The Fifth Annual 2019 CascoBay UkeFest is now one for the ages!

Thank you, everyone, for participating - volunteering to help; engaging in information-packed workshops; listening to the fabulous concert by Stuart Fuchs and partner-wife Sarah; enjoying the Maine-based ukulele groups; and uke'ing and kazoo'ing along during the many audience sing/strum-along songs. The raffles were great; the lunch was delicious, the auction succeeded; and day was joyous. 

In short, it was a wonder-full day. Thank you all!

HERE WE GO!

THE FIFTH ANNUAL CASCOBAY UKEFEST IS ON!

Saturday, September 21, 9:00am to 5:00pm

St. Luke's Cathedral

143 State Street

Portland, Maine

*9:00am-9:50am The Beginning Beginners Workshop.

This is for you if you just starting playing your ukulele yesterday or plan to play it for the first time at the CascoBay Ukefest or maybe don't even have a ukulele (yet). A few loaners will be available.

*10:00am-10:50am Reggae & Calypso for Ukulele: Grooves from the Heart led by Stuart Fuchs

The music of the Caribbean is a GREAT way to solidify and refine the basics of Ukulele strumming! You’ll explore the deep and heart centered styles of Reggae, Calypso Ska & Rocksteady. You’ll learn lots of fun and uplifting songs, new syncopated strum patterns, melodic riffs, and “level up” on your sense of groove and coordination with unique practice tips from Stu’s decades of experience. Be prepared to have a blast getting into the groove!

Open to ALL LEVELS of player

*11:00am-11:50am The Life & Times of Chuck Berry: Rock 'n Roll for Ukulele led by Stuart Fuchs

Learn the stylistic nuances of rock 'n roll on your Uke! We’ll play lots of fun and easy songs from the Father of Rock 'n Roll, Chuck Berry. By exploring songs from Chuck’s deep catalogue and applying Stu’s “Uke-a-billy” method you’ll give your ukulele playing that classic rock 'n roll style & edge. You’ll learn new rhythms, melodic licks that can be used to solo, and learn to improve your ability to strum and sing at the same time. In addition, you’ll gain an insight into the creative ways Chuck Berry weaves storytelling and rhythm & blues to help create the style of Rock 'n Roll music. 

“If you tried to give Rock 'n roll another name, you might call it ‘Chuck Berry’ ” - John Lennon.

Open to ALL LEVELS of player, beginner to advanced. Some basic experience recommended.

*Around Noonish, our headliner, Stu Fuchs, will perform in concert. Stu was our headliner in 2017; and everyone loved him so much, we asked him to come back again.

*1:30pm to maybe 5:00pm, Maine-based ukulele groups will perform their concerts, each of which will conclude with an audience sing and strum-along song so be sure to bring your uke.

Photo by Mark Dellas

A "save the date" post.

Great news! After a very successful Fourth Annual CascoBay UkeFest held on July 28 of this year, the Fifth Annual CascoBay UkeFest will be held on Saturday, September 21, 2019 at St. Luke's Cathedral Portland, ME. We moved the date from July in an effort to provide a cooler place temperature-wise for the warm and soothing sounds of ukuleles.

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PARKING FOR THE UKEFEST

If you're looking for a parking spot, here's a map of some nearby parking lots.  There is also metered parking on State Street and a parking lot directly behind St. Luke's on Park Street.

CASCOBAY UKEFEST WORKSHOPS

Wonderful news! On Saturday, July 28, at St. Luke's Cathedral on State Street in Portland (across from Mercy Hospital) the Fourth Annual CascoBay UkeFest will kick off at 9:00 AM with three very helpful and fun workshops.

The first workshop beginning at 9:00 - and it's FREE - will be led by the talented wife and husband duo of Lynne and Rick Gammon.  Lynne and Rick have taught ukulele in a variety of settings and continue to hone their superb ukulele-playing skills as long-time active members of the Falmouth Library Ukulele Society (a/k/a the FLUKES).

Beginner Ukulele Workshop: Lynne and Rick Gammon

For the complete novice or someone just starting to play, this session will acquaint you with the uke and provide instruction for a simple strum pattern and a few basic chords. Following this brief workshop, attendees will be able to participate in the other activities of the day.

Jim Beloff then follows at 10:00 with a workshop for advanced beginners, but Jim intends that even brand new beginners will get something out of this workshop.

Advanced Beginner Ukulele Workshop: Jim Beloff

For those who know a handful of chords and a basic up/down strum, here’s a chance to take your skills to a new level. Another half dozen or so (dozen if two sessions) well-known songs will be played while learning more chords, new fingerings, new strums, a picking pattern, transposing on the fly and performance tips and techniques along the way. 

At 11:00, Jim leads another workshop for advanced beginners that can also be called a "jam" because it will consist of playing lots of songs from The Daily Ukulele but with Jim teaching some fine points of each song that can make our playing even more fun.  Again, Jim intends that even brand new beginners will have fun trying out these songs.

Advance Beginner Daily Ukulele Jam: Jim Beloff 

An hour of strumming through a dozen or so songs from both Daily Ukulele songbooks with periodic stops to ooh and ahh over the cleverness of a specific chord change, the enduring elegance of the AABA song structure and how the major 7^th chord became a defining sound of the 1970s.

The fee for one or both of Jim's workshops is only $10; that is, $10 gets you into either one or both.  Combined with the FREE 9:00 workshop, that's only $10 for as many as three all-excellent workshops!

More details are coming about the Jim's world premier concerto at Noon with Jim on ukulele along with the Longfellow String Quartet, the Jim and Liz Beloff concert that follows, and then the afternoon of Maine ukulele group performances, and with an easy-peasy audience sing and strum-along song after each performance.  Don't forget to bring your ukulele so you can join in the fun! 

We hope to see you there.  What fun we all shall have!!

THE UKEFEST IS COMING!  THE UKEFEST IS COMING!  THE UKEFEST IS COMING!

Fourth Annual CascoBay Ukefest News ** It's OFFICIAL - Jim and Liz Beloff Will Be Our Headliners **

We are very excited to announce that Jim and Liz Beloff will be the headliners for this year's CascoBay UkeFest to be held all day Saturday, July 28, at beautiful St. Luke's Cathedral in Portland, Me.

Finding a ukulele at the Pasadena Rose Bowl Flea Market in 1992 inspired Liz and Jim Beloff to start Flea Market Music, Inc., publisher of the popular Jumpin’ Jim’s series of ukulele songbooks. This series is sold worldwide and includes The Daily Ukulele: 365 Songs For Better Living and The Daily Ukulele: Leap Year Edition, two of the biggest and best-selling ukulele songbooks ever published. 

As performers, Liz and Jim have become known for their breezy, close harmonies on standards and Jim’s original songs. They perform together regularly throughout the USA, playing their family-made Fluke, Flea and Firefly ukuleles. They have also toured Japan, Australia and Canada and believe in their company’s motto, “Uke Can Change the World.” www.fleamarketmusic.com and facebook.com/jimbeloffmusic. 

Please stay tuned for some exciting details, including ukulele workshops, concerts, and concertos.