Plinky Plonky Pete

Due to ill health and hospital appointments it’s been quite a while since I last posted, but in the words of the song by Free “I’m Alright Now”.

In these difficult times with the Covid-19 pandemic I’m really missing playing with real people. However, our ukulele group (All About Uke) are able to keep in touch using Zoom. Due to the technical issues of delay we’re not able to play together at the same time so our leader Rachel mutes our microphones and we can play along with her. Afterwards we can unmute our microphones and have a chat.

In the above screenshot, the theme of the meeting was “Hats” so we all wore a hat and played and sang songs about hats. By the way, I’m pictured on the top row, second from the left, wearing a Scottish tam o’shanter.

With the Covid-19 lockdown the various ukulele groups have been suspended and we’re not able to play together until things get back to normal.

In the meantime, my plastic ukulele is ideal for outdoor use such as playing in the garden during the sunny weather. The neighbours don’t seem to mind and as yet I’ve had no requests from over the garden fence. By the way, the ukulele is an Eddy Finn Beachmaster All Terrain model which actually sounds quite good.

We are going through some difficult and worrying times at the moment. Looking forward to when it’s all over and we can meet again.

I’m busy working upon my new project, it’s the follow-up to my YouTube video “Drive some more down the A34”.

As you may remember, I performed the song live on the Breakfast Show of the local radio station (BBC Radio Stoke). At the end of the interview I was asked what song I would be recording next and I mentioned that it could be a song with a Stoke-on-Trent twist. Therefore I’m in the midst of recording a medley of the parodies of three popular songs which I have entitled “The Potteries Songbook”.

If this project were to really take off, then I had the idea of designing a cover for a possible CD. I thought of including some line drawings of myself playing the ukulele and a bottle oven with some musical smoke. However it probably won’t get this far but at least I had some fun drawing the design. By the way, you may have noticed it’s called “The Potteries Songbook Volume One”. That’s just in case it gets really popular and I decide to produce Volume Two next year.

Meanwhile it’s back to recording the songs, getting some friends together to add the lead guitar and percussion tracks and then finally doing the filming. There’s no timescale for this project as it’s more of a hobby but I expect it’ll be finished sometime this summer.

I’ve just taken delivery of my Beltona resonator ukulele. It has a glass fibre resin body which is light and easy to handle. It’s so comfortable to play, just feels right with an amazing sound and a superb quality of tone. An absolutely awesome instrument.

When the strings have settled down I’ll record a sound sample.

I’d like to wish you all a Happy New Year (2020).

By the way, I also wish you a Happy Hawaiian D7 which happens to be 2020 in our ukulele chord charts.

It’s another day and another Xmas gig.

We joined the Stafford branch of Age UK at their Xmas party and performed a selection of Xmas songs. The audience really enjoyed singing along with some well-known songs and we found it to be a very rewarding event.

Feliz Navidad Prospero Ano y Felicidad to you all.

All About Uke visited County Hospital, Stafford to bring some festive entertainment and cheer staff and patients. Here’s a short video of “Merry Xmas Everyone”.

The leader of the group, Rachel, was unable to be with us and so I was asked if I would lead. It was good fun introducing the songs and then singing along whilst playing my bass ukulele.

It’s been a busy time with six Xmas gigs this month at various places in the local area. Merry Xmas to you all and best wishes for the New Year.

We’ve just finished our first Christmas gig of 2019 which was at a local Garden Centre where we played to welcome Santa Claus to his Grotto. I was able to have my photograph taken with one of his elves. Our set list was made up of a selection of Christmas songs which the audience enjoyed singing.

By the way, I wore my new Christmas jumper which features a Christmas tree decorated with ukuleles. We’ve got another four Christmas gigs at various community groups and charity groups in the town.

Please find below a video of one of our songs – “Jingle Bells”. I’m on the back row playing my bass ukulele.

This week is going to be quite busy as I’ve got two gigs on consecutive nights with two different ukulele bands.

Tonight I’m playing the bass ukulele with the Ukunauts of Stone for Rotary Club’s social event at the local golf club. Then tomorrow evening it’s over to Penkridge (near Stafford) for a charity event in aid of the Parkinsons’ Society when I’ll also be playing bass.

It’s interesting in that I shall be playing some of the same songs at each gig, however they’re in different keys and one band has added some extra repeat verses. Furthermore, the two bands play them in slightly different styles, including at different tempos. This means that I’ll have to pay attention and not let my mind wander whilst I’m playing especially as some of the songs are in the same 12 bar blues format.

Despite all this, I find it enjoyable to play in front of a live audience especially if they start to join in. So during the rock’n’roll numbers I’ll turn up the amp. maybe to 11, in order to get them all up dancing. Rock on, dude!