Uke Mullum 3rd Birthday – July 2014

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Uke Mullum 3rd Birthday

With the apt theme of ‘3’ we had such a great time for our third birthday… Rod Coe on bass, Jason Caspen on drums and Evan Sun on stringed things. All the important folk who have helped these nights to be so great were there. The Northern Rivers Uke Orchestra kicked of the night… we are still working on amplifying the sound of the orchestra and had a few problems on the night.. trail and error. Nothing beats an a nice live room though the Courty requires a PA. Our favourite MC / Juggler funny guy Joel Salom managed to juggle 3 ukes for 2:28 before being put off by the flash photography (better luck next year).

Fiona Knight and Chad Sheather came down from up north to play three great tunes. Fi’s singing was very strong and she made a meal of Meatloaf’s ‘2 Out Of 3 Aint Bad’, Patsy Cline’s ‘3 Cigarettes in the Ashtray’ and ‘You’re So Vain’ by Carly Simon. Chad’s noodle-style picking was very tasty also.

Misty Henderson graced the 2nd set with ‘3 Little Birds’ and her own calypso love song ‘Island Boy’ with ‘I Can’t Help My Self’… such a talent at only 14 years old. She is a great singer and is so very grounded in her delivery for her age. The band were on fire… then ‘ol mate Ash Bell (Starboard Cannons) floored everyone with laughing fits during his rendition of ‘3 Times A Lady’. It was great to see people standing and rocking out on the ukes to ‘Johnny Be Goode’ adorned by Warren Earls‘ tasting and fluent lead work. Miss Amber did a great job of 3 Dog Night’s ‘Joy To The World’ to bring the night to an end.

Great cake by Miss Amber and Deb.. Great sound by Luis Christia as usual. Thanks to The Couthouse Hotel for hosting the event for 3 years in a row. Thanks to all who attended the evening. It was the biggest and best crowd we have had thus far. It was really great to see faces who haven’t been in a long time. Welcome back and Happy Birthday to Us!

Show Us Yer Willie – June 2014

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Show Us Yer Willie

This was a very special night. Regardless of the fact that at first the country theme wasn’t so well received at its conception, there was a great roll at the venue with all the regulars and quite a few new faces. The music was wonderful, each song being rewarded with enthusiastic applause. It would be hard to choose a highlight, though we all Love Clel’s Train Song, River Valley Express, and Still is ‘Still Moving to Me’ was mighty cool. Great to have our good friends Sara Tindley and Clelia Adams on board with Uke Night new comer, Kim Cheshire, all wonderful vocalists. Great playing from Rod Coe on double bass (as usual) with Rex Carter doing an exemplary job of time keeping. What country night would be complete without pedal steel? Paul Agar was there, tuneful and perfect… we’ve heard it said before about our nights… this is was the best one yet!!

Summer Of Love May 2014

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Uke Mullum's Summer Of Love May 2014

What an Amazing night. 1967 was a great year for songs… everyone got into the spirit and there was some very groovy dressing… (wasn’t much of a stretch for most people). The room was full… Rex Carter on drums, Rod Coe on the Bass and Evan Sun were on fire and special guest Kim Banffy was wonderful in her role as backing singer and lead vocalist. Sunshine Superman Phil Free was sensational doing Donavan’s hit tune, though the stand out performance of the evening was ‘White Rabbit’ by the Mullum Monday night crew with lead vocals by Val Hodgson… the loudest applause all night. Thank you all who came and put so much effort into having fun… great work as usual by Luis on sound and Ashara on the door who took over for poor Deb (whohad the dreaded lurgy). Big big thanks to Son of Drum who donated the sexy raffle prize uke.

Blues Uke Night April 2014

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Blues Uke Night

Blues night was a lot of fun this year. Partly due to the Anzac Day holiday on the day after, the room was nice and full. It was a great night with Larry and his Blues Party set up first… Belle Hendrik is a wonderful stage presence and ballsy singer… What can I say… Warren Earl is a master of stringed things… He made the Uke sing and contort in a lovely swing jazz kinda way…. Great drumming for Uke Night newby Rex Carter and Matty Bone on bass also did a mighty job. The sound just keeps getting better end better, thanks Luis Christia, Miss Deb on the door and Miss Amber was in fine voice as well. Thanks Val for screen scrolling also.

