Rllink
Well-known member
If anyone remembers, about a month ago I tried to get together a uke jam at a coffee shop in my neighborhood, and while it didn't attract any ukulele players, it did turn out pretty good anyway. http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?107371-Uke-jam So, I tried it again. I took around fliers, got a few more put out than I did last time, and did just a little more to promote it for last night.
So a little over a week ago someone contacted me and said that he played the baritone and that he was interested, and he asked me about the venue, and amplification, and some other questions. And I told him that we were just going to sit in the corner of the coffee shop and jam a little, nothing organized, or anything like that, and he said that he would be there. So last night I got to the coffee shop about ten minutes early, and he had already set up with some equipment, an amp, a music stand, microphones, and just a lot of equipment, which was fine, except that I travel pretty light, and I had my uke, a tote bag full of music and a few other things that would fit in the bag. But I hadn't known what to expect, as I don't really get into details much, so it was what it was.
Right off the bat I liked the guy, but he seemed to have a different idea of what was going on than I did, and that was OK. Like I said, when I got there, he was all set up in the corner, and there were a dozen or so people there to watch, some from the first jam, and some others who were friends and family of the other guy. So we shook hands, looked at each other's music, strummed through some chord progressions just to see how we sounded together, and it wasn't too bad. Actually it was pretty good. And we had similar tastes in music which was good. In the meant time, more people started showing up to watch. Evidently he invited a lot of people, and I think others were just curious. The other guy also had his grandson there, and the grandson had a uke as well. I don't know why, but I had stuck a chord in my bag before I left, and I plugged into his amp. It was interesting, because he said that I could plug into his amp, and I asked him how. He said he didn't know, so I looked down and saw a quarter inch plug-in that said "input" on something that might have been a pre-amp, but I don't know, so I just plugged in there, and viola, it worked like a charm.
After a little warmup, we got going, and by then, it looked like we had probably more than twenty people out in the peanut gallery, so I went ahead and picked a song to start out with. I really like audience participation, so I had brought music to hand out, and the guy's grandson was happy to do the handing out, and we got going, with most everyone singing along with us. A little later the grandson and his granddad did a duet together, but that was about the extent of it for the grandson, and the guy wanted to do a solo for one song, which was good, as I got a little beer break during those two songs, and I think that the grandson got a real kick out of playing with his granddad. In the mean time, more people came in to watch.
All in all, it went very well, and the guy was a lot of fun to play and sing with. It was more of another hootenanny, than a jam, but that was fine. I don't like to organize, and if things get a little out of my control, well, I like it that way. I really like things to take on a life of their own, and I feel like things are more interesting when they do. My goal has always been to entertain, not necessarily to just play the uke, and we certainly did that. I felt like it was a huge step, and the other guy evidently had done some entertaining before, and he was good at keeping things going. He was pretty smooth. As I said, we had about ten minutes to get it all together, as we had never even met before that, and while we struggled with a few songs, for the most part we played well off each other. I really enjoyed it. We had to quit at 8:00, and a lot of people came up and talked to us afterwards, but the best thing was that when I thanked the kid working at the coffee shop, who was cleaning up by then, he told me that we were awesome and that we could come back anytime, so that made me feel real good. So that is a report on jam II. I think that if we had actually practiced a little together, we might have been even more entertaining. Maybe we will. I hope so.
So a little over a week ago someone contacted me and said that he played the baritone and that he was interested, and he asked me about the venue, and amplification, and some other questions. And I told him that we were just going to sit in the corner of the coffee shop and jam a little, nothing organized, or anything like that, and he said that he would be there. So last night I got to the coffee shop about ten minutes early, and he had already set up with some equipment, an amp, a music stand, microphones, and just a lot of equipment, which was fine, except that I travel pretty light, and I had my uke, a tote bag full of music and a few other things that would fit in the bag. But I hadn't known what to expect, as I don't really get into details much, so it was what it was.
Right off the bat I liked the guy, but he seemed to have a different idea of what was going on than I did, and that was OK. Like I said, when I got there, he was all set up in the corner, and there were a dozen or so people there to watch, some from the first jam, and some others who were friends and family of the other guy. So we shook hands, looked at each other's music, strummed through some chord progressions just to see how we sounded together, and it wasn't too bad. Actually it was pretty good. And we had similar tastes in music which was good. In the meant time, more people started showing up to watch. Evidently he invited a lot of people, and I think others were just curious. The other guy also had his grandson there, and the grandson had a uke as well. I don't know why, but I had stuck a chord in my bag before I left, and I plugged into his amp. It was interesting, because he said that I could plug into his amp, and I asked him how. He said he didn't know, so I looked down and saw a quarter inch plug-in that said "input" on something that might have been a pre-amp, but I don't know, so I just plugged in there, and viola, it worked like a charm.
After a little warmup, we got going, and by then, it looked like we had probably more than twenty people out in the peanut gallery, so I went ahead and picked a song to start out with. I really like audience participation, so I had brought music to hand out, and the guy's grandson was happy to do the handing out, and we got going, with most everyone singing along with us. A little later the grandson and his granddad did a duet together, but that was about the extent of it for the grandson, and the guy wanted to do a solo for one song, which was good, as I got a little beer break during those two songs, and I think that the grandson got a real kick out of playing with his granddad. In the mean time, more people came in to watch.
All in all, it went very well, and the guy was a lot of fun to play and sing with. It was more of another hootenanny, than a jam, but that was fine. I don't like to organize, and if things get a little out of my control, well, I like it that way. I really like things to take on a life of their own, and I feel like things are more interesting when they do. My goal has always been to entertain, not necessarily to just play the uke, and we certainly did that. I felt like it was a huge step, and the other guy evidently had done some entertaining before, and he was good at keeping things going. He was pretty smooth. As I said, we had about ten minutes to get it all together, as we had never even met before that, and while we struggled with a few songs, for the most part we played well off each other. I really enjoyed it. We had to quit at 8:00, and a lot of people came up and talked to us afterwards, but the best thing was that when I thanked the kid working at the coffee shop, who was cleaning up by then, he told me that we were awesome and that we could come back anytime, so that made me feel real good. So that is a report on jam II. I think that if we had actually practiced a little together, we might have been even more entertaining. Maybe we will. I hope so.
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) had fun, and his grandson had fun. The onlookers enjoyed it, and the coffee shop staff enjoyed it.
