Hi DUGs,
Well, here we are, three years this week since Jackie put a post on the local Facebook page, asking if anyone was interested in meeting up to play ukulele together.
That first week there were half a dozen of us, playing and singing in our front room. By week two, we had eight. At that point, as we had only just come out of lockdown and people were still nervous about meeting together, we stopped looking for new members. It wasn't until June that year, when we started hiring the Rural Hall, that membership started to grow. We now have over 30 members, with a regular attendance of 20+.
It's astonishing to see how far we've come in those three years. And we continue to grow, both in numbers and confidence.
D.U.G. first meeting, March 2022
Four players from that first week are with us now. Linsay, and Alison Jones, who were there, but not in the photo, Silje, and me!
Alison was with us on that first night, but was unable to continue with us at that time. But she sent Simon along in her place on the second week. Alison is now a full member and regular attender.
Linsay and Silje recently rejoined us after short breaks. It has been lovely to see them both again.
Jackie was also there. Of course, not a ukulele player, but a very important part of the group.
Kathleen and John Gallagher also joined us on the second week.
I'm going to start this week's playlist with a handful of the songs we learned together in those first few weeks. We will then look again at some of the songs for BraveUke. I'd like to get better recordings of the songs, and hopefully finalise which 4/5 songs we are going to play.
Playlist
Iko Iko
Feelin' Groovy
Clementine
Folsom Prison Blues
Three Craws
End of the Line
Rock ‘n’ Roll Medley
I'm A Ukulele Player
Bad Moon Rising
Belter
I'm Yours
Part of the Union
Sweet Home Alabama
Western Isles
Rock 'n' Roll Medley
If you listen to the recording from last week, R 'n' R Medley is a long, long way from performance level.
Other than a couple of the changeovers, the ukulele playing wasn't at all bad.
The problem, for me, was the singing.
Now, I don't remember ever saying our singing was a problem?
The singing was, in fact, lovely, of course.
So, what was the problem?
Partly, it was the fact that not everyone knows the songs well enough, and we had a few different versions being sung at once - which results in a kind of mushy sound.
Also, this is a Rock and Roll medley. Some of the vocals were a bit too nice! A bit soft and stretched (normally, one of our strong points).
The need to be sharper, punchier... more Rock and Roll!
I'm absolutely certain we can get it right. Whether that will be on time for BraveUke remains to be seen.
Recordings of the original artists can be found on our website. I urge you to give these a listen:
(You will have to log in to the Members' Area. Any problems here, just let me know)
The recordings I did last week are also there:
I have attached the song sheet for the medley. There are one or two minor changes to what we played last week, I'll explain these on Wednesday.
Bear in mind, we may still make some alterations before finalising it.
The Song sheet can also be found on the website: