The Ukes at Mentone Americana Nights

All artists who reside in any music hall of fame once touched a musical instrument for the first time in their lives without knowing where it might lead. The Mentone Ukes had a very humble beginning. Many of our members had never played a musical instrument before coming to our group. Many do not know how to read music. But over the years we have gelled into a musical group, and the catalyst that holds us together is the ukulele.

We practice hard and have fun with no expectations of where it might go other than having a good time. When we perform, it is always well received. So here we are, having been the opening act for the last performance of the Mentone Americana Nights series. In a “pinch-me” moment, we were invited to open for two bonafide professional musical acts. We’ve earned our chops and we have not yet reached our full stride. We don’t even know what that is. But when the opportunity to perform arises, we prepare and we take seriously our role of representing Mentone and being the House Band of the Moon Lake Library.

This opportunity to play at Americana Nights only happened because Ukes member Don Highfield heard a couple of people mention playing at the Shigley Amphitheater behind our home base on a weekend when it was not in use. Don’s wife, Anne McLeod, the librarian at Moon Lake Library, knew Stephen Smith, the manager of the amphitheater. Stephen not only let us play at Shigley but also offered us the opening slot for the last concert of the year, headlined by Dennis Parker with his tribute to James Taylor. Inspired amateurs getting our shot at the big time — or close to it.

The Americana Nights set gave us new experiences in addition to opening the show for serious professionals. We got to do an actual sound check to attempt to balance out the sound of nine people singing and strumming ukuleles. And during the sound check, we realized it’s nice to have use of a top-notch sound system with monitors that enabled us to hear each other. That’s a luxury we never had before, and it helped us sound our best. There was a decent-size crowd that showed up early enough to see us. I think we were a little in shock that we got such an enthusiastic response from the audience. All the work we put in the weeks before the show was worth it.

We can now go back to the library and take what we learned from the concert and put it to use at our normal performances at the farmer’s market at Mentone Inn, senior luncheons, pop-up art festivals, and charity events and remember we did get to play in the big leagues at least for a day.

The Mentone Ukes will hold practice sessions at the Moon Lake Library on November 8 and 22 at 1 p.m. A free introduction to the ukulele is offered, and loaner ukuleles are available. Newcomers and beginners of all ages are welcome to attend! For more information, you can find us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and on our website, www.mentoneukes.com. Strum and be happy!

BY JERRY MEGLI AND HANK ALLEN