Hey! Hello Again!! (August 26, 2003)

A lot has happened since I last wrote in early July:

Peter English and I had a great time entertaining the folks who dropped in at SoBo Style to check out the enticing retro goodies available there (3133 N. High St., Columbus, OH). Then I was off to the east!!

First was the Ukulele Hall of Fame Museum EXPO 2003 (ukulele.org) in Providence, Rhode Island. I had a great time leading two workshops on song writing. Back in the classroom again after four years of retirement, it was truly uplifting to see so many participants gain confidence and throw themselves into writing their own, excellent songs. I got to play and sing a bit and heard some great performances by Waste of Aces, Michelle Kiba, Ukulele Dick, the Rumble Pups, the Bag End Boys, Rick Russo, Pat Monteleone, and the Ukes of Hazzard.

The last day of the EXPO I hitched a ride to Manhattan with Steven Swartz and Alan Drogin of Songs from a Random House (songsfromarandomhouse.com), and dropped in on my friend, former student, graphic designer/fashion photographer/web master, and a fellow singer/song writer, Ron Hester (ronhester.com).

Life is fast in New York City, and Ron and I moved fast, playing out in the East Village Monday at the C-Note and Tuesday at the Slipper Room (slipperroom.com). We had a great time and were well-received. Then I got out of town the day before the blackout!

Three days later Ukulele Man & his Prodigal Sons played a Tom Waits-a-Thon at Skully’s in Columbus. What a night! We hit it just right (see review). We were on cloud nine for several days. When the review came out, we were there again.

The second CD, Crazy Old World is getting closer to completion. We don’t have it burned yet, but we have CD Release parties scheduled for late October and early November at Little Brothers (littlebrothers.com) and Stagecoach BBQ & Blues (stagecoachbbq.com), respectively – both with the Jive Turkeys (thejiveturkeys.com). I’m on the phone to Oasis! The CD will get burned!

We’ll also be performing (guaranteed, but day and time to be determined – sometime Oct. 15-18) at Circleville’s own Pumpkin Show (pumpkinshow.com).

Well, that’s about it for now. Drop in again, and - PLEASE – e-mail the old geezer! It would be great to hear from you!!! (use the "Contact" option or: tom@ukuleleman.net).

Ukuleleman takes Manhattan.

Pete tweaks.

The curtain rises on Tom & Ron.

Pete, Tom & Bob ready to roll.