early last year<\/a>. But playing in front of others was going to be a lot different, even though the folks in Blackpool were about the kindest, gentlest, least judgmental bunch you’ll ever meet.<\/p>\nI didn’t dare do it on the big stage\u2014that will come in the future once I’ve gotten my brain and fingers around the Formby style of playing\u2014but luckily, the convention holds what’s called an Up and Comers session so that those of us who are still trying to figure out what the heck we’re doing can perform just for each other, rather than in front of the uke masters, who can be intimidating even though they don’t mean to be.<\/p>\n
So on Sunday afternoon, I got up in front of two dozen or so players who were also as nervous as I and strummed and sang. You’ll note that the strumming here’s a bit different from my earlier home performance. The Formby friends I’ve made have advised that there’s no need to flail about madly throughout the song, that I should save any strumming pyrotechnics for the eventual solo. So I’m more restrained here, though I do make my way through a ragged solo. And once I get the hang of Formby-style, I’ll be dropping triples and other riffs back in along the way to liven things up.<\/p>\n
Thanks to my friend Mike O’Dwyer for recording this and providing evidence I actually managed to get through the entire song. (And if you’re wondering about the false start, it’s because the banjo uke I only owned for 24 hours is a different size instrument than the concert uke I’m used to, and as a result, my fingers started off exactly one fret down the neck, which it took only a few bars for me to realize.)<\/p>\n