening, but spaces close to the RCHA fill up quickly. At the RCHA, take the elevator to the 2nd floor. (If you arrive early and the elevator button doesn't work for the 2nd floor, go up to the 3rd floor and ask the person at the bar to turn on the 2nd floor button.)

The jam starts at 7:30PM. But plan to arrive around 7PM for socializing and a beverage.

Cheers! Hans

October 24 Ukulele Jam

Well, Fall has arrived in Kingston. The leaves are finally starting to change color and drop. And we have another ukulele jam coming up.

The main purpose of the jam is to prepare for the Sweet Folk Al(l)ternative show of November 13, where we'll be the feature act. Even if you don't plan on participating in that show, you can still come to the jam anyways and join in. Just think of it as a normal jam with a specific song list. Also, we should have time for a song circle after the break. For our song list, I propose the following:

Who Loves The Sun
Eight Days A Week
Secret Agent Man
These Boots Are Made For Walking
You And I (Ingrid Michaelson) You And I (Wilco) (medley)
You Ain't Goin' Nowhere
End Of The Line

As usual, we meet at the RCHA Club in downtown Kingston, 193 Ontario Street. Parking on the street is free in the evening, but spaces close to the RCHA fill up quickly. At the RCHA, take the elevator to the 2nd floor. (If you arrive early and the elevator button doesn't work for the 2nd floor, go up to the 3rd floor and ask the person at the bar to turn on the 2nd floor button.)

The jam starts at 7:30PM. But plan to arrive around 7PM for socializing and a beverage.

Cheers! Hans