On any given Thursday afternoon, the Sweet Palette bakery at 101 Person Street comes alive with the sounds of ukulele music. The Fayetteville Ukulele Club gathers there from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. every week to jam. At their weekly jams, anywhere from 10-35+ people gather with ukuleles of all shapes and sizes to play, sing, and enjoy “kanikapila,” Hawaiian for ukulele joy.
Anyone who is interested in playing is welcome to join in the fun of playing and singing, enjoying music and great company (and of course a sweet treat, if you are so inclined).
Those brand new to playing the instrument, worry not; as they will partner newcomers with someone who is more experienced, who will teach a few simple chords. They even have loaner ukuleles for those who want to give it a try before purchasing one of their own. Or people can just listen and enjoy.
On Thursday, Sept. 18, the regular club meeting will move to Arran Lakes Baptist Church at 1130 Bingham Drive in Fayetteville; as always, anyone is welcome to join the jam for free on Thursday. The reason for the one-time move is that it kicks off a weekend of ukulele fun in the second annual Ukulele JAMboree, which begins on Friday for those who have pre-registered.
The JAMboree will be two days of workshops and jam sessions, each with various musical styles to play and learn. The workshops will be led by Bob Guz, an Austin, Texas-based ukulele player and educator.
According to Guz’s biography, “he has performed and taught ukulele workshops at the Kerrville Folk Festival, as well as the Lone Star, Midwest, and New York City ukulele festivals. Bob has also enjoyed playing and performing with bands that include Shorty Long and The Pine Beetles…He is President and Music Director of the Austin Ukulele Society, which he co-founded in 2011. For the Society, he has led workshops, live streams, open mics, jam sessions, and monthly gatherings of over 120 to 150 strummers and singers.”
The JAMboree weekend will feature two workshops. In each one, Bob will break down one song, exploring its structure and musical intricacies. Bob will guide the participants through a series of exercises aimed at getting everyone comfortable with the strum patterns, chord progressions, picking parts, and vocal harmonizing of the song.
By the end of each workshop, the group will play that workshop’s song together and create a video recording, which will be shared on the Austin Ukulele Society's YouTube channel, along with all of Bob’s workshop recordings.
The workshops are limited to registered participants and registration is no longer available. However, there is still an opportunity for the general public to get in on the fun of the JAMboree by being part of the “peanut gallery,” as co-founder and organizer Mary Hill calls it.
The weekend will have several jam sessions, and anyone is welcome to attend those. Times when the general public can come and enjoy the sounds of a wide variety of music with different performers are as follows:
Friday 9/19: 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., Beatlemania JAM with Margaret and Rick D.; 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., Open Mic Various performers from around NC; 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. After Hours with Ukes JAM with Jacqui, Ginger and Danny.
Saturday 9/20: 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Old Time Rock & Roll JAM with Rick H. & Nell; 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Music That Makes You Smile JAM with Lynn & Mary Lou.
Event organizer Mary Hill shares that the event is intended to promote and share the love and joy of playing ukulele music in our region. Other similar events around the country tend to cost upwards of $150 or more, while registration for this event was much less expensive.
The goal is simply to cover the cost of the event itself, not to raise money for anything else or to make a profit.
This project is supported by a Grant from the Arts Council of Fayetteville|Cumberland County and, in part, by contributions from the City of Fayetteville, Cumberland County, and other community partners.
Whether you are an expert who is looking for a place to plug in and JAM with others, or you’ve never touched a stringed instrument before but would like to learn, the Fayetteville Ukulele Club has a way for you to do just that.
Join in on the regular Thursday Jam Sessions at Sweet Palette downtown; join the Jam Session on Thursday, September 18 at Arran Lakes Baptist Church; and come listen as part of the Peanut Gallery during the JAMboree on September 19 and 20, also at Arran Lakes Baptist Church. As Hill shares, the primary focus of the Fayetteville Ukulele Club and everything they do: “We play better, together!”

(Photo courtesy of the Fayetteville Ukulele Club)