Video: Let the good times Triple Roll! Li’l Rev will headline Uke NJ 3
By Kevin Coughlin
The Folk Project has a special offer for you this weekend… but it comes with strings attached.
Ukulele strings.
Uke New Jersey 3 is a three-day celebration of all things uke. Concerts, workshops, and jam sessions will fill the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship in Morris Township on Aug. 28 and 29, 2015, followed by a meetup on the Morristown Green on Aug. 30.
“Our festival, you can literally come in the morning, and buy, borrow or steal a ukulele, with absolutely no experience whatsoever, and you will be able to play it by the end of the day. I promise you that,” said the Folk Project’s Scooter Ferguson, who launched the festival in 2013.
Performances and workshops will be given by some dazzling players:
Li’l Rev, Jim and Liz Beloff (whose fans included the late Beatle George Harrison), Sarah Maisel and Craig Chee, bassman Steve Boisen (yes, there really is a bass ukulele), and the Folk Project’s very own Christine DeLeon.
Be forewarned: Ounce for ounce, this diminutive instrument may be the most addictive opiate on earth.
Video: Don’t take our word for it. Take it from Scooter:
Stories abound about skeptics — guitarists, music-phobes, even hard-boiled hyperlocal bloggers — who swear they never, ever would waste their time plinking such a ridiculous toy.
Within a couple of hours, they are debating the relative merits of soprano-vs-baritone ukes, registering for monthly meetups at Anthony’s Pizza, and attempting Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, four strings at a time.
But hey, as cults go, Uking actually is pretty healthy.
It’s virtually impossible to feel depressed when you’re playing Bohemian Rhapsody (or anything else) on a ukulele.
If some foundation would create a ukes-for-guns exchange, this would be a far sunnier world.
So there it is. You are forewarned. Do you have the guts to think small? Register here.
Admission for the whole weekend is $80. It’s $50 just for the Saturday workshops; concerts on Friday and Saturday are $20 each, if purchased separately. Saturday’s workshops and concert together are $65. (Learning to play the uke is much easier than figuring out the ticket prices.)
The Morristown Unitarian Fellowship is at 21 Normandy Heights Road. Call 908-229-1214 for more.
Video: Li’l Rev makes a fashion statement with his uke:
Here is the concert schedule:
Friday
- 8 pm Christine DeLeon
- 8:35 pm Curt Sheller
- 9:10 pm (break)
- 9:40 pm Craig Chee
Saturday
- 8 pm Jim & Liz Beloff
- 8:35 pm Sarah Maisel
- 9:20 pm (break)
- 9:50 pm Li’L Rev
- 10:40 pm Finale
And here is Saturday’s workshop schedule:
9:30 – 10:45 am
- Ukulele 101 — Jumpin’ Jim Beloff
- Bass Ukulele 101 — Steve Boisen
- Learning The Travis Harrelson Triple Roll — Li’l Rev
11:00 – 12:15
- Doo-Wop Till You Drop — Sarah Maisel
- Songwriting Tricks and Tools — Christine DeLeon
- Craig’s Ridiculously Non-Intimidating Intro to Music Theory on the Ukulele! — Craig Chee
12:15 – 1:30 pm Lunch/Open Mic
1:30 – 2:45 pm
- 12 Essential Strums — Li’l Rev
- Ukulele Boot Camp — Craig Chee
- Tin Pan Alley and the Ukulele — Steve Boisen
3:00 – 4:15 pm
- Who needs a Chord book? — Sarah Maisel
- A Treasury of Two Chord Songs — Li’l Rev
4:30 – 5:45 pm
- Strum along with Jumpin’ Jim — Jim Beloff
5:45 – 7 pm Dinner/Open Mic
Sunday
Ukesters of all descriptions will trade licks on the historic Morristown Green, starting at 10 am.