Warning: Ukulele Festival in Morris Township could change your life, Aug. 28-30

Sean Rafferty, 10, gets a helping hand from Grammy-winner Cathy Fink at Uke New Jersey Too! Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Sean Rafferty, 10, gets a helping hand from Grammy-winner Cathy Fink at Uke New Jersey Too! Photo by Kevin Coughlin
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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.

Sean Rafferty, 10, gets a helping hand from Grammy-winner Cathy Fink at Uke New Jersey Too! Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Sean Rafferty, 10, gets a helping hand from Grammy-winner Cathy at the 2014 Uke New Jersey festival. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

“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.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM UKE NJ 2014

HIGHLIGHTS FROM UKE NJ 2013

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