Fremont Ukulele Jam RULES!!!

Diane and Me at our FIRST Fremont Ukulele Jam at Bronco Billy's!
October 27, 2012! Even Baby J was scared! I wore devil ears all day! we had so much fun!
Diane and I are like "soul sister friends!" I love her so much! we rock!

It all started last October in San Jose when I attended this ukulele gathering in San Jose down in Japan Town with my friend Steve and others from Silicon Valley. We sat outside a coffee shop and listened to some beautiful ukulele playing -- even classical stuff. My friend Steve WOW'd everyone with an amazing solo that started with Zeppelin and morphed into other stuff. That dude NEEDS to be FAMOUS, I'm telling you.

That was the afternoon that I met Diane who sang and played one of her original songs, her beautiful voice crooning...she was a down-to-earth chick and she got super excited when I told her I lived close to her in Union City! She said she really wanted to start a ukulele group there, and I agreed that would be cool and I'd be happy to help out in any way I could. Of course I had NO idea that I'd hear from her practically the next day after this gathering in San Jose because she had 'booked' a room at Bronco Billy's Pizza Parlor for October 27th and would I help her PUUULLLEEAAASSE...! At first, I didn't even know which Bronco Billy's this was much less where it was located. I'm not that familiar with East Bay or the Fremont area. Just moved over there a year ago.

October 27th is a day I always remember because it's my mother's birthday and she would have turned 80 this year (or was it last year? Gosh I can't remember) if she was still around. I remember that I went to Santa Cruz to play ukuleles on the beach that morning and people were dressed in costumes for Halloween. In the spirit, I was wearing my Rocky Horror Picture Show t-shirt -- and my friend Bill put these devil ears on my head...and I never took them off. In fact, I even forgot I had them on throughout the entire ukulele jam! We had so much fun. We started at 4pm and stayed until the pizza place shut down at 10pm, serious jamming going on!

Our first jam in Fremont! October 27, 2012. 

Steve Lussie ALWAYS "wows" everyone with his amazing talent!! We were jammin'...I loved those people wearing matching ukulele shirts too!!! and there's Margaret, my good friend, ukein' it behind me while I'm taking a break to hold the babe...and Linda on U-bass.

Then we met again in December, but it was more hectic because the owner put us out in the main part of the pizza place...around 25 people showed up to sing and play Christmas and holiday songs on ukulele though...!

It's all trial and error, trying to get it right.

Today we are going to rock out in Fremont ukulele style! Big fun at bronco Billy's pizza parlor today! And we will most likely close the place down with ukulele craziness! Eclectic fun! Lotsa people coming! Uke players kicking it old school style! Warning this may be way too much fun! Wonder who can handle it!

Today we had our BEST ukulele jam yet, and more is still to come...I told Diane we had to do it every month to keep the momentum going. At least 40 people showed up this time including people from South Bay -- San Jose and beyond...

And I am still on this trippy uke jam high! I really didn't think I'd have it in me and I would say today's rocking Fremont uke jam at bronco Billy's was a roaring success! 

My friend James showed up so we could practice Across the Universe and Give Me Love for the next Poorhouse Bistro Uke jam in San Jose -- it had been James' idea to do the Abbey Rd. medley in early December, an experience I will never forget as long as I live. 

Steve played U-bass...there's James on the right, and Jeff...Bob and Laurie, yay!

Ukein' it up!

We jammed for five and a half hours! We went through my whole jam packet that had at least 30 songs including several Beatles songs, of course. We played and played, people came and went. After we got done playing songs from my packet, Dave F. from the Silicon Valley Uke Club pulled out his, people got out their Santa Cruz Ukulele songbooks and jamming continued. 

Baby Jeremiah and Jen showed up and had dinner...and Baby J was rockin' to the ukes and wanted to be a part of it...

SERIOUS Jamming towards the end when the guitars, etc., come out! Steve's playing his brand new U-Bass...! he has a serious case of UAS (Ukulele Acquisition Syndrome). 

Baby J wants to be part of the action

Sue came all the way from San Francisco...people travel far and wide for good ukulele jams! Linda and Jeff drove in from Sonoma! They've been at all of our jams so far. My friend Albert was there too! Me, Albert and Steve have jammed together many times...they both came to the new year's eve bash at the Mud Puddle and we celebrated the new year playing music with the "Horribles!"

It was a perfect day...Diane even cut my hair for me before the jam and we managed to eat something...because once the jamming starts, there really isn't much time for anything else. That's just the way it is. I kept calling out songs, and people had their jam packets (which I will perfect for the next meeting)...

By the time we left at close to 11pm Saturday night, that was the end of an incredibly fun day. And our next Fremont Uke Jam is March 16th! We have a date, yayy!!!!

Diane now has a U-BASS yay!!!!!!