Happy Birthday, Dr. Uke!

The YesterUkes want to send a Happy Birthday wish to Dr. Jim Rosokoff-- better known to us as Dr. Uke. Our entire ukulele adventure began with a single visit to http://www.doctoruke.com/ when Dianne was searching for a way to learn to play the ukulele she bought in Hawaii. A "thank you" email from her to Dr. Uke and a quick response from him began a camaraderie that has grown for the past year. Dr. Uke, who resides in Connecticut, has tirelessly explained, educated and encouraged this fledgling band in South Carolina.

Following his example and using his material, so generously provided on his web site, the YesterUkes began to grow as a band and develop a following of their own. The YesterUkes went from six players who gave the first performance in September 2007 to a merry band of 16 musicians from across the upstate of South Carolina in August, 2008, with performances scheduled into 2009.

It is with much gratitude that a HUGE birthday greeting and good wishes are sent all the way from the sunny South to our mentor in New England. "Happy Birthday, Dr. Uke!"

Start The Day With A Song

Starting the morning with a song is almost guarantees a good day. Residents of Pendleton Manor, along with friends and family, gathered to join the YesterUkes in a song fest today. For nearly an hour everyone took a trip back in time, singing songs that were once favorites. These folks sang right along as a dozen YesterUkes strummed their hearts out. Smiling, they sang out, tapped and clapped along.....and the YesterUkes even got one loud "Amen!"

Maybe this "ukulele crazy" group will visit again and bring another musical memory trip to this lovely place.

The next performance of the YesterUkes will be on Friday, September 5, 6:30 PM at the Red Barn in Gray Court. This restaurant is located just off Hwy 14 near Laurens. The food is always delicious. Steaks are just one specialty. Call 682-2771 for dinner reservations.

I've Got Rhythm...

It's as simple as walking and chewing gum at the same time....or at least it should be. The YesterUkes spent the afternoon with Kiya Heartwood, half of the duo "Wishing Chair", learning about rhythm. Our group is basically an all-ukulele band but a little percussion puts pizazz in our songs.

We worked on rhythm patterns while strumming our ukes. The hardest is getting muted sound at the right time. (First we worked so hard to make the chords sound right and now we only want a little thump sound......geez.) Then we learned about different rhythm instruments. No drum kits here....we need instruments that will fit in a tote bag. Kiya had members shaking, tapping and thumping. Spoons, egg shakers, tamborines, a paddle drum (not all at the same time) rattled, jingled, tapped and boomed. It looked pretty easy until it your turn to try. Learning to make "remedial" spoons might help us add that soft-shoe rhythm that we want.

Like everything else, it's mostly a matter of practice. So if you see someone counting "1-2-3-4" over and over while tapping on their steering wheel or if your neighbor is on the back porch pounding out tribal rhythms, it could be one of the YesterUkes working on songs for their next show.

Greetings to the YesterUkes from Hawaii

Every day is an adventure. Today we received a message from Hawaii. Here is an excerpt:

"Aloha YesterUkes,
One of our ukulele instructors, David Heakulani, sent us a wonderful news article about the wonderful work you're doing! Congratulations and Mahalo (thank you) for being an inspiration to us here in Hilo!" ---East Hawaii Cultural Center

It's amazing that news of the YesterUkes has reached around the globe. Wonder what's next?

Here is one for the memory books. Do you remember the first time you saw these young men? Did your parents approve(or was their hair too long to be respectable)? Enjoy this video from 1994 as they sing a favorite song of the YesterUkes. Sometimes "Keeping it simple" is as good as it gets.

Christmas in August

It's too hot to be outdoors. Which makes it a perfect time to stay inside, strum a little uke and think about Christmas songs. If thinking about December doesn'trick you into feeling a little cooler, at least you will have a head start on your holiday music. Here is a good place to start building your own Christmas music collection:

http://www.tusc.co.uk/songbook.html
Look for The Christmas Ukulele Songbook. It contains over 20 songs with chords.

The YesterUkes will begin working on their holiday music shortly. People have started booking Christmas events already. If you would like the YesterUkes to play for your holiday happening, contact them soon.
(think cool...think cool...think cool...)

Summertime surprise

It has hovered close to 100 degrees for the last few days. When it is this hot, wishing for an island escape begins. The YesterUkes had the next best thing yesterday when we played at Rabon Creek Baptist Church. What a surprise to walk in, all loaded down with instruments and equipment, and discover that we had arrived at their "tropical island." The fellowship hall was filled with tropical flowers, tiki torches, leis and tablecloths in every shade of blue.....then it got even better. Their members began arriving, each one in island attire.

The food was wonderful. Southern cooks are the best! It wasn't easy to sing and play after all that delicious food but we weren't about to skip lunch. Then the YesterUkes invited the senior members to sing along as we took a trip down memory lane. And after the program, the YesterUkes enjoyed hearing stories about the songs we sang---"That was our favorite song when we were dating" and "I loved to hear my mother sing that one." We hope we get to come back and enjoy this gracious hospitality.

Well, this is easier than I would have thought. I have added our schedule to this blog. We get many requests for information about our performances. This will be a convenient way to let everyone know where we will be.

To get to this blog, go to yesterukes.blogspot.com. Add this to your "Favorites" or bookmark it so that you can get back here easily. Let your friends and family know about this blog. It's great new part of the YesterUkes.

Thanks, Katie for making this happen! It's nice to know nice people.