Ben Rouse with Aldrine Guerrero and James Agg at UFGB

LSH is having the lads in tonight. This is becoming an annual tradition - himself and a few pals to chew the fat and make some noise away from the women. Last year he thought I'd be going out - I wasn't - so I shut myself away upstairs with my uke and amused herself quite satisfactorily, thank you, while gales of male laughter came up the stairs. Well, it would be no hardship to do it again tonight, but it turns out that the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain are playing tonight in the next town. That'll do for me! I phoned a pal and we'll be there. The fellas can make as much noise as they like.

These days when I know the UOGB are going to be around, the first thing I think of is, "Will Ben be among them?" Ben Rouse. A really nice and highly talented young man I met for the first time at GNUF (Grand Northern Ukulele Festival) last year, although I had seen him perform before. Ben plays fantastic ukulele and I was pretty wowed at GNUF to see him doing a great job accompanying Mike Hind on double bass. So I was very pleased to see a few months ago that he now plays with the wonderful and very famous Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain!

I saw Ben most recently in Cheltenham at the Ukulele Festival of Great Britain. One of the headline acts was Aldrine Guerrero - my, what a player! (see also... Ukulele Underground) To keep this brief, what a wonderful surprise - on the Sunday afternoon open mic stage, who should appear but Aldrine, flanked as always by Aaron Nakamura but also by Ben and James Agg! Myrna and I hadn't been able to get a seat in the pub beer garden, so we were sitting on our coats on the grass right in front of the stage... how lucky... I was able to get some good video. Here it is, for your delectation!



Well, wasn't that something special!

See it on Youtube here...

There will be more on Ben and the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain before too long.

Meanwhile, thanks for dropping in! Busy busy, off I go again...

Andy Eastwood - consummate musician!

Here's another lovely quickie for you... Andy Eastwood - well-known as a highly skilled performer of George Formby songs, perhaps not quite so well-known as all-round musician and entertainer that he is. He has great stage presence and as you see from the above video clips, he plays wooden uke, violin and piano with consummate skill. The video says it all, doesn't it!

He's featured with a full-length article in the very classy publication "UKE Magazine (issue 6) (June 2016 here in the UK.

We're delighted to have seen Andy play live several times - UFGB (Ukulele Festival of Great Britain) in 2013, at the George Formby conventions in Blackpool, when he can get there; supporting comedian Ken Dodd and in the revue "We'll Meet Again". What an entertainer!

If you've never had the pleasure of seeing and hearing Andy live, I recommend you catch up with him in July...

Coming up in July...
3 Jul: Charing Cross Theatre, London
10 Jul: Grand Opera House, York
23-24 Jul: Isle of Wight Ukulele Festival, Newport
29-31 Jul: Czech Ukulele Festival, Prague

Thanks for dropping in - I'll be back soon with another post... more ukafrolics!

See the video on Youtube here

Life and Ukulele - the whirl goes on....

As I write, I have paused for a minute or two mid-mop, vac and dusting... preparing to welcome into our home a new ukulele friend from thousands of miles away, Myrna Ukelele. We live in the English midlands, she lives in Alaska. How does this come about? The first link is the Ukulele Underground, and specifically the branch of UUers who take part in the weekly fun contest, Seasons of the Ukulele. Myrna has been in there from week 1, myself from week 29. It's now week..... not sure. Been too busy to take part. OK so it's Season 226 now. So you make friends, watching each other's youtube videos. Then suddenly, someone makes it across the sea to a uke festival. Seasonistas can meet up for real. Isn't that wonderful? Myrna and I met up a few weeks ago at GNUF, the Grand Northern Ukulele Festival, held in Huddersfield in the north of England - since then she has been in France and in a couple of hours time she lands at my local airport, where LSH and I will be meeting her. A home-cooked meal later on, even a strum and a song or two ..... then tomorrow off we go to Cheltenham to the Ukulele Festival of Great Britain.

I must stop there... busy busy...

Watch this space!

UFGB - If anyone asks you , "Why ukulele?" ... show them this....

