The Yesterukes is no longer taking reservations. We have enjoyed our time as a band. It has been so much fun meeting new people and going to new places. We will miss seeing you all and sharing our music. Thank you for all the support you have given us.

We can’t wait to get on the road again making music with our friends.

It’s been a while since we started in the fall of 2019 and much has happened. We had a few full months of making music with our friends; we had a few changes to the band; then Covid-19 appeared and changed our plans. Since we are all well-seasoned adults as are most of the groups we visit, it was decided that for health and safety on both sides we needed to cancel our performances for the spring. That was tough but necessary. We hoped that with the coming of fall 2020 we could resume our traveling. Again for safety and health we find it  necessary to take more time away from what we love  - the music and the people we enjoy entertaining. We hope we can start scheduling performances soon!
Check back later for any updates.
Be safe!

See You in September

We wrapped up our spring performance schedule on Friday of last week at Rolling Green Retirement Community in Greenville where we entertained the Ladies Group at their last meeting of the season.  This venue has become our traditional last gathering as well as theirs and they have already invited us back for the season finale next May.  We're not really sure how many times we've performed there, but it's always a great time with a delicious meal and an enthusiastic audience.

We're off for the summer months, but a few members plan to gather from time to time at the home of one of our band members in Greenville to jam and work on some new material for our fall season.

Here are some pics from Rolling Green.

See you in September!

Home again, home again, jiggity-jig.

The band found our way back home on Thursday as we performed for the nice folks at Martha Franks Baptist Retirement Center in Laurens.  The Yesterukes got started when our now retired leader, Dianne, hosted a learn to play the ukulele course there some 10 plus years ago.  The then very small group worked up a few songs and performed their first ever concert for the residents. 

Word got around and other ukulele players joined the group and the band ventured out to other venues near and far.  The band has grown to twenty active members from the original group.  Not only has the number of members grown, but there is not a single member of the original band on the current roster and we seem to add new members each year.

Let's see what the next ten years brings.

Here are a few pics from Martha Franks.

The Long and Winding Road

Like the popular song by The Beatles, a few of our members drove from Laurens, today, taking to the less traveled roadways to avoid early morning traffic issues that are sometimes encountered on the interstate highways.  For the most part, the trip went smoothly until we arrived in our destination city of Pickens.  Several wrong turns later, we were able to arrive at our destination thanks to our leader’s onboard navigation system.  A few others had some minor difficulty locating the venue, but nothing serious.  When you’re not familiar with a particular place or area, things can get interesting.  We were just a few minutes late and we hurried to set up chairs and our sound equipment.  We even had time to warm up and do a sound check before our scheduled 10:30 am start time.

We kicked things off right on time to a rather small group.  However, as the time went by, the audience swelled and filled the room.  We saw many smiles and enthusiastic participation from the audience of seniors.

Thanks so much to the Pickens Senior Center for hosting our performance and for providing us with a delicious meal before we got back on the road for the trip home.


All set up and ready to go.  Thanks to band member Glenn for the pic.

Happy Hearts are the Best Kind (as are covered dish meals!)

The Yesterukes had the privilege of visiting with and entertaining the Members of the Happy Hearts group of Hampton Heights Baptist Church, yesterday.  It was a beautiful Tuesday in Taylors and a much needed break from all of the rainy, gloomy, cold weather that we have experienced recently.

After a brief program and introduction, we got to work doing what we do best....making music.  Everyone in the audience seemed to enjoy our offerings as they clapped and sang along and that makes us sing and play even harder.

The time flew by and before we knew it, it was time to eat.  The food was delicious with fried chicken, rice and gravy, casseroles, vegetables, deviled eggs, potato salad (to name just a few), and a desert table with so many homemade goodies.

Many thanks to the folks at Hampton Heights Baptist for such a warm reception and delicious meal.

Buncombe Street on a Rainy Day

The day was rainy and cold, but our intrepid band members braved the elements to make the trip to Buncombe Street United Methodist Church, yesterday, to entertain and share a meal with their seniors' group.

The Yesterukes were in rare form in spite of some members being absent because of illness.  We wish our missing band mates a speedy return to good health.

The audience seemed to enjoy our efforts and that took everyone's mind off of the cold, nasty, gray day outside.

Come on sunshine and warmer weather!  Until then, we'll keep doing what we're doing to warm our hearts and those of our audiences.

Rockin' in 2019

It's always good to get back into the swing of things after a break and yesterday was no exception.  The band returned to The Crossings at Five Forks in Simpsonville for a mid afternoon concert.  The Crossings is a beautiful, well maintained facility just off busy Woodruff Road at, you guessed it, Five Forks.

The audience was a very lively group who sang and clapped along with the music and that always makes us happy.  We tried out some new songs and they were well received.

The staff has asked us back for three more appearances this year in May, September, and November and we'll be ready with some new and different numbers for those dates, as well as our old familiar set list.

As frequently happens, your reporter forgot to take pictures until the end of our performance.  It's a bit difficult to remember photographs when concentrating on arranging chairs and setting up and adjusting sound equipment.  He'll try to do better in the future.  Maybe it's time to appoint another member of the group to take photos.  We'll see.

Here are the few pics he was able to snap at the end of our performance as the band was packing up their instruments, music books, and stands.

 

Summer Break

We ended our spring season (and began our summer break from performing) with a return to Rolling Green Village on May 25th.  We've played there for their Ladies Group each May for the past several years and the welcome has always been warm and friendly.  This year was no exception.  The theme for this year was an international one with decorations featuring flags from the nations of the world as well as a banner featuring "welcome" in several different languages.

We were treated to a delicious meal (as always) and applause from a most appreciative audience.  They've already invited us back for next year and we look forward to returning.

     We hope everyone has a great summer and we'll be back on the road in the fall!

Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun

On Wednesday of this week, the Yesterukes did something (I think) we've never done before.  We played two gigs at two places on the same day.  We played at the Willows of Easley at 10:00 am and at their sister facility, the Commons at the Willows, at 3:00 pm that afternoon.  Some of us arrived at 9:00 at the Willows to get chairs and sound set up.  This meant we had to leave Laurens at 8:00 to make the hour long trip, but we were ready to go and make music for the residents who really seemed to enjoy our performance. 

We finished up there at 11:00 am and, by the time we took down and packed up the sound equipment, it was time for lunch.  We formed a convoy and followed band member, Susan Nutter, (an Easley resident) to Mutt's BBQ for a delicious buffet meal. (See some pics below). Thanks to Susan for arranging our lunch plans.  We all could have used a nap after that great meal.

When we finished lunch, a few of us headed uptown to visit a local music shop.  (Imagine that!)  The rest of us headed back to the Commons and hung out in the parking lot until time to get set up for our 3 o'clock performance.  The audience at the Commons was just as, if not more, appreciative of our efforts and we really had a great time playing for both groups.

We finished up there at 4 o'clock and by the time the sound equipment was loaded, it was 4:45.  Yours truly made it back home shortly before 6:00 pm.

It was a long day, but certainly worth the effort to, hopefully, bring some joy to the residents of two fine residences. 

Mary Ellen limbering up

Don't talk to me, I'll lose count!

Bruce, Sharron, and Sadie

Sally and Bren

Some of the nice folks at the Willows

Susie, Sally, Julia, And Glenn

Susan, Sadie, and Sue talking it over

"Shy" Sharron and Peggy

Some of the Mutt's for lunch bunch - Claire, Sally, and Sharron

Sadie, Mary Ellen, and Bren

Smiling Susan and not really sure what Sadie's doing

Did somebody lick the red off of Dick's candy?

Yep, must have been Ken........

Parisview Baptist

What a great time we had today with the folks at Parisview Baptist Church!  This was, I think, our third visit there and probably not our last, based on comments from members of their Golden Agers Group.  It's always good to return to a place so warm and welcoming.  We played for about 45 minutes, after which we were treated to a delicious meal.  We often joke that we work for food and today was no disappointment.  As we left, we were greeted with many thank you wishes and we feel the same way.  Many friendships were made and renewed today.  Enjoy these pics.

Setting up

Sadie and Susan

Peggy chillin'

Bob and Sue

Bren (aka Little White Dove)

Claire and Mary Ellen (They're really not that scary.)

Sue and Bruce

The Peanut Gallery ( Bob, Ken, Susan, and Sadie)

Sharron 

Let's hope they ask us back real soon!