Why

We had a call this morning from someone wanting to book the Yesterukes for a program in October. Today is September 23. When she heard our calendar was full for October, she quickly asked about November. But we are now booking programs for spring 2010.

Total silence followed that statement. You could hear the questions in the silence. "How could a group of gray-haired old folks** playing ukuleles be booked that far ahead? Surely they are not that much in demand!?!"

We wonder the very same thing. Why are so many people anxious to hear us play? Now, our music is pretty good. And, hey...we ARE kind of cute. But it must be more than that. What we hear over and over, everywhere we go is, "We watch you play and it's obvious you are having so much fun. It's just contagious! I don't know when I've had such a good time."

That must be the secret. What we do IS fun. We are having a blast and the audience has fun right along with us. If making music and having fun makes you live longer, we should make it to 100! (And we will get to that request in the spring.)

**WE don't think we're old, although the occasional glance in the mirror says otherwise. Can we call it "mature?"

Why, recorded by Frankie Avalon, 1959

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Happy Birthday To (Us)!

Why does one start a band? The Yesterukes (un-named at that point) started because we knew a dozen songs and we all owned a music stand. Surely groups have started for lesser reasons than that. Maybe.

Exactly two years ago today, the teacher of a beginning ukulele class and the five adults who completed the 8-week course, played a few songs for a group of residents at Martha Franks Baptist Retirement Center (which hosted the class.) That was so much fun and so well received that we thought we would do it just one more time.

Then players began to invite friends to join us. "She would really enjoy this." "It would be so good for him to do this." "Oh, he sings so well, it would help the group." And on and on it went. Then strangers began to find us. "Can I just visit one practice to see what you do?" (He stayed with us.) "I used to play with a group in Ohio and I'd like to visit your group." (She stayed with us.) "I heard about this group and it took a while, but I found you!" (He's still with us.) There are other stories just like these.

And so it went until our tiny group of six became a band of 17--with a name, a logo, matching shirts, a CD, and more fun than we could have ever imagined. We have played for thousands. It's been the perfect musical venture, providing as much enjoyment and delight for those playing as for those listening.

So Happy Birthday, Yesterukes! Get out those ukuleles and sing Happy Birthday to yourselves.

Happy Birthday To You, by Preston Ware & Mrs. R. R. Forman, 1935

It's The Talk Of The Town

We love to hear from our fans--who occasionally are not related or married to any of us. This week has been one when we've had more comments than usual.

A gentleman who heard us play Sunday night at Green Pond UMC encountered the Yesterukes leader last night at a dinner meeting. He made a bee line for her to say how much he enjoyed the program. Then he added, "When I heard it was a ukulele band coming to our church, I wasn't exactly looking forward to it. But you were not at all what I pictured in my mind! You all are GOOD!"

A phone call came yesterday from a lady who had attended a short program at Westminster Presbyterian Church with a friend a couple of weeks ago. She said they went back to their community, several counties away from our "home area" and told all their friends about the Yesterukes. "They just don't understand why we are so excited! Can you come do a program for us? We want all of them to hear you. That's the only way they'll know what we're talking about."

A small child headed straight for one of our singers on Sunday night and told him, "Mister, you sure do sing good." We tend to think that our programs are meant for senior adults, but children enjoy our music, too. Maybe part of our mission is to plant "seeds" for the next generation of recreational musicians.

But the best remark was in an email sent to a Yesteruke member this week. It said, "...maybe getting together is more good for you guys than you realize. It's like Clark Kent stepping into a phone booth....When you guys get together you change from "old folks at home to "Super Old Folks" and have fun together. May we all be so fortunate."

So, let us head to that phone booth, and rip off the suit to reveal the blue shirt with our Yesteruke logo. We certainly aren't faster than a speeding bullet and we aren't planning to leap any tall buildings, but we might be coming soon to a church or retirement home near you. And that's good enough for us!

