Holiday Songs at the North Raleigh Uke Jam - 121913-Holiday Uke

We had some new jammers attend the Holiday Uke Jam in December.  One of our guests submitted this blog-post for me to share with you all. 

AND ----- Here is a video of us doing the Hallelujah Christmas by Cloverton

A Hallelujah Christmas by Cloverton (Performed by The North Raleigh Uke Jam)

Merry Christmas

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When I first heard about the North Raleigh Uke Jam, I was fascinated by the idea. If one ukulele is cheerful, and two ukuleles are conducive to being an internet sensation, then surely a whole roomful of them would be brilliant fun – if not overwhelmingly hilarious. So Thursday, December 19^th, I postponed my trip home to Charlotte and joined more than 20 of Raleigh’s finest ukulele enthusiasts for an evening of Christmas carols with a decidedly Hawaiian twist.

I’m no ukulele virtuoso, as evidenced by the tiny soprano uke I brought with me - which is really just a toy that cost me about as much as a fancy Starbucks coffee - but the combination of so many different sized ukuleles, banjoleles, bassguitarleles, and percussion instruments makes personal skill level almost irrelevant since it’s the group’s sound and not the individual’s that ultimately shines through. That’s what I found to be so great about the Uke Jam, you don’t have to be an expert or need a high-end instrument, you just have to bring your enthusiasm; the music and fun develop organically from there.

Despite it being my first Uke Jam exposure, I immediately felt the sense of community and camaraderie within the age-varied group. The atmosphere was warm and inviting, the people were friendly and high-spirited, and the music was utterly fantastic. After playing a handful of warm up songs, I took advantage of regular Uke Jam attendee Mr. Rick’s generosity (or marketing ploy) and borrowed one of his fancy, thin-body Kala ukuleles—a quarter the size yet double the cost of my most prized guitar. The Kala was a joy to play and I cannot thank Mr. Rick enough for bringing such quality instruments for myself and others to try out for free.

The provided sheet music showed each chord shape and made every song very approachable, and I dare say, the experience was actually educational for me as I attempted unfamiliar finger positions and strum patterns. The end of each song was always met with smiles and laughter, even the more difficult ones that did not go so well. As we all strummed and sang Christmas carol after Christmas carol, 2 hours passed in the blink of an eye. As the saying goes, “Time flies when you’re having fun!” 

My experience at the North Raleigh Uke Jam was an immensely enjoyable one that I will never forget and I want to extend my thanks to all of the wonderful people I met for making that night so memorable with their holiday—and ukulele—cheer.

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Thanks again for having me over and for introducing me to the awesomeness that is the North Raleigh Uke Jam.

Best Regards,

Nolen

Video of Ukulele backed Proposal - City of Oaks Marathon

Back on November 3rd, 2013, at the Raleigh Marathon, some members of the North Raleigh Ukulele Jam were asked to perform a special song.  The song was the backdrop to a wedding proposal, one racer to another, in the grass next to the NC State Bell Tower just after they finished the race.  The song was "Longing to Belong" by Eddie Vedder.  He is famous for other musical adventures but now has apparently gotten very interested in the Ukulele.

The first Uke Jam for December was another big success.  We ran into a small technical problem, locked out of our usual room, but then Jason from the choir (they also practice on Thursday) came to our rescue and we played in the big meeting room,  We had one new Uke Jammer who had just purchased a new Uke that day.  We tried some new songs that we had not tried before, and introduced a new feature, the seventh inning stretch, where we played several songs standing. 

For the Jam on the 19th of December, we have posted two sets of Holiday songs here on the Blog.  Everyone should practice these songs and then at the next Jam we will do at least 30 minutes of holiday songs.   Print out and bring copies of these songs for the next Jam.  We are expecting some special surprise guests at this next Jam, so don't miss it. 

The Uke Jam was a big success last Thursday night. We had a great turnout again with about 18 folks. Mostly the same people as the last Jam, but a few new faces. We have a nice mix of old and young, with the younger folks always asking to play songs “from this century” which we were happy to go along with (Some of those newer songs are posted on the Blog). But of course we like to do a lot of the old classic Uke songs like Maxwell's Silver Hammer (when did the Beatles become classic Ukulele songs?).

