Bio

artist

Ukellettes

London, Ontario, Canada

Easy Listening

Bio :- The Ukellettes are a diverse group of women of varying ages and musical experiences who came together in 2009 in their love of the ukulele. Ten years on, they continue to bring a smile to the faces of audience members throughout the region. For them, this simple, yet complex and highly portable instrument bestows the gift of music, and the reward of pure joy. The Ukellettes are a five piece (4 to 6, actually, depending on the season) all female ukulele ensemble, playing a variety of different ukes (soprano, concert, tenor, banjolele, baritone), of all shapes and sizes. They play mostly old time or traditional songs from by gone eras, with just a smattering of more modern tunes. Since their inception, they have grown in musical stature, perhaps mainly due to the tutelage and determination of the leader of the group, and they now sing all kinds of music at all kinds of venues. They also perform extended sets of material for several seasonal events (such as Christmas, St. Patrick's Day (Irish), Valentine’s Day (love songs), Mother's Day, Halloween and Weddings. Current group members (in alphabetical order) are: Anna Chamberlain, Annie Grindstaff, Jo-Ann Lawton, Karen McLaughlin, Amber Raymond & Libby Wheeler. ( Annie spends her winters in Hawaii (poor Annie) so the group is undermanned (or is that underwomanned?), during winters. ) More Band Information :- Back in 2009 the Southern Ontario Ukulele Players (or S.O.U.P) started up and met (& still meets) once a week to learn and play the ukulele together. Several of the women of this fledgling S.O.U.P. group joined together with the idea of creating an all female ukulele performance band, a separate entity from S.O.U.P - and the Ukellettes were born. Check out Southern Ontario Ukulele Players here[https://londonsoup.weebly.com/] Satisfying a sizeable group of women with very different lives, temperaments and schedules has presented a challenge to the band and as in most groups, change of personnel is inevitable. New members have come along and although the present group membership has been stable for some time now, several members of the original Ukellettes have moved on. Regardless, the group as a whole continues its passionate love affair with the ukulele. The group's repertoire grows constantly. Each member of the group contributes their ideas and choice of material and collectively they develop harmonies and instrumental arrangements. There is no assigned lead singer. On a song-by-song basis who sings lead, who sings harmony, who strums, who picks--and on which instrument is decided as an ongoing process. Their music covers a wide variety of genres. They work hard, and they have a lot of fun. Although the essence of the group has been built on allowing all members to contribute equally to the direction the group takes, there has been one unifying factor - What is special about the Ukellettes is the leadership of Jo-Ann Lawton, who is an award-winning singer songwriter of exceptional talent. She inspires the group with her musical vision, and motivates each and every one of the Ukellettes to learn and grow. Jo-Ann guides them in a co-operative creative process through which they choose and arrange their music. Currently the Ukellettes play regular gigs on the 1st Friday of each month (7pm-9pm) at the Life*Spin Living Room, with all proceeds going to Life*Spin. Every time they perform, someone new gets to listen to their joyful music, and doors are being opened. Libraries, retirement homes, private parties, county fairs and festivals are all showing high interest in bringing the Ukellettes combined talents to new venues. They even played at an outdoor wedding! Some places where the Ukellettes have played (In no particular order): Life*Spin Living Room (ongoing) East Village Coffeehouse Covent Garden Market Western Fair Market Artemisia (Celebration of Women) Festival in Ingersoll Banner MusicFest Ailsa Craig Town Hall (seniors club) London Public Libraries Aeolian Hall (for Old East Live) Hilton Hotel & Marconi Club (Chocolate Sunday, Fundraiser for LifeSpin) Christie and Coen's outdoor wedding Horizon Place Retirement Residence Kensington Retirement Residence Richmond Woods Retirement Residence Parkwood Veterans Hospital Home County Folk Festival London to the Max Delaware Legion for the Chili Cookoffs Wolf Performance Hall (for Maude Barlow event) St. Pauls Cathedral (for Brio Music London) ANAF #229 Legions BBQ On Broadway (Broadway St. Wyoming) Car Show & Party Private parties. Contact info: email: [email protected]