As a member of the “All About Uke” ukulele group, we visited County Hospital, Stafford, to perform some Christmas songs for patients, staff and visitors.
I was playing the bass ukulele and added some extra percussion with a foot tambourine. We were playing in the wide corridor near the main entrance of the hospital and folk were able to stop, listen and sing along with us as they passed by.
A smaller group from “All About Uke” had also visited the hospital the previous week when they went round the various wards and departments.
As well as playing the ukulele with the Stafford based All About Uke group, I’m also a member of the Stone U3A (University of the Third Age) Ukulele Group. It’s an opportunity for me to take along a tenor ukulele and join in with the strumming and the singing.
We performed a concert yesterday in Stone (Staffordshire) for the local Alzheimer and Dementia Support Group. It was a different kind of concert but in many ways it was the most rewarding. The audience consisted of people affected by Alzheimer or Dementia together with their carers. Initially they were quite subdued listening but as we started playing they became more involved. We performed a variety of Music Hall and War-time songs which they joined in with singing and clapping along in time to the music. Then, when we played some rock’n’roll numbers they got up and started dancing. This just shows the power of music, their faces lit up and just for a few moments they were transported back to how they were all those years ago. They thoroughly enjoyed the performance and we found it to be a very worthwhile experience.
Meanwhile, with the All About Uke group, where I play the bass ukulele, we’ve a number of gigs over the next few weeks so we’re busy practicing our Christmas songs. It only seems like five minutes ago when we were last playing them. Whilst we’ll be playing the usual favourite Christmas songs which people expect to hear, we’re also learning a couple of new songs. Hopefully I’ll be able to get some photos or even some video which I can include in my next post.
I’ve just finished recording my latest song which is a parody of a well-known pop classic but with a Stoke-on – Trent twist.
For the recording I use the Logic Pro software which I have installed on my iMac and here’s a screenshoot showing the various tracks. It’s great fun recording these tracks and gradually building up the song. I tend to start with the drum and other percussion tracks as these give me the tempo of the song and it’s something for me to lock into as I record the other tracks. On this song I’ve included a couple of ukuleles playing the rhythm tracks and used my bass ukulele for the bass track. With regard to the vocals, I’ve recorded a main vocal track (with some reverb for extra depth) which I’ve also doubled tracked for the choruses. To make it more interesting I’ve had a go at recording some backing vocals, some “oohs and aahs”, which I then had to transpose. Finally, for the instrumental verse I’ve included a piano effect from a keyboard. It’s been quite a production, very enjoyable to do and it seems to sound OK. Whilst I could continue with twiddling with mixing the various tracks, I’m getting to the stage where I think it’s about as good as it’s going to get – so perhaps it’s time to leave it.
Meanwhile for the video, I visited a location in the Stoke-in-Trent area to shoot some exterior scenes during the summer. For continuity reasons I wanted to film the scenes while the trees still had their leaves and the flowers were out in the sun. The next stage will be filming the interior shots of me singing the song and playing a ukulele. I’ll be doing this at home using a black back-cloth and a set of video lights. Hopefully this will done over the Christmas holiday as I rely upon the assistance of my younger son who lives on London and works as a film and photo editor – so I fit in with his work commitments. When we’ve finished the filming and edited the music video, my elder son who works as a communications officer will be assisting me to promote the video and upload it onto YouTube.
We produce these videos purely for fun and hope that people enjoy watching them. There’s no particular timescale involved but I expect that the final video of my new song will be finished early in the New Year.
There was great fun at Sandon Village Stores this weekend. I had been invited to provide some music as Plinky Plonky Pete. During my performance of “Never On A Sunday” folk got up and started Greek dancing. I also included a number of sing-along songs and during my version of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” there were arms in the air and folk waving them in time to the music. Great fun and a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
The local village stores are holding a Greek Night next weekend and I’ve been invited to perform the after meal music and entertainment.
So I’ve been busy trying to find some Greek songs but I’ve only found two, “Never on a Sunday” and “Zorba’s Dance”. In my set list are also a number of other songs such as sing-along classics (e.g. “Sweet Caroline”) and I’ll be ending with some Queen (“Crazy Little Thing Called Love”) and some Status Quo (“Rocking All Over the World”).
