When we held our first Mighty Uke Day in 2010, I never dreamed that two years later we’d be featuring the one and only James Hill in Old Town Lansing. Mighty Uke Day I was basically a sampling of ukulele music centered around the showing of Mighty Uke: The Amazing Comeback of a Musical Underdog, the delightful documentary from Tony Coleman and Margaret Meagher. Local performers like The Fabulous Heftones, Rachael Davis, Magdalen Fossum as well as the Lansing Area Ukulele Group all pitched in to make it into a fun mini-festival. In 2011, we actually had a budget; renting a venue, bringing in Lil’  Rev from Milwaukee and Gerald Ross from Ann Arbor, hosting workshops at Elderly Instruments and Gallery 1212, and reaching out to more uke groups around the state and beyond. We didn’t lose money and even raised some to support the special education music therapy program at the RESA school in St. Johns.

This year was more challenging, nerve-wracking, and in the end; better than ever. I had originally reached out to Daniel Ho; a wonderful player and songwriter from Hawaii who lives in L.A. (that other one in California). It tuned out that he had a busy international touring schedule planned and couldn’t work Lansing into the mix. I really had no Plan B and was at a bit of a loss of what to do. Tony Coleman offered to put me in touch with James Hill and I thought, “What the heck, it’s worth a shot.” James was interested and put me in contact with his manager, who I met in Toronto to seal the deal. After the initial euphoria of “James Hill is coming to Mighty Uke Day!”, the next thought was “Yikes; what did I get myself into?” I was looking at the dollars I had committed to, facilities I needed to secure, personnel to organize and help, and was feeling a bit overwhelmed. But, with the help and support of all of you, it was a success beyond my wildest imagination.

There are so many people to thank, and I’m sure I will miss someone, but here goes …

Our sponsors: Ticket sales and workshop fees pretty much pay for the commitments I have to make to headlining performers. But there are so many other expenses including renting a venue, printing and other publicity, food, opening acts, lodging, postage, travel, supplies, etc. Our sponsors help make it possible to give our attendees and performers the experience you all deserve. A big shout-out to Mya-Moe and the Old Town General Store for their underwriting of our main stage concerts on Friday and Saturday night; without you, we could not have secured the Creole Gallery for Mighty Uke Day III. Thanks to Stan Werbin and Elderly Instruments (the finest ukulele store in the world)  for getting the word out about our event via their email blasts. Elderly, Lanikai, Kala, Nalu, and the Mighty Uke Movie all donated instruments to help support the Clinton County special education music therapy program and other soon to be announced musical charity efforts in the Lansing Area. In addition, a beautiful little quilt handmade by Cindy Mielock and a painting by CW Snook not only added to the tally for the charities but added some artistic flair to our offerings. Aquila donated strings for our Uke Maintenance workshop. Once again, Sir Pizza let us take over their restaurant for our open mic and strums. Thanks again to all of you for getting behind our efforts.

Our people: The larger this gets, the more impossible it is to be a one-man show. Throughout Saturday, I keep saying “This is bigger and crazier than ever, but it’s all under control.” I was the least-stressed I’ve ever been during one of our festivals and I owe most of this to our capable, enthusiastic, and hard-working Mighty Uke Day committee and volunteers. Jon Benallack was a great support to me in termes of advice, graphic design, and leading the Build Your Own Uke workshop. Mitch Chang, who just moved here from that other LA, has hosted many uke events in California and Hawaii and helped keep me focused on priorities surrounding our festival. Steve Szilagyi sort of got dragged into it all at the last minute and served as a stellar stand in for me as the spokesperson for Mighty Uke Day when I couldn’t. Chuck Deyo again did an excellent job organizing, scheduling, and running the open mic and pitching in whenever needed. And, last but certainly not least, Sara Wagner who recruited and scheduled our awesome team of volunteers (more about them below), helped get the word out to various uke organizations and the press, and basically took on whatever I threw at her. From a personal standpoint, I want to acknowledge the contributions of Rhea Van Atta who was a great sounding board for my ideas and put up with my restless energy and sleepless nights, all in the midst of undertaking the opening the Old Town General Store; I couldn’t have survived it without her. We had a great crew of volunteers who helped us with merch sales, tickets, setup/teardown, and more. (A special shout-out to Terry and Laura Hill for their early-morning help getting Sir Pizza ready and to Dave Pasant for running the Sir Pizza radio show and morning strum in my absence.) I hope everyone appreciates the great work this team did to put on Mighty Uke Day III.