BIG NEWS: The church has granted us permission to jam twice a month! From now on we will meet on the first and third Thursday of every Month. For November that will be the 7th and the 21^st. Also, this time we started collecting a voluntary “love offering” for the church to cover the cost of the room. This offering is completely voluntary and not a requirement to participate, but most folks put in one or two dollars, which was great.

We have started posting some songs on the Blog site, mostly trying to focus on ones that get requested a lot. The Blog also has a lot of information about events in the triangle involving the Ukulele, some great performances and workshops that are happening.

I passed out flyers for people to distribute, so we hope new people will continue to join us next time. We are trying to spread the word about the Jam, and we are going to get some t-shirts out there for the holiday season to advertise the Jam. We will be showing those off at the next meeting.

Triangle area ukulele world - Nov-Dec 2013

There is a lot going on in the Triangle Area Ukulele world over the next couple of months. 

Thanks to our good friend Marilee Annereau, master of the Ukulele and of the Durham High Strung Uke Jam, for compiling this list of events.

Here is a summary of things going on:

1.       The Aaron Keim workshop and Concert this week

2.       North Raleigh Uke Jam this Thursday

3.       Lil' Rev concert and workshop the week of Nov 18^th

4.       Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain Concert & Afterparty

5.       The Eve of New Year's Eve 5th Monday open mic at Durham HS Jam 

6.       First Night (NYE) in Raleigh with Durham Ukulele Orchestra and James Hill

1.  The Aaron Keim workshop and Concert this week

Aaron Keim will be playing at the Arts Center in Carrboro this Friday  11/8/13.

He's a lovely musician well worth checking out.

If you are not familiar with his music.  Please check him out.
http://quietamericanmusic.com

He is also putting on a workshop, but the date conflicts with our next North Raleigh Uke Jam, so you have to make a tough choice.

Thanks to regular Durham High Strung jam attendee Josh, Aaron will be giving a workshop the night before, on Thursday the 7th - this Thursday!.  Here are the details:

Place: Durham NC - 5103 Revere Road - Baha'i Community Center
Time: 7pm - 9pm    Cost: $20

"Fingerstyle Ukulele- Techniques adapted from banjo and guitar are a great way to arrange music for the ukulele. Arrangements using fingerstyle techniques can make the ukulele sound like a whole "orchestra," with melody and accompaniment played at the same time! Students can expect to work on learning a picking pattern, incorporating the melody into the picking pattern and adjusting the picking pattern to suit other songs. The ability to read music or tablature will be a big help for this workshop but not a requirement. All levels welcome."

If you plan to attend, please send Josh a quick email so he can get a head count. Contact him at:

jwieties9@gmail.com

2.  North Raleigh Uke Jam this Thursday

You all know about the new Uke jam in Raleigh, our next meeting is this Thursday 11/7/13.

We will meet again in the classroom building at the Church of the Nativity, at 8849 Ray Road in North Raleigh  from 7:00 until 9:00 PM

Questions and RSVPs can be directed to NRaleigh.Uke.Jam@gmail.com 

3.  Lil' Rev concert and workshop the week of Nov 18th

I am happy to tell you that Lil' Rev, a fabulous musician and performer and ukulele teacher will be in town the week of November 18th.  He will be giving a concert at the Orange County Quilters Guild on Monday, November 18th.  Here's a link to the description of the program from Rev's web site:

http://www.lilrev.com/scraps-of-quilting-music

Time and Place Details:  Lil Rev will be here on Monday the 18^th at 7:00PM, at the St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Chapel Hill.  They would like us to let them know how many ukers are coming, so please let them know if you plan to attend, or contact Marilee to give them a head count.

Then:  On Tuesday December 19th, Lil Rev will be teaching a workshop to be held at High Strung School of Music at the corner of Broad Street and Markham Ave in Durham.  He will follow the workshop with a short uke performance.  Cost of the workshop and concert is $20.  

