Good morning, Jack,
Thank you for the prompt recap! Myself, I needed to “forget about today until tomorrow” – my head was very tired. Raucous is the word!
From my point of view, I love it that people are enjoying themselves, and a little joyful noise is going to happen. However, it’s very hard to lead a song when no one can hear me. Several people commented that they could not hear anything. I couldn’t, either, and certainly our debates over timing were just confusing to most. So! Here is what I would like to do to address this:
1. Pull the chairs closer and angle them more so we can see and hear each other. I may bring paper music if we really need to work on a song, so we can sit in a circle.
2. I will once again bring a microphone to use for announcements, any instructions, and to start the songs. I don’t want to be the only one heard, and will back away from it once we are underway, but without it I am yelling myself hoarse.
3. I ask everyone to please refrain from excessive strumming and side conversations when we are introducing a song. And if you have a comment about how the song should be sung, how long to pause, etc., please wait until the end so we can address the issues all together. I certainly know my shortcomings and the comments are very welcome! I just can’t process them all at once, or even hear them if half the room is still singing.
On other topics –
I was glad to have a request for Dylan, and will be pulling more songs out. As Jack mentions, we might try the Byrds version of some, or cut down some verses, to make them a little more manageable. Bob does have a lot of words. Good words! But a lot.
I agree that we need more energy on several of the songs we tried. Some need attention to detail that just wasn’t possible on such a crazy night. But on the first time through it’s okay to go slow and check them out; we will see how they sound once we are comfortable. My goal is to give every song a chance, and at least get it to a usable form that we can post to the website for later use, even if it’s not overly popular. I know there are rumors that I won’t do songs I don’t like. This is mostly true… However, I will happily share the microphone!
Events:
I will be posting a new event for June 7, which will be a performance at the Hidden Pond Equine Rescue’s open house. This is in Brentwood.. Thanks, Lauren, for setting this up. Start thinking about horse songs!
We will also be helping out during the library’s summer program, with kids learning to play ukuleles. This will be scheduled over several weeks for the half hour just before our Wednesday practice. Anyone interested in participating would just arrive a little early.
Bill has been in touch with the library director in Brentwood, and she is going to find us a date to play at their new ampitheater again. I missed it last year, and am looking forward to another chance!
There are a couple more things in the works and I will post them on Meetup as soon as they are nailed down.
Thanks, everyone, for your patience and for sticking with us even when things go a little haywire.Special thanks to my faithful and long-suffering sidekick, Jack. Have a great week!
Susan
———- Forwarded message ———
From: Jack Heffernan <jackheff@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, Feb 26, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Subject: SUP Recap 2/26/2025
To: Susan Ayer <clerkkent33@gmail.com>
Cc: Jack Heffernan <jackheff@yahoo.com>
Hi Susan,
It was quite a raucous night. We had 17 in attendance.
We started the evening playing from Susan’s PDF and finished with some random songs off of the website.
Here are some of the songs that we tried and most of them need something:
Me and Bobby McGee – needs practice. We are going with the Kris Kristofferson version. As a group it sounded like a combination of the Kris and Janis. It is definitely doable.
Peggy Sue – needs more energy and practice
My Back Pages – this is a nice Dylan song that needs a lot of practice
Somewhere Over the Rainbow – it seemed like there were different interpretations. Needs practice
Rock and Roll Music – needs practice and energy
Oh, Pretty Women – this started out pretty ugly and after some debate, we seem to have it somewhat under control. Susan is going to see what she can do to fix it
Mr Tambourine Man – another Dylan song. Susan may change it to The Byrds version.
Susan asked that everyone try to listen to these songs. It might help us get on the same page. There are definitely some timing issues among the group. Usually when we practice the songs multiple times the timing issues settle down.
Events –
CCS Epping – Play on the Purple Porch – Epping NH May 10th. This is an art show. Space is limited. Susan is putting a limit on the initial amount of participants. However, we don’t want to shut anyone out. We will put as many people on the porch and hopefully in front of the porch as possible and then we can swap out people on different songs. We always make it work. Check Meetup for more information. I would be remiss if I didn’t thank one of our members, Paola, for recommending SUP!
We are available for events if anyone has any suggestions.
It was a nice break from the cold weather this week. The days are getting longer, daylight savings time is less than 2 weeks away. There’s light at the end of the tunnel.
Thank you all for getting through this crazy evening. Despite the confusion, it’s always fun.
Jack
Seacoast Ukulele Players 