Ukulele Melee of Boston 2019

The annual Ukulele Melee is back! This year, we will be having all the usual fun, musical performances, ukulele workshops, strum alongs, open microphone, t-shirts, snacks, drinks, raffles, and general strum fun. We are planning to have a ukulele scramble this year too!

We are very exciting that our headliner this year will be Noah Wisch, Banana Cactus Ukulele.

Noah Wisch is a multi-instrumentalist from Stow, Massachusetts whose ukulele voyage set sail in 2015 with the creation of his YouTube channel, BananaCactus Ukulele. A filmmaker by day and a musician by night, the channel features him combining his passions to create refreshingly unique music videos that are equal parts beautiful and quirky. In 2017, he was featured in countless newspapers and social media feeds across New England following the release of a video titled “Making A Song In Every Town In Massachusetts”, in which he visited all 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth and recorded a single note of his song “Sidewalks” in each one.

Wisch has also become known for his instrumental ukulele medleys, in which he arranges a collection of songs by a single artist for the ukulele and turns it into a creative music video. His AC/DC medley — filmed entirely in one take on a drone — features everything from paint-filled water balloons to flamboyantly-dressed backup dancers to a pinewood derby-esque vegetable car race. The Lumineers medley is a beautiful documentation of his travels across the United States. In The Front Bottoms medley, he stars alongside a robot, a garden gnome, a cowboy, and a panda in an epic comic-action short film.

Videographic endeavors aside, Wisch is a songwriter at heart and spends much of his time exploring the ukulele, writing songs and experimenting with music production. His videos and music have been viewed over half a million times on YouTube. Through beautiful ukulele arrangements and playfully creative visuals, they radiate positivity — reminding us to have fun, explore, and enjoy our lives.

Workshops:

1. Getting Started in Composing Song Melodies in Four Steps (Dan and Molly Lynn Watt)
2. What's the Best Key for Singing a Song? (Jerry Dallal)
3. Chunk, Rattle and Roll! (Paul Sedgwick) Be sure to practice the Calypso Strum before coming.
4. "Learn the basics of recording and producing your own ukulele music in GarageBand. Noah will be demonstrating how to setup a new project, record your ukulele, and add other instruments to create a song. If you have a Mac laptop, please feel free to bring it with you to practice along!" (Bananacactus Ukulele)
5. Hula Dancing with Melissa Dullea and the Palm Court Serenaders.
6. 1920s:We'll play and sing favorites from that bygone age, with some pieces that you know well and others you wish you learned long ago. You’ll learn a bit about the period too. (Chuck Goldstone)

Short Workshops
Anne Ku - Response Song (Room 12)
Melissa Graham - Riptide (Gallery)
Paul Sedgwick - Hound Dog or Jambalaya (Room 10)
Danno Sullivan - One String Riff Lesson (Library)

Link to Schedule: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aNv8hyDy9VLgCn6F-vfsf6F-LWk_pDpIwGgHsKKSf8I/edit

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children 7-14.

Water and snacks will be sold at the Melee. However, if you want pizza or lunch, you pick up food at the pizza restaurant next door.

Raffles will be sold separately with separate tickets. You don't need to stay to win, just be sure to include your information on the tickets.

Raffle Items at this link. https://docs.google.com/document/d/17NO9vkexy2TVAVGgoY91fBlKvn3OYGpS_VKdXLZvkRo/edit?usp=sharing

Be back stage and ready five minutes before your time. We won't wait.

Open Mic Volunteers

1. 12:10 Marisa Ferricane Cacciatore
2. 12:15 The Common Strummers
3. 12:20 Paul Sedgwick
4. 12:25 Choco lele
5. 12:30 Caroline Haines
6. 12:35 Lucine and Amelie
7. 3:00 Nicole
8. 3:05 Wes Nickerson
9. 3:10 Gary Nelson