Ukulele Rebels Take Over San Francisco!!!

Ukulele Rebellion in San Francisco!

Right now as I sit here writing this, the sun has just risen and you can see the hills now -- gray clouds barely illuminating the sky. I'm the only one awake to watch this happening.

Look out -- on an unusually warm Sunday afternoon, I headed to San Francisco for the Ukulele Rebellion meeting at the Oakside Cafe near the Panhandle! Ukuleles have infiltrated all over the place, from Santa Cruz to Silicon Valley to Sacramento and beyond!  Almost 30 people with ukuleles played and sang their hearts out for well over two hours -- younger people, older people, from all walks of life. We sang and played everything from old show tunes to Hawaiian songs, Beatles songs, even a Queen song -- As I stood there surrounded by all these people at this coffee shop in San Francisco, I remembered San Francisco back in the 60s and 70s and how people came together like this and played music. Maybe that's a part of my attraction to the whole ukulele scene, the inclusiveness. We played the Beatles' "Something" and the two and a half hours seemed to fly by. I've made several friends here at this place, and Steve plays the ukulele bass. People play at all different levels from advanced beginner to more advanced -- lots of intermediate-level players like me -- but here it doesn't matter. Nobody judges you -- you just show up with a ukulele (or without, but mostly everyone brings one).

he's from the Uke University Strum Shop Sacramento Gang!!! and he helped me out at my impromptu Beatles Jam in Sacramento!

I even saw a guy from the San Francisco Folk Music Group -- and wow! One of my Sacramento uke playing friends made a special trip to San Francisco just to participate in the Ukulele Rebellion. He says that next time, in two weeks, he'll bring friends. I remembered him from my impromptu Beatles jam a few months ago -- it's like we're all inter-connected -- the ukulele folks, an amazing community of people who love to share music and play. And do we ever play! Here at the ukulele jams, we're not just spectators, we are a  part of it all...and for some of us, it's the only time we get to do this!

and even though I love to play the ukulele on the beach in Santa Cruz, and I love to play with my friends in Sacramento and with the Ukulele Club of Silicon Valley in Mountain View each month, there's something special about coming "home" to San Francisco -- walking through my old neighborhoods where I grew up with a ukulele on my back...something magical that I cannot even explain, past the old Victorians and all the buildings crowded together.

After the ukulele singalong jam, we all reluctantly left the coffee shop because they were closing -- the owners of the coffee shop love us and don't mind if we linger longer. Dean, one of the organizers, had said he thought about finding a bigger venue because we were growing so fast, but the people here would love for us to stay -- so we're still at the Oakside Cafe.

So, after it was all over, I walked with my friends Dean and Steve down the street to hang out at another coffee shop and play some more -- it was a beautiful warm day in San Francisco, not a cloud in the sky, rather unusual for the City. We walked past old buildings and the panhandle, that long strip of Golden Gate Park that runs through the Haight Ashbury and into the upper Haight. I saw teenagers sitting on a front porch and on stoops and suddenly remembered how I grew  up sitting on a front porch of the flat we lived in -- me and the neighborhood kids -- the only thing missing on these streets were the kids. Where were they? Most likely not allowed to play in the streets of San Francisco. Heck, we RAN those streets -- cars had to drive around us when we played a rousing game of kick ball in the streets. We were everywhere. I sighed, it's a different time and  place now. But still magical.

We saw some guys with guitars on their backs heading up to a flat on Broderick Street and Dean talked to them -- they invited us to come over and jam -- to join their party! Of course we didn't know them, but the spirit was there, everyone making music together. That's what it's all about. It isn't about how good you are or not -- although it is fabulous to hear someone who is really good play the ukulele, like Steve who is in a category all by himself. I know I'll never be that good -- but I know that nothing will stop me from picking up my ukulele and playing.

Nothing makes me happier, except perhaps Beatles music!