Thanks, Jack,
It never ceases to amaze me how many people turn up to play on a cold Wednesday night! As a shy person, it was not initially very comfortable standing up front instead of in my comfy spot between you and Tom, but we all survived and had a great practice. (I am NOT sick but having been exposed to COVID this week I did not want to chance infecting anyone.)
I will ask everyone to keep the chatter and random strumming down when we are trying to introduce or explain songs- we are all guilty of it, but with such a large group it can be very hard to hear. I can only shout so loud!
Thanks to all for helping us to navigate the songs and for the constructive comments. I agree with Jack (and all the doubtful faces), that “Melt With You” is probably not ready, but we will try it again in the future. We will practice Black is Black, Your Mama Don’t Dance, Down at the Twist and Shout, Friday I’m in Love, Do You Believe in Magic and the Groundhog songs over the next two weeks, and add Rock Around the Clock – hoping Spider can join us next Wednesday and maybe offer some help on a couple of the other songs as well. Alternate songs are still “Learning to Fly” and “Groovin’”.
Keep listening to the songs and help us to make them stronger! And don’t worry, we will play other songs at practice as well, just for fun.
The plan for Hogapalooza is very casual, but I plan to print the groundhog songs for singalongs with the other groups, at the beginning for warmup and maybe here and there through the afternoon. SUP will be playing last, probably around 2:30 or 3:00. We will supply coffee and bottled water, and anyone that would like to bring a plate of cookies or other pick-up snacks is encouraged to do so.
Marilyn will be running the raffle as in the past – she will be happy to have some help! Let her know if you are interested. We currently have a ukulele, a banjolele, music books and possibly a baritone for the raffle!
I will be reaching out to some of the places we have played in the past to start getting back out for some performances starting in March. As Jack said, if there is a venue you would like to perform at, let me know.
Have a great week!
Susan
———- Forwarded message ———
From: Jack Heffernan <jackheff@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, Jan 15, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Subject: SUP Recap 1/15/2025
To: Susan Ayer <clerkkent33@gmail.com>
Cc: Jack Heffernan <jackheff@yahoo.com>
Dear distant Susan,
It was so weird having you across the room from the computer this evening. But you did what you had to do to protect everyone else.
We had 24 in attendance this evening.
We tried some more songs for Hogapalooza.
They all need practice unless noted otherwise:
If You Believe in Magic
Down at the Twist and Shout – repeat last line
Friday I’m in Love – The intro and outro will be played twice. First time through will be Susan on the piano and Tom on the bass. Second time we will all join in
Black is Black – Susan on Piano on the first two [Em] [D] then we come in on the second two. She will play the “gongs” during the very short instrumental part. It is pretty clear on the music sheet.
Your Momma Don’t Dance – Jack needs to work on his parts ” It’s all because” and “out of my hair long car” or something like that.
At least we got a few laughs.
I’ll Melt with You – this song will most likely be scrapped for this event. We should continue to work on it some other time.
The groundhog Sleeps Tonight – play intro twice. Remember to play one strum as indicated.
You are My Groundhog – check position of the C cord in the intro.
Learning to Fly
Groovin’
Marilyn confirmed that Spider will be joining us at Hogapalooza. We will be adding Rock Around the Clock to capitalize on his harmonica skills.
We ended the night with a rousing rendition of Jambalaya.
Note: We will have a practice at the Kingston Rec Saturday January 25th from 1:00 to 3.
Events:
Hogapalooza 2 – Kingston Rec – February 2nd. Yes it’s Groundhog Day. A National Holiday according to Susan. Please see Meetup for details.
If anyone has a place they would like us to perform, for example assisted living centers nursing home, Farmers Markets etc. Please reach out to Susan.
If you know anyone who would like to try the ukulele and attend some evening, the library has ukuleles that we can use.
Thank you everyone for another great evening. It was a little weird but we will return to our normal lunacy next Wednesday.
Have a great weekend,
Jack
Seacoast Ukulele Players 