Fiddling Around

Jana Jae is a name I was totally unfamiliar with until last week. But now that I've met her and read a little about her, I'm very impressed and hopeful we will have another chance to meet up with her again. You can read what is said about her here at the National Fiddler Hall of Fame and on her website.

One of our ukulele players is friends with a friend of Jana Jae and when she heard about our group, she invited us to perform at her Fiddler's Workshop in Grove, Oklahoma. We were so excited to get this opportunity to play and sing, but somewhat nervous as well. As it turned out, there was no need to be anxious, because Jana Jae gave us such a warm welcome and so many words of encouragement. After hearing us, she asked us to stay a little longer, have lunch and play more. Would we? Are you kidding? We were having so much fun. Toward the end, she actually wanted to play with us! So now, we are all Jana Jae fans and she said she had no idea before meeting us that we were so professional. Okay, this coming from a real professional, our heads are totally swollen up!! And we've been invited back for next year's fiddler workshop.

So, what does the ukulele have to do with violins/fiddles? Nothing, except the ukulele was being introduced at the workshop and there was also a group attending who were learning to play.

We are hopeful that we will have more opportunities to play for other audiences, but we are content to continue to practice and play for the enjoyment of the residents of local assisted living and nursing homes. That truly brings joy to us.

Jana in the pink top.

The little girl in front is one of the ukulele students.

A huge thanks to my brother for making the trip with us to drive, and help with our equipment! Just riding to and from was a blast hearing and sharing hilarious stories with each other.