Ukulele slam punches up Kansas City folk scene
A couple of years ago, Pam Waters got a call from a friend.
“You know that ukulele you have?”
The friend had heard about a group, the Ukulele Fight Club of Kansas City, and suggested Waters check it out.
“So I took my ukulele, and it was like I was their long-lost friend,” said Waters of Kansas City, as she and dozens of other ukulele players and enthusiasts gathered Saturday in the River Market area for the Second Annual Ukulele Slam.
Sponsored by officers of Folk Alliance International, the event is billed as the largest local ukulele gathering in the Kansas City area. Not that there’s much competition.
The organization operates The Folk Store, which sells ukuleles, guitars, sheet music and other merchandise at 509 Delaware St.
Performers included the Meatballs Ukulele Band, Ukulele Fight Club of Kansas City, Danny Fowler and the NUkesters, Ukulele Fight Club of Columbia, Kansas City Ukesters and a feature performance from local favorites Victor & Penny.
Scott Kovaleski, with the Ukulele Fight Club of Columbia, said he plays his ukulele for an hour or two a day.
“My family was going on a trip to South Dakota and I wanted something to do on the road,” said Kovaleski, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Missouri. “So I picked one up.”
And he hasn’t regretted it.
“It’s a relatively easy instrument to learn,” he said. “And nobody takes themselves too seriously. It’s impossible to not have fun while playing a ukulele.”
They even take the Tiny Tim jokes in stride.
“You’ve gotta kind of own it,” Kovaleski said.
As the bands performed in a brick courtyard across Delaware Street from The Folk Store, those in the audience tapped their feet and some strummed along from their lawn chairs.
Not Cecily Fowler, whose dad, Danny Fowler, was emcee for Saturday’s event. With the Meatballs Ukulele Band in full swing, the 2-year-old Gladstone girl danced her way up to the group. Band members smiled and Jim Rodarte handed her his ukulele, which she promptly started to strum.
“She loves to play,” said Cecily’s mom, Jenny McGee. “We keep one in the car at all times. She knows one chord — a C.”
McGee said ukuleles are fun for any age.
“There’s a lot of interest,” she said. “We’ll take a ukulele to the park, and you’d be surprised at how the kids gather around to see it.”
Joe Frogge, who started the Ukulele Fight Club of Kansas City, said the goal behind the Fight Club is to have one in every major city.
“It’s super easy — one of the easiest instruments to learn to play,” he said. “By learning three simple chords, you can literally play thousands of songs.”
His groups meets twice a month, he said, and everyone is welcome.
“This is for people who really would have never thought of doing something like this, to come and make music together,” he said.
Like Waters. She’s had so much fun with her ukulele that she bought two more.
“Now, I’ve got UAS,” she said. “Ukulele Acquisition Syndrome.”
To reach Judy L. Thomas, call 816-234-4334 or send email to jthomas@kcstar.com.
This story was originally published October 4, 2014 at 7:58 PM with the headline "Ukulele slam punches up Kansas City folk scene."