PALM STRINGS UKULELE FESTIVAL — Come For The Music. Stay For The Weather.

A road warrior I am not! Once upon a time I had fantasies that I was, or could be, but they are annihilated when I actually do my first road gig. My agent tells the folks at the “XYZ Motel” in Riverside, California, which is about 70 miles east of Los Angeles, that I am a really good piano player and singer and “just perfect for your room.” The truth is I have never met the XYZ people, they’ve never met me and that’s not a good way to start a four-week engagement.

Long story short, I could have been a chimpanzee in a yellow dress playing “You Picked A Fine Time to Leave Me Lucille” at the piano bar and no one would have noticed. Or cared. Nope, this establishment is really about ladies meeting guys.

For a drink and a few laughs. Then they leave together, all smiley and stuff. Later (not much later…) the nice lady returns by herself, makes a new friend and starts over.

I thought I was so worldly at the time. After all I had worked in an emergency room for three years. On the graveyard shift. Where life lessons proliferate with stunning regularity. But I am not prepared for this. Nor are they prepared for me. Miss Goody Two-Shoes. After a couple weeks the manager pulls me aside.

“You’re fired.”

“Wa-Why?” I stutter.

“You don’t fit in.”

I should be relieved, but I’m not. I remember making that lonely trip back to Los Angeles in my red VW Bug, mortified and convinced I will never work again. “Look, I can’t even keep a job in a…well…fancy meeting place…in Riverside,” I mutter to the big gray void.

When I get home that night, I throw my bags on the floor, collapse on the bed and turn on the television for the Eleven O’clock News. They begin with breaking news, of course, about a big prostitution bust in Riverside. Live. OMG!

I watch the police lead a couple ladies (who look oh so familiar) out the front door of the piano bar. They are wearing handcuffs and bustiers. Mercifully the management has removed my name from the marquee, which is featured in the report. It HAD said “Cali Rose – Cheap Rooms.” But tonight it just says Cheap Rooms, which does seem appropriate…

Now you see why I get a little shiver when someone offers me a road gig. But in this grand adventure of life, I still say “yes.”

And a great big YES! to Palm Springs! Friday, February 6 through Sunday, February 8, 2015, when it is warm and beautiful in the California desert, ukuleles are taking over the town at the very first PALM STRINGS UKULELE FESTIVAL. My handsome talented husband, Craig Brandau, is also joining the party. We will teach separate workshops and appear together in the Saturday Night Ukulele All-Stars Concert. For more information, CLICK HERE.

All this good ukulele stuff is happening at the splendid and sprawling Hilton Palm Springs, nestled in the heart of downtown, where all the action is. Multiple options are available from full festival passes to Saturday-only passes to Nifty VIP Packages. This is going to sell out. And quickly. Here is the link for group rates at The Hilton. Or find other digs nearby.

The festival “daddy,” Doug Reynolds, is offering newbies the coolest deal in town. It includes a starter ukulele, tuner and a workshop with someone who loves beginners. That would be me!

I’ll teach two more classes: “Let’s Arrange A Song” and “Keys to Happiness, C-D-F-G-A, Marvelous Modulation” (or how to find the right key for you to sing and play a song…) Craig, my chord-melody loving guy, teaches fingerpicking and basic chord melody techniques.

If you have never attended a ukulele festival, it’s inspiring and sometimes a little intense. But you can do as much or as little as you want. A plethora of vendors offer eye-popping assortments of ukes and accessories. Folks gather in circles, spontaneous and otherwise, to make music together. The air is sparkling with good ukulele vibes. You really get a sense of connection, of ohana, because the sweetest people in the world play this wonderful instrument.

And I will leave the piano home…