4.  Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain Concert & Afterparty

As many of you know already, the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain will be performing in Durham on Sunday, November 24th - that's the Sunday before Thanksgiving.  They are being presented by Duke Performances.  The concert is at 7pm.  And it will include an audience participation/play-along segment, so BRING YOUR UKULELES!  After the party, DP and High Strung are hosting an after party at Fullsteam Brewery, near downtown Durham.  Everyone is welcome.   The band members will be attending and they love to meet people and hang out.  

There are still some seats available for this show, which is sure to sell out:

https://tickets.duke.edu/online/default.asp?doWork%3A%3AWScontent%3A%3AloadArticle=Load&BOparam%3A%3AWScontent%3A%3AloadArticle%3A%3Aarticle_id=FA39731E-B3A6-4D4F-8C83-76E47B8FEBCD

5.  The Eve of New Year’s Eve 5^th Monday open mic 

The Durham High Strung Uke Jam will be having their last open mic of the year on the 5th Monday in December,, 7-9 p.m., at the Sacred Grounds coffeehouse.

6.  First Night (NYE) in Raleigh with Durham Ukulele Orchestra and James Hill!!!

Great news!  There is going to be a "ukulele venue" at First Night Raleigh this year!  

The location will be the sanctuary at First Baptist Church Salisbury Street.

Opening act would be Larry Hutcherson and his on-going ukulele class, starting at 7:30.

The Durham Ukulele Orchestra will perform 2 sets, one at 8, and one at 9:30.  And then....

The headliner is going to be the great Canadian Ukulele player James Hill.

He will play a set at 8:30 and at 10:30.  

 If you have not heard James Hill, please check him out.  He is fantastic, and probably my favorite ukulele musician out there.  Well, it's hard to choose.  But he's definitely at the top of my list of people I've been dying to see live:

http://jameshillmusic.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZlnUbfyV2c

The first Ukulele Jam was a big success, with 21 people joining in for some great songs and music. We are looking forward to the next meeting on November 7th, the first Thursday of November.  We had a good mix of older and younger folks, and also of experienced and beginner Ukulele players.  The facility was excellent, and we really appreciate the Church of the Nativity support in making this happen.  For the next Jam I hope we can have a couple folks bring new songs to add in, although we had plenty of popular tunes this first night.  The  younger folks in the group appreciated the fact that we had a few songs in the book "from this century" as they put it.  The only other thing we need more of are music stands.
Going forward we will try to start posting some of the popular songs on this page so that you can practice between Jams.  We have Wagon Wheel here now, by popular request.

Thanks - Looking forward to seeing you on Thursday November 7th.

We are happy to announce the first gathering of the North Raleigh Ukulele Jam.  Our goal is simple, get together, play our ukuleles and have fun!  It doesn't matter if you've been playing 10 years or 10 days, we have something for all levels.  This isn't ukulele lessons, or theory, just a gathering of people who enjoy the mighty little uke, to play and sing just for the fun of it! 

We'd like to get an idea of how many will be coming so we can have the room set up right.  So please reply to this email address and let us know you'll be joining us. 

You can get more info about the Jam on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/northraleighukejam  

Or on our Blog at   NorthRaleighUkeJam.blogspot.com

Questions and RSVPs can be directed to NRaleigh.Uke.Jam@gmail.com  

The North Raleigh Ukulele Jam 

will be meeting on the first Thursday of every month from 7:00 until 9:00 PM.  Starting October 3^rd, 2013, we will meet in the classroom building at the Church of the Nativity, at 8849 Ray Road in North Raleigh. Beginners and experienced Ukulele players are welcome.  We have complied songbooks (classic and popular Uke songs) for the Jam, but feel free to bring along copies of songs that you would like to try out with us (bring at least twelve copies please).  Also bring a music stand if you have one. No cost to attend, just bring your ukulele and be ready to sing and play!

(The location is in Northwest Raleigh, close to I-540 and near the corner of Ray Road and Strickland Road.  The church that is visible from Ray Road is the First Korean Baptist Church.  Look for the white and blue sign by the driveway.  Turn down the driveway next to the Korean Baptist Church; continue about 100 yards to the Church of the Nativity facility.) 

You can get more info about the Jam on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/northraleighukejam

Questions can be directed to NRaleigh.Uke.Jam@gmail.com.