If the weather is fine the Greek Night will be held in the gardens of the village stores and if it’s wet we’ll be in the village hall. The organiser said that at their last event they had seventy people attending, it was over-subscribed and they’re expecting a similar number again this time. With such a number of people and also with it possibly being held outside, I reckon that I’ll need to use my busking amp which has two channels, one for an instrument and one for a microphone.
For a bit of support, I’ve decided to use my looper station on which I’ve recorded some backing tracks for the songs. This means I’ll be able to strum along using my tenor ukulele which has a pickup. In the picture you can see the looper station on the right and to avoid confusion I’ve put a green label on the play/recorder footswitch and a red label on the stop footswitch. The microphone will be sent through my vocal harmoniser pedal, not to add any fancy harmonies but to add a touch of echo to enhance my voice.
I’m quite looking forward to the event and hopefully I’ve included some songs that people will not only know but will also sing-along with. If my set goes down well, there may even be people who get up and start dancing. The organisers of the event asked if there’s a fee for my services and I replied that there’s no charge, but as it’s a Greek Night I’ll accept a glass of ouzo.
On Saturday morning (2nd April) the All About Uke ukulele group performed in Stafford Market Square to raise money for the British Red Cross Appeal for Ukraine. It was Ukes for Ukraine and here’s a video of us playing “Hi Ho Silver Lining”.
I was playing the bass ukulele and as there was no mains power I used my battery powered amp. Fortunately the amp has two channels, so I was able to also bring a microphone for our leader Rachel to use. We played a set list of songs from various genres such as country, rock’n’roll, pop and music hall. There was quite a crowd of people who stopped to listen whilst they were shopping in town.
We all really enjoyed performing and it was also worthwhile raising money for such a good cause.
I was interviewed on our local station station, BBC Radio Stoke, about my new music video “Stuck in the Middle of Crewe”.
The interview took place over the Zoom platform as it gives a much better audio signal than using the telephone. Here’s a screenshot taken during the interview with the presenter John Acres. Perhaps you can see a small picture of me at the top of the screen. As a talking point I thought I’d wear the iconic black suit that I wore for the video. John noticed and he joked about me dressing up to wear a suit for the radio. However, it gave me the opportunity of mentioning how the original song features in the film “Reservoir Dogs” and in my video are some visual references to the film.
There was good feedback from family and friends who were listening to the radio and I think it went well. John Acres asked the listeners to phone in their suggestions for other songs I could write about the local area. He said that they’re looking forward to having me on the radio again with another song.
Plinky Plonky Pete has returned and finds himself “Stuck in the Middle of Crewe”.
I’ve just given the classic Stealers Wheel song a local twist in my latest music video. The lyrics were adapted to reflect the local area and the video takes you on a musical tour of some of the well-known landmarks of Crewe.
The original song also features in the Quentin Tarantino film Reservoir Dogs. In the video there are several visual references to the film such as the iconic back suit and dark sunglasses.
I’ve just finishing off the final mixing of the song for my latest music video.
This is a screenshot of the software I’m using, Logic Pro X, which is absolutely great. You might be able to see the various audio tracks I’ve recorded – drums, ukuleles, bass and vocals. With the mixer on view it’s great fun adjusting the various levels and adding effects etc. When I’ve finished, or perhaps when I came to the point where I think it’s the best it’s going to get, I’ll “bounce” out the song which will export it as a WAV file. Then the next stage will be to add it to the video that’s already been prepared.
Hopefully I’m aiming to have it finished and uploaded onto YouTube by the end of next month. It’s another parody of a well-known song but with a local twist, more details later when it’s released.
As you may know, a while ago I noticed that there are lots of songs with American place-names but fewer songs about places in the UK. So I thought I’d adapt some popular songs and give them some place-names in the north Midlands. My first music video was a parody of “Get Your Kicks on Route 66” which is entitled “Drive Some More Down the A34” (the A34 being the major trunk road which goes through the Midlands). This was followed up with “Highway to Chell” a parody of the AC/DC song (Chell being a suburb of Stoke-on-Trent). This last video has received over 4,000 views on YouTube which is amazing as it’s only been produced for fun. So I’m wondering if my third video will be as popular.
As part of Christmas in Stafford, All About Uke performed a gig in the bandstand in Victoria Park. Here’s an extract of Felix Navidad and you can hear me playing the bass ukulele.
Despite the cold weather and the wind blowing the music about we all thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity of playing together.