It's The Talk Of The Town, by Jerry Livingston, 1933

Homegrown Tomatoes

Green Pond United Methodist Church, established in 1866, is tucked away in the corner of a rural county. The Yesterukes found their way to the country church in time for supper before the program. They were delighted to learn that the church is famous for their tomato sandwiches...made the classic way--nothing but sliced ripe tomato, white bread, mayo, salt and pepper. Just imagine several platters of these wonderful sandwiches and enough other home cooked food and desserts to fill three tables. And people wonder why the Yesterukes like to play so many places!

But we had come to make music. And make music we did. After dinner, folks young and old, and every age in between, gathered in the sanctuary. A dozen Yesterukes, dressed in their blue shirts, sang for about 40 minutes. Little kids bounced in rhythm to the songs. Adults sang along, heads bobbing, fingertips tapping out the beat on the pews. Each age group heard songs they knew and loved. A couple of the oldest listeners told us afterwards that they were so glad they had come. We were honored that some, not in the best of health, made such great effort to attend.

When the music was over, the Yesterukes got to visit with the Green Pond UMC members. Getting to know people all over the upstate of South Carolina has been fun for us. Then it was time to go home. The Yesterukes had just the kind of evening they enjoy---wonderful food, good music and a great audience. What more could we want?

And, yes, our blog title, as always is a song title. It's a popular song from songwriter Guy Clark. A couple of lines from the chorus tell us...

"There's just two things that money can't buy,

That's true love and homegrown tomatoes."

Homegrown Tomatoes, by Guy Clark, 1983

In The Summertime

On a day that was hotter and more humid than predicted, the Yesterukes began arriving at Lake Greenwood. Several took the "scenic route" as they tried to find the cabin by the lake. The road where we met does not exist--according to GPS and MapQuest! The best seats in the house were the ones on the porch under the fans. Take a look at our day. If you are on Facebook, become a fan of the Yesterukes (just search for "Yesterukes") and see the entire photo album.

In The Summertime, by Mungo Jerry, 1970

Tiny Bubbles

Tiny bubbles. Not the song--real bubbles. Tiny bubbles, large bubbles, too many bubbles, not enough bubbles.

We often end our programs with our version of the song that ended the Lawrence Welk TV shows many years ago--"Goodbye, Ladies." (We changed "goodnight" to "goodbye" since most of our programs are in the daytime.) Everyone remembers that song.

Always wanting to make people smile, we thought bubbles would be the perfect touch for this song. And it has been...most of the time. The first time, there weren't enough bubbles. Do you know how much air it takes to blow lots and lots of bubbles? Someone suggested a kids bubble machine. Great idea! But the machine overflowed, leaving a very slick floor in a nursing home. The bubble machine was banished.

Since then we've tried assorted bubble wands. Single hole. Multiple holes. Today it was a giant wand, which didn't want to cooperate. The audience wondered why the gentleman in the back was standing behind us, waving his arms about while we sang. Then, at last, lovely large bubbles appeared. They floated up and out over the band. And the crowd cheered and burst into applause!

Those bubbles did make a glorious ending to our program today -- a huge gathering from the Foothills Presbytery. Think they would have loved us, with or without the bubbles.

"Tiny Bubbles", by Don Ho, 1967.

Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight

100 degrees! The weatherman just proclaimed today the hottest day of the year. No argument from any of us. But the temperature was just fine inside.

Almost 70 seniors gathered for good food, fellowship and music. As people were coming into the fellowship hall, they heard music playing over the church sound system. It was our CD! Even some of our own band members came in, listened, tilted their head as they listened harder, and then asked, "Is that us? We sound pretty good!"

We had a great time sharing and singing, remembering things as we went. Like when houses had one television, three channels and more good TV shows than we could count. And now a home is likely to have three or four TV sets, 300 channels, and nothing to watch! Our TV tribute song today was the theme from Rawhide. Just think, a ukulele version of Rawhide, complete with whips (well, the whip sound) and shouting. All we lacked were the cows.

The YesterUkes sang many songs. And because no one was in a hurry to go out in the heat, we sang some more. We had lots of fun meeting the people of Calvary Baptist Church and their friends.

"Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight", by Metz & Hayden, 1896