IT’S FIESTA TIME and more…

So here is my challenge… How do I describe a “local” ukulele show so it feels like it’s happening in your neighborhood too?

Well, this is how I see it. We all need a little bolus of joy now and then. Maybe everyday. A second-wind that lifts us over the sticky spots. Making music is a great balm for what ails us. And when we have a musical family to make music with, that’s a gift that just keeps giving.

For all of us, no matter where we call home.

My ukulele group, The CC Strummers, is gearing up for our really big show this Sunday, August 25 (at 11:00 A.M.) at Culver City’s version of a county fair: Fiesta La Ballona. For the last couple of days I’ve been watching the workers pitching tents, laying electrical doo-dads and the “carnie” guys erecting the Ferris Wheel and other vomit-inducing thrill rides. Arcade games are next. Soon the kid-friendly ponies will arrive, along with throngs of people to sample the international smorgasbord of food and drink. Booths of “artisan wares” are favorites and various local entrepreneurs set up shop to advertise their store, their philosophy, free legal services, their business (look for Bob Wayne and Sunburst Recording where I recorded my new CD). It’s a Petri-dish of humanity tucked onto the grassy field behind The Veterans Memorial Building.

Do you have fairs like this in your world?

These street parties are fun and sparkling with energy and this Sunday, The CC Strummers are the first act on the stage (well, the dance-floor really), setting a tone of joy for the rest of the day. About 40 or so ukulele players, all gussied-up aloha style, will perform an eclectic array of music that we have been practicing for weeks. We want the audience to sing along and just feel “dem good ukulele vibes.” We have some surprises for you too.

So my Southern California friends, here are the details:

Fiesta La Ballona goes from Friday night, August 23 through Sunday evening, August 25, 2013. Parking is free, entertainment and booths are free. The CC Strummers perform Sunday morning, August 25, from 11:00 A.M. to 11:30 A.M. under the tent, which is close to Culver Boulevard. (The audience sits under the tent too). Afterwards there is a cavalcade of main acts and community groups that will keep folks entertained all day. Fiesta is located at Culver and Overland Boulevards in the heart of Culver City, California.

AND MORE…

Six of the CC Strummers joined me at my luau-gig yesterday. We car-pooled to a low-income housing facility for seniors. These folks are mostly from somewhere else and speak a “somewhere else” language. But we got to experience, first-hand, how music just is, just is the glue that binds us together. Even if it lasts just as long as a song. As we launched into our arrangement of “The C & H Sugar Commercial Theme,” a table of exuberant woman from South Korea leaped from their chairs, took their positions on the floor right in front of us and began their version of a country line dance. Who knew?

It was just that kind of magical day. I took a short video of Cris, Ed, Lorelyn, Nancy, Ginger and Marilyn rehearsing “Tiny Bubbles” before the show. It’s music and comedy all rolled into one.

Click here to check it out.

Have a wonderful weekend, wherever you are. And if you are near Culver City, please join us Sunday.