And that, dear readers, is my quote of the day.... by Emerson Rogers, his response to watching this video. I know exactly what he means. Michael Adcock jamming with the lads from "Shine" (whom I mentioned with high praise in my last post) at the Ukulele Festival of Great Britain (UFGB) 2015.

Shine are from Barcelona. Fabulous band, hugely skilled and stylish, they knocked everyone out on the main stage the day after this video was shot. Michael Adcock is from Ludlow and at just 16 is beginning to make a name for himself on the ukulele scene. To see them all enjoying the festival spirit and jamming informally together is just a joy. Established musicians encouraging and jamming with talented up-and-comers - (who actually do deserve this experience, I think, with all the hard work, practice and hours they have put in... how can anyone believe that this stuff is EASY?)... the generosity of spirit and the spontaneity seen here... when people ask "Why ukulele?" ... surely this is the answer!



And did you see Ukulele Bartt joining in there? Yay! Wonderful stuff!

See Michael this weekend in Wigan! Uke@Crooke, run by Wigan Ukulele Club. He will be performing tomorrow evening, Saturday 27th June, just before the bill-topper Phil Doleman! And he'll be giving a workshop in the morning! How's that - wonderful, I say!

If you're not able to do that, well see him here at GNUF Huddersfield in May here!

Thanks for dropping in! Catch you again soon...

UFGB Cheltenham 2015... second post with a few pics!

Workshops. How can you attend a festival where the best players in the world are giving lessons, and not partake? That's my view, anyway. I usually take two workshops, but this year my attitude has been simply to take as many as I could afford.

So, UFGB in Cheltenham this last weekend...

Any workshop offered by James Hill is a must - he is ukulele "god" as far as I'm concerned, and such a great teacher to boot. Teaching objectives carefully broken down into a step by step progression toward achievement. It was like a dance.... he guided us effortlessly through filling in the melody gaps between given chords to working out the melody line in another song for ourselves. He guided us along, then armed with the know-how and the confidence, we made it on our own. Satisfaction guaranteed! What a great feeling!

And he signed my Little White Uke...

As did Herb Ohta Jnr! Who, if he didn't actually remember us meeting at the Kamaka factory in Honolulu last month, at least graciously pretended he did! Another lovely man... the prize to be taken away from Herb's workshop, straight after James's, was a catalogue of the finger-picking patterns taught to him by his father, Herb Ohta... it was a joy. Those magic numbers on the page, (thank goodness I did have a pen...) telling you which strings to pick with which fingers and in which order - and hearing how they sound, worked into the music. The thing now is to practice them, get them under the fingers and into the brain. Definitely worth making the effort... for as Herb told us - if you can bring yourself some magic into your music, it's a wonderful thing... if you can bring some magic into your music for others to hear, that's the best of all!

We left those workshops, Caroline and I, feeling like cats who had got the cream. Having got the cream, we headed for the beer. And the concerts.

It was impossible to see absolutely every artist. You have to have refreshment... but we saw most. The line-up was pretty impressive. In the afternoon we saw Ben Rouse, Zoe Bestel and Herb Ohta Jnr before taking a break in search of something hearty. They all showcased their own individual style, and were stupendous. Then the evening concert was everything we'd hoped it would be. The first act was at 6.00 and we missed it. You have to eat. We found seats but changed them eventually as the people in front of us were quite a nuisance with their big ipads stuck up to video, and phones glaring lights up under your nose. What a relief it was to find seats where the folk around us were content to sit quietly and watch the show! Much more civilised... there, my little rant off my chest...

We saw Tobias Elof from Denmark playing wonderful Scandinavian folk instrumentals; "Shine", a trio from Barcelona playing swing music from the 30's, Ukulele Bartt, hugely entertaining; Ryo Natayama, a brilliant young player from Japan; The Hot Potato Syncopators, who put on the most polished and comedic set that had people in stitches; and of course the massively accomplished James Hill with his wife Anne Janelle on cello. Surely a line-up that takes some beating.

