Oh what a night!

Our 10th Anniversary Celebration exceeded expectations

Hi,

Wow. It really happened. Thursday, Oct. 19, we commemorated 10 years of playing ukuleles (or 750 wasted hours of your life you’ll never get back, as David said) with a fantastic party, including great food, a huge cake, and terrific performances and memories.

A few highlights from the evening:

Our organizing committee!

We had the best swag (thanks to Bonnie, Bob, Nell, Rick Higgens, et al!)

As I was sayin’ …

We had loads of food, including these great brie-and-fig filled rolls from Marie! “Shipped” in a ukulele box!

Genius!

Now, for the entertainment …

When was the last time Kasha’s dancers honored your uke jam? Hmmm?

The Bondettes shared their wonderful strumming and harmonies!

Far From Done showed us everybody’s crazy ‘bout an ukulele man!

Our own George Douglas brought his son Matt (from Mountain Goats, among other bands) and delighted us with a Mountain Goats song AND a great version of "Stormy Weather" with Matt on sax!

The audience had a great time!

To close the evening, we played a few of the Top Ten songs selected by our members, with some fun facts to boot.

Some history

David offered a brief oral history of the Raleigh Uke Jam, and assembled a PowerPoint slideshow chronicling our decade together. Look for a PDF of the slideshow in an email!

Up next

We’re kinda/sorta back to normal. Remember, the NC Whirligig Festival is the weekend of Nov. 4. in Wilson. Saturday at noon, the NC Ukulele Collective (members of uke clubs from Wilson, Fayetteville, New Bern, Oriental, and here) will sing/strum at the Wilson County Courthouse. If you’re joining the fun, be sure to bring the music (available in our Dropbox folder) with your uke and a stand. We’ll start on time, so get there early! Should be a great day and fun for all!

As for our stuff —

• Thursday, Nov. 2, 7 pm: Jam at the church. Among other goodies, we’ll play those Top Ten (actually 11 … there was a tie) songs. All of them!

• Thursday, Nov. 16, 7 pm: Jam at the church. Will we let a few holiday songs trickle in? Show up and find out!

• Thursday, Nov. 30, 7 pm: Open Mic at the Church. The final open mic of 2023! Get a song or two ready to share with our super-supportive audience, or drop in to be part of that great audience!

• Thursday, Dec. 7, 7 pm: Jam at the church. Our final 2023 gathering at the church. That’s because we have a special event on our next jam night!

• Thursday, Dec. 21, (probably) 7 pm: Holiday Jam at Azure Violins, 2409 Crabtree Blvd, Gateway Plaza (near the Greyhound Station). We’ll spread Christmas cheer with an informal jam at Azure. Some of Kari and Channing’s students — including ukulele players — will join us! I’ll collect a song list, don’t treat this as a performance; it’s Raleigh’s contribution to Make Music Day, Winter edition, and a chance to strum and sing and enjoy the season with old and new friends. If it’s a warm evening, we’ll play in front of the store on the covered sidewalk. If not, we’ll be indoors. The start time could move to 6 or 6:30, so stay tuned for details. Feel free to don holiday garb, and stay to grab a bite to eat or a libation at one of the restaurants/breweries at Gateway Plaza! NO JAM AT THE CHURCH DECEMBER 21.

• Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024(!), 7 pm: Jam at the church. New year, more ukes!

Other holiday gigs?

I will contact the Total Life Centers at Departure Drive and Bond Park to check about playing Christmas and holiday songs in December. Depending on COVID restrictions, we may have to play under the portico at Bond Park. If you prefer some weekdays more than others, let me know. Play times are likely to be mid-afternoon at Departure and late morning at Bond Park. Thanks, all!

We’ll ask The Bondettes to take us home …

Grateful Rick