The press: The media seems to love our quirky little festival and really helped us get the word out. Thanks to Cynthia Canty at WUOMs Stateside, Mark Bashore and Current State at WKAR, Anne Erickson at the Lansing State Journal, Rich Tupica at the City Pulse, and MJ Galbraith at G-Live magazine.

The music: What an amazing lineup we had this year! Friday night, Susan Picking started things off with a uplifting set of original music, accompanied by Steve Szilagyi on bass and Mitch Chang on ukulele and percussion. Julianna and Andy Wilson of The Springtails gave a us a taste of of what to expect from their upcoming CD, and we can’t wait for its release. Then, Danielle Ate the Sandwich took the stage and had not only enraptured us with her voice and songwriting, but had us rolling in the aisle with her spontaneous and self-deprecating humor. She’s a great performer and certainly gained a lot of new fans.

Our open mic performers and featured artists showed us what a versatile instrument the ukulele is. There were too many good acts to list them all, but they offered a complete afternoon of top-notch music outside of our evening concerts.

For the big show Saturday, we were warmed up with the solo stylings of homeboy Ryan Rodriguez and transplant Mitch Chang and then were treated to a rollicking set by Strangers in the Night; led by the Alligator Man himself, Stan Werbin. After a brief intermission, James Hill and Anne Janelle took the stage with ukuleles and cello. For the next hour-plus, we were treated to a world-class performance by the two full of great songwriting, musicianship, and chemistry between James, Anne, and the audience. We all know how great James is and he didn’t disappoint, but I was particularly impressed by Anne’s voice, playing, and musical arrangement skills. The evening wrapped up with James’ signature version of “Billie Jean” and a big strum/sing along with the crowd. We all floated out of the Creole on an ukulele cloud nine.

You: And of course, I want to thank all of you who came from near and far to be a part of Mighty Uke Day III; it’s not much of a festival if no one comes! We had people from New York, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Alabama, Virginia, Canada, and all around the state visit our festival and Old Town and I saw many beautiful, smiling faces. Attendance at the concert, open mic, featured performances, and workshops were above and beyond expectations.

I value your feedback on our festival; we try our best to refine and improve it each year. I will put together an online survey that I hope you take a few minutes to fill out; your input is very important to our continued success. (Last year’s responses were invaluable in our 2013 planning.) My mind is already thinking of new and cool ideas for next year, so keep checking in on our Mighty Uke Day Facebook page and here on our website for information as things start to come together. In the meantime, go to the Facebook page and enjoy all the wonderful video clips, photos, and memories people are sharing from the special days we spent together May 10 & 11.

Uke on,

Ben Hassenger
www.mightyukeday.com
mightyukeday@gmail.com

Thank you so much to everyone who helped support Mighty Uke Day II in Old Town (forgive me if I miss anyone). First, the core volunteers who helped make it all possible: Sara Wagner, Chuck Deyo (great job on keeping the open mic running smoothly), Jon Benallack, and especially Rhea Van Atta. We also had big help from Greg Gattuso, John Payne, and Susan Picking who helped with our set up on Friday and the many others who pitched in during the day at the last minute. A huge thanks to Dave Matchette who saved the day by loaning us his PA and running sound for the evening concert. Terry Hill was very generous (and trusting) to lend us 10 