I have to have a special mention for Shine. Here in the UK you can't count on a standing ovation. It takes a really special performance to get everyone off their behinds. I tell you, when these fellas finished, people leaped to their feet in their appreciation. They were just so darned GOOD! Flying fingers, oodles of style, massive enthusiasm for their music - which was of the best that the swing era produced. The folk rushed out to buy copies of their CD... I know, I was one... those CD's fairly flew off the table!

That just left the Big Busk and the afternoon back at the Norwood Arms for socialising and the open mic. So here are a few pics! I'm always too busy enjoying myself to trouble with too many photos... then afterwards I regret not taking more!

Dead Man's Uke - (the coolest duo around!) and Yours Truly

Benjamyn Rees


Caroline and myself stealing a pic with Bartt!


My favourite pic of the lot! Stealing a pic of Bartt stealing a pic..


Cootching up close for a pic with Dave Morgan of DJ Morgan Ukuleles - The Uke on the table!


with my great pal Caroline Stewart...


Michael Adcock with Ken Middleton


and Michael on stage at the Norwood Arms!

Caroline Stewart at Ukulele Festival of Great Britain 2015

The theme of this year’s Ukulele Festival of Great Britain – “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. Clearly, there would be fairies. Look, I’m girlie, I like fairies, I’ve got a lovely pair of black fairy wings that I wore on a charity “Fairy Walk” one midsummer’s night… but this year I was accompanied by Caroline – and Caroline’s strictly a no-nonsense girl who would promptly have disowned me had I gone adorned in wings, ivy and flowers…. so I made the sacrifice and stuck to my Ukulele Freak tee-shirt – and on the Friday night get-together at the pub, the Norwood Arms, we held our breath and went wearing “Formby Style Rules” tees complete with George Formby photo that LSH (Long-Suffering Husband) had had printed for us. Sporting those teeshirts felt like going to a meeting for vegetarians with a placard saying “EAT MORE MEAT”. Seriously. George Formby, his banjolele and his music are viewed with varying degrees of disdain by a sizeable proportion of the ukulele-playing community in Britain. But not all, dear readers, not all. And as card-carrying members of the GFS (George Formby Society) (actually, Caroline is the Chairman, no less…) we felt compelled to fly the Formby flag.

The teeshirts raised some smiles. I think they were friendly… and in that great waiting-room for ladies, the Ladies loo, a great place for chatting while you wait your turn, a conversation with one lady revealed a great love of the Formby style… and my teeshirt was by that time concealed by my sweater, so it wasn’t prompted by that! Anyway, that evening in the pub beer garden, we gave the friendly types at our table renditions of a few Formby favourites… Window Cleaner, Blackpool Rock, Grandad’s Flannelette Nightshirt. And we felt better.

The festival was stupendous. I love it, love it, love it. The workshops, the bazaar, the concerts, yes and the Big Busk…. I’ll come back to post on all that.

For now, switch to Sunday afternoon. Back at the Norwood Arms. Open mic, strictly one song each. So Caroline went up. “Are there any fans of George Formby out there?” Oh yes, there were… they bellowed their approval. So Caroline gave them “Baby” – a song she sings and plays so very beautifully. Here it is. Played on a 1920’s Gibson soprano strung with Living Water Strings.



Went down well, didn't it! It turned out nice again.

(As ever, I missed that introduction, switching the camera on…. Pfffft!)

The Hawaiian theme went down a treat! More from the Uke Fest GB 2014

They'd got Taimane from Hawaii to top the bill - they'd got Craig Chee... so a Hawaiian theme for Uke Fest GB 2014 was a must. We had the weather, we had the music. We had the mood... a Hawaiian Ukafrolic in all but place!


Here are my mates, father and son Mark and Jim Watson... capturing the mood just beautifully, don't you think? It was great to see them again...

And here's another uke-pal Simon Grove (officially "Best Dressed Man"!) with Sarah Maisel and Craig Chee! The girl behind them is holding Sarah's de Silva Special ukulele, with the guinea-pig headstock... I had a hold of that, too... beautiful thing!



Craig Chee opened up the Saturday night concert, and brought Sarah on stage to join him. The songs they did together made one of the most heart-warming performances I've ever seen, their on-stage chemistry is perfect. Could be something to do with the fact that their off-stage chemistry is perfect, too!

For example - just watch this, a highlight of their performance together that evening..


Video by courtesy of Ed Doherty

Wonderful, just wonderful!

More to come... thanks for dropping by!

In The Money with the Hot Potato Syncopators at Uke Fest GB 2014

The Saturday Night concert at the Uke Fest GB in Cheltenham was a blast from start to finish. The second act to appear was the band the Hot Potato Syncopators.



I'd never seen then before, but as soon as they came on stage in their suits with tails, I knew they'd be doing my kind of music - songs from the 20's, 30's and 40's, and doing it well.. but I wasn't prepared for the comedy... they were hilarious and fully deserved their standing ovation! Featuring two ukuleles and a teachest bass, and three of the most talented musical comedians I've ever seen, this band should be seen more!

Please watch and enjoy the Hot Potato Syncopators in their fabulous finale to their act, "We're In The Money"... video and photo courtesy of The Hot Potato Syncopators



And yes - I did catch some!

Uke-Fest GB 2014 - the Big Busk - a mass Ukafrolic!

The midsummer sun shone obligingly down from a clear blue sky, as we gathered with our ukuleles in the Imperial Gardens on Sunday morning, ready to hold a Big Busk outside Waterstones bookshop ... but a last-minute "Health & Safety" hitch over use of their balcony for the PA meant that the Big Busk stayed right where it was, on the lawn in the Imperial Gardens behind Cheltenham Town Hall. A much nicer spot for everyone to play anyway, I thought - as you'll see from my little video!

The Hawaiian theme was well in evidence from all the Hawaiian shirts and flower garlands sported by the ukers! And there was no shortage of dazzling costume hats, deely-boppers and sunglasses, all adding to the festival atmosphere. There were visitors from California and New Jersey, Australia, to name but a few of the foreign countries represented... and Hawaii was represented here by Craig Chee! Spot him on the stage here with Sarah Maisel, during "Making Love Ukulele-Style"!



And here's a grand photo, courtesy of Craig Chee!

A mass Ukufrolicking Busk that even managed to better last year's, in every respect! How that can bettered next year, I don't know, but I do know that they'll try!

Thanks for dropping in - I think I've just about recovered from all the fun!

Coming up, ASAP - the concerts and the new addition to the family, bought at the uke-fest - new uke!

The Ukulele Festival of Great Britain 2014 - The Ukafrolics came thick and fast!

LSH (Long-Suffering-Husband)at last decided that he'd suffered enough and dispatched me to the Ukulele Festival of Great Britain alone, with his blessing. Dear reader, do not kid yourself that "everyone loves the ukulele... they don't! And at a big uke-fest, it's very full-on uke. Well, he missed a treat at the Saturday night concert, but more about that later.

I wrote last time about the world-wide uke community that is the Ukulele Underground Forum, and the fun that some of us have with the Seasons of the Ukulele contests. Those who take part are known as Seasonistas! I have a go from time to time, if I can find both the time and a song... in the results of Season 116 (Tin Pan Alley) I actually got a "shout-out" from Eugeneukulele (host that week, from Tasmania) in the results video! That was lovely... I'd done "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes"..)

You get to know the faces and "handles" of regular contributors. At Last year's festival, I wore my UU tee-shirt and as a result met Paul Redfern, one of the p'Ukes. This year, I recognised UkeyDave from his Seasons videos, and now that's another Seasonista that I've met!

So, here we are, UkeyDave and I, a contribution for the UU Forum thread "Seasonistas jamming with Seasonistas" not exactly jamming, as I'm not playing, just singing...

My apprehension shines out like a beacon!



That was just one Ukafrolic of several....

Coming up, a bit of the Big Busk; the new addition to my family of ukuleles, (I swear the fastest uke purchase I've ever made!) And - I'll be telling you about the concerts and the workshops I attended. Gold, pure gold.....