Midwest Ukefest?

I won't be doing UWC this year as I am previously blah blah blah ...

anyway...

I was thinking of doing the Midwest Ukefest. Anyone gone to this? I have never heard of any of the instructors nor have I ever heard of Druid Moon Ukuleles.

Anyone know the story here? Is it worth the money?

Jim

I won't be going, but it looks like fun.

This is the first I've seen of it, but I might be down to go to that!

Never heard of it. Sounds fun, though. Also consider the Milwaukee Uke Fest in early October. It's a good one.

Being a Nebraskan it seems that East coast folks think anything west of Pennsylvania is the "midwest". Just had to throw that out there. Not a problem, just an observation.

Here's another event to consider. It's in Omaha and the 2012 billing isn't finalized but I hear Jake Hill will be one of the clinicians.

Ukulele Hoopla
http://www.ukehoopla.webs.com/

sukie said:

Never heard of it. Sounds fun, though. Also consider the Milwaukee Uke Fest in early October. It's a good one.

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Milwaukee might be do-able. I'll look into that!

Freeda said:

This is the first I've seen of it, but I might be down to go to that!

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Yeah, I don't even remember how I found it. It looks good, but like I said, I have never heard of any of the instructors, never heard of the company sponsoring, I haven't even run across anyone who has been there. There are no youtube vids from there... it's just strange. Maybe I am just used to the coverage of UWC!

I'd like to know if there were UUers going! Let me know if you decide to go, Freeda. You doing Mighty Uke Day, too?

BasicUke said:

Yeah, I don't even remember how I found it. It looks good, but like I said, I have never heard of any of the instructors, never heard of the company sponsoring, I haven't even run across anyone who has been there. There are no youtube vids from there... it's just strange. Maybe I am just used to the coverage of UWC!

I'd like to know if there were UUers going! Let me know if you decide to go, Freeda. You doing Mighty Uke Day, too?

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I am. I was gonna do the overnight but now am just thinking of making it a one day trip. I don't really want to see the movie again, I just want to do the workshops.

Same here. One-Dayer. I am going to do the right-hand workshop with Lil' Rev and the Gerald Ross. I am not going to do the "Hot Licks" because I want to see the featured performers. I am skipping the movie too, but will be doing the concert and late night jam!

The Lil' Rev workshops are $40 each and you have to call Elderly to register early.

Look into the MightyMo Uke Fest in New Haven Mo. My group, The Flea Bitten Dawgs, are playing as well as Cali Rose from Cal. It is in a cool venue which you can see on line.

thomdawg said:

Look into the MightyMo Uke Fest in New Haven Mo. My group, The Flea Bitten Dawgs, are playing as well as Cali Rose from Cal. It is in a cool venue which you can see on line.

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Sorry, that's 10 hours for me.

BasicUke said:

Same here. One-Dayer. I am going to do the right-hand workshop with Lil' Rev and the Gerald Ross. I am not going to do the "Hot Licks" because I want to see the featured performers. I am skipping the movie too, but will be doing the concert and late night jam!

The Lil' Rev workshops are $40 each and you have to call Elderly to register early.

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I will do that, tomorrow if I can, payday if I can't!

Freeda said:

I will do that, tomorrow if I can, payday if I can't!

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You doing both?

This is my first Uke Fest of any sort, that's why I am asking so many questions!

Jim

BasicUke said:

You doing both?

This is my first Uke Fest of any sort, that's why I am asking so many questions!

Jim

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I will call Elderly and lock down my class choices.


Midwest ukefest is the same weekend hubby is deploying so I will have to look very closely at the timing to see if it will work.

Freeda said:

I will call Elderly and lock down my class choices.


Midwest ukefest is the same weekend hubby is deploying so I will have to look very closely at the timing to see if it will work.

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Hope it works for ya! And if you hear of anyone who has actually gone to a Midwest Ukefest, let me know!

BasicUke said:

Hope it works for ya! And if you hear of anyone who has actually gone to a Midwest Ukefest, let me know!

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This is the first year for that version of the Midwest Ukefest. the real one was run by Geoff Davis of hoosier ukes and Bluestone folk school. My opinion is that it is way too expensive for the quality of teachers and the performers. Milwaukee has actual people you have heard of and it is half the cost. I will not be going for several reasons.
1. All the teachers and FolkCraft are not really that into ukuleles, they are in it for the money at this point.
2. Too expensive

ukeeku said:

This is the first year for that version of the Midwest Ukefest. the real one was run by Geoff Davis of hoosier ukes and Bluestone folk school. My opinion is that it is way too expensive for the quality of teachers and the performers. Milwaukee has actual people you have heard of and it is half the cost. I will not be going for several reasons.
1. All the teachers and FolkCraft are not really that into ukuleles, they are in it for the money at this point.
2. Too expensive

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A voice I trust has spoken! Thanks, Tim!

I thought they were kinda spendy, but I guess I am still such a noobie I wasn't sure.

I will change the calender to hit Milwaukee instead! Nobody has piped up to say Midwest Ukefest was wonderful!

Jim

The Milwaukee Fest is wonderful! Go Rev!

ukeeku said:

This is the first year for that version of the Midwest Ukefest. the real one was run by Geoff Davis of hoosier ukes and Bluestone folk school. My opinion is that it is way too expensive for the quality of teachers and the performers. Milwaukee has actual people you have heard of and it is half the cost. I will not be going for several reasons.
1. All the teachers and FolkCraft are not really that into ukuleles, they are in it for the money at this point.
2. Too expensive

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I don't know much about the Midwest Ukefest, but I do know some things about Folkcraft (sponsoring the event) and Bing Futch, one of the instructors. I'm an avid mountain dulcimer player (but new to ukes). I have a Folkcraft dulcimer and the company makes great dulcimers and are wonderful to deal with. I know they make ukes too, but have never seen one in person, so I cannot make a statement about them. I do know that the dulcimers that Folkcraft makes are of great quality, have great intonation and sound great too. So, I would think that the Druid Moon ukes are probably of similar quality and workmanship, but that's just a guess on my part. Bing Futch is a well-known professional mountain dulcimer player. He's an excellent instructor and has many instructional videos on YouTube and books and cds. He's well-respected in the dulcimer community. Again, I've never heard him play the uke, but if he's at all as good on the uke as he is on dulcimer, he'd be a great instructor and fun to listen to. I know a lot of you are probably saying, just because they make great dulcimers, doesn't mean they know how to make a great ukulele. And, you could be right. I'm just saying, they are a well-respected company in my world of dulcimers and the instructors are too. I'm not affiliated with them in any way....just know a thing or two about them and some of the folks that will be at the Midwest Ukefest. So, I thought I'd maybe provide a little information here for those of you who may be considering it. If I wasn't already busy at that time, I'd probably being going to check it out. You never know, maybe some of you uke gurus could pick up and start learning the dulcimer! It's a great instrument (just like the uke).

Just looked at prices. $175.00??? Way too expensive, in my opinion. Yep -- hold out for Milwaukee.