March 2014 – 4 Chords or Less

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Uke Mullum March 2014

What a fun night we had with the amazing Misty Henderson with her new song ‘Island Boy’. Misty has an incredible voice for her age and we are very proud to able to share the stage with such a talent. Then came Chris Mallory’s sweet tones… a lovely gent with oodles of charisma and charm, his songs were very well received as well. In fact the numbers were much more like the previous year… the four chord or less songbook seemed to attract more ukes in the audience. Really Great to see. Mat Aikhurst on drums did an incredible job with the mighty Rod Coe on double bass and Chad on support Uke. Thanks as always to the Courthouse Hotel, Luis on sound and Deb on the door

February 2014 – Love Gone Wrong Songs

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What a nice evening we had, singing about heart break and love lost. There is something about these tunes that they make you feel better about yourself. Special guest  Tim Stokes was very smooth and commanding with great versions of U2’s ‘With or Without You’ and Ray Lomantagne’s styling of ‘To Love Somebody’… and and eerie duet with Miss Amber of ‘Where The Wild Roses Grow’. Thanks also to the young sisters from Byron, Azura and Isis who returned to entertain us. The turn out was smaller than usual due to quite a few locals attending a uke event in Stanthorpe with Trevor Gollagher, though there were plenty of new faces. Big thanks to all, Evan Sun on Mando and little guitar, Rod Coe on Bass, Chad Smith on support Uke, Luis on Sound, Deb the door and Val on Screen scrolling duties.  Miss Amber and I live putting on the uke nights in Mullum. They are a challenge and we meet lots of folk who love a good strum. We love your feedback so we can make them even more enjoyable for you.

Australia Day Book 2014

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Australia Day Fun

What a great night, even though Australia Day had already been and gone… due to lack of imagination and time we soldiered on and did the Australia Day book with the addition of a few new tunes… most importantly ‘Riptide’ , Vance Joy’s Hottest 100 winner of 2014… performed on Ukulele no less. A good year for the uke already… sung by Rosie who did a really great job.

Great friend and singer songwriter Sara Tindley was back again to lead Archie Roach’s ‘Took The Children Away’ and ‘My Island Home’. We also were treated to Khe Sanh… what a great band we had in Dave Sanders on drums, The Mighty Rod Coe on double Bass, Evan Sun on Mando and Guitar, Chad Sheather on Uke with new friends, Tirza on BV’s and partner Dan on accordion, not to mention the most lovely Dorothy Johnston on washboard and vocals who wore the most spangled Australia Day outfit imaginable. Thanks to Luis and Deb and lovely whistling from Reuben James Eadie.

The Greatest Hits – November 2013

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Uke Mullum Nov 2013 - The Greatest Hits

I never did get around to writing this event up… I was awaiting some photos, that just never came. Maybe one day they’ll surface. We had Fiona Night singing some Mowtown… Ash Bell dropped in for Diamonds on the Souls Of Our Shoes, That’s Freedom by Farnsy and Poor Ned. Monster Mash was the finale… it’s still a favourite. Great night had by all with thanks to all involved.

September 2013

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September saw the return of that outrageous and nutty Mae Wilde who brought her demure and seemingly almost quiet by comparison friend Ilona Harker. Also appearing was the best male vocalist (2012), Ashley Bell singing songs by his favourite artist at the time… Paul Simon. We had The Matt’s rhythm section, Matt Bone on double bass and Matt Akehurst on drums, Kim Moxham back on sax and of course Chad Sheather on uke. It was a demanding set and all played exceptionally well.

Highlights were all of Ashes Songs, Gracelands, Diamonds On The Souls of Her Shoes and ‘Call Me Al’ and Mae’s House OF Bamboo. The climax was was of course ‘Life is A Cabaret’… what show stopper. Great night. Thanks to all the helpers and supporters.