NY Ukulele Salon: Sept 11 @ Googie's

Googie's loves us. Or at least they keep asking us back. So we're fighting evildoers with ukuleles: another NY Ukulele Salon evening of performances from some of NYC's most talented uke acts. Details as follows:

When: Saturday, Sept. 11, 8:30-10:30pm.

Where: Googie's Lounge, upstairs from The Living Room: 154 Ludlow St. (Lower East Side)

Who:
8:30: The Ukemen, country and pop classics with southwest charm
9:00: Patsy Monteleone, master interpreter of standards
9:30: The Whistling Wolves, fun-loving rootsy quartet, featuring an all-ukulele set (plus world-class whistling!)
10:00: Khabu Doug Young, jazz virtuoso

Ukulele Salon at Googie's, Saturday, July 31

The NY Ukulele Salon presents another showcase of some great NY uklele talent on Saturday, July 31, at Googie's Lounge in the Lower East Side (154 Ludlow, upstairs from The Living Room; here's a map).

8:30: J. Walter Hawkes
9:00: The Suaverinos (my act)
9:30: Doctor Uke & Daughters
10:00: The King Crow Duo
10:30: Bliss Blood

Here are videos of earlier performances from these acts:

Loads of Fun at Summer Solstice Jam

Per my earlier post, we had a great day of ukulele performances on Monday at Union Square as part of Make Music NY - the Ukulele Mass Appeal. Below are videos of some of my favorite performances:

Strum in the Summer Solstice (June 21) with Make Music NY - Ukulele Mass Appeal

Make Music NY and the NY Ukulele Salon strum in the summer solstice with a four-hour concert and play-along with some of the best performers on the NY uke scene.


Make Music NY celebrates its 4th year with more than 1,000 concerts around the city, along with similar events in hundreds of other cities. The "Mass Appeal" concerts feature lovers of specific instruments, and this year they've asked the NY Ukulele Salon to organize the uke gathering.

We have a great location: Union Square, as part of the Green Market (northeast corner of the park).

The event is a Monday, so it starts at 4pm and continues till dark. Fun for kids of all ages.

Each featured act gets 3 songs, including one for audience participation, so bring your ukes!

Please spread the word via Facebook, email, Twitter, spoken voice, etc.

Here's the lineup of performers:

4PM
Rick Bruner
D'yan Forrest
Ken "Bari" Murray
Sarah King
Les Chauds Lapins

5PM
Bliss Blood
Dana McCoy
Leslie Chase & David Sands
Jon Braman
Amity Rose

6PM
Josh Bisker
Evy Mayer
The Ukemen
Carlos Molina
The Suaverinos

7PM
Uncle Zac
No Soap Radio
Roger Greenawalt
Peter Stampfel
The Edukated Fleas
Jamie Scandal

See here for more details about Make Music NY - Mass Appeal.

It's Uke Fest!

Hey, it's crazy, Uke Fest is on, and I haven't been updating to any of my blog or Twitter accounts to plug it.

I'm actually frantically preparing right now for a workshop I'm going to teach at the Fest, on using the Internet to promote your uke obsession, and I look at this site, and the last post is a few weeks old and no mention of the Fest! Argg.

One of my key lessons is this: all this Internet promotion stuff takes time!

But that's just me making excuses. The important thing is come on over to the fest. Tune into the Fest's Twitter account and blog. I'll mostly post to Twitter during the Fest and catch up on the blog afterwards. Where is my darn Flip camera?!

This Week in NYC Ukulele: Del Rey; Cabaret; Uke Hut

Here's a quick update of some fun NYC uke happenings in the coming days:

* Del Rey at Jalopy, tomorrow, Thursday, April 29

Tomorrow night, if you can make it, you should really go see Del Rey at Jalopy (Yelp page) in Red Hook. She's a terrific uke blues player, constantly touring performer and teacher. Opening act is the Second Fiddles, featuring friend of the Uke Salon, Trip Henderson. 

* Ukulele Cabaret, this Friday, April 30, 8pm - midnight

P&G Bar, 380 Columbus Ave @ 78th St

Last NY Ukulele Cabaret before the summer off (though naked cabarets at some beach town is rumored; ask Ted and Jason for details). Same new home of the cabaret, P&G Bar. Performers this Friday include Adrienne Patino, Andru Cann, Bedroom Community, Claudia Goddard, D'yan Forest, Duncan Pflaster, Howie Leifer, J. Walter Hawkes, Jon Braman, Lisa Gardner, Makalina, Mary Martin, Moose Karloff, Reggie Wingnutz, Roberto Buscarsi, The Snakeoilers, Supergood, Sweet Soubrette, and The War Ponies. 

* Ukulele Hut: Whistling Wolves, Friday, April 30, 7:30pm

Also, a reminder of the hottest new scene in NY uke life, The Uke Hut. Fest organizer Ken Murray's lastest venture into uke madness, the Uke Hut, is open every Friday and Saturday nights in the cellar lounge of Maui Taco, 330 5th Ave (between 32nd & 33rd). See details and performance listings at UkeHut.com and follow the Hut on Twitter @UkeHut and Friend us on Facebook.

This Friday night, one of my favorites, Whistling Wolves, featuring the two-time World Whistling Champion Emily Eagen and ace harmonica player Trip Henderson, both of whom also sing and play uke. The full Whistling Wolves include a larger band, but they'll be debuting at the hut from 7:30 on Friday as a duet. 

* NY Uke Fest

Just another reminder, if you haven't got your tickets yet for the NY Uke Fest, May 12-16, don't delay! It's gonna be fabulous.

Uke Night with The Moonlighters, Sweet Soubrette, Rick Bruner and Jamie Scandal

Yay! I'm hitting the big time! I'm performing in the 10pm hour at the great Brooklyn music venue Barbes (376 Ninth Street @ Sixth Avenue, Park Slope; here's a map) along with Sweet Soubrette and Jamie Scandal, as the opening act for Bliss Blood and The Moonlighters.

RSVP on Facebook!

Thanks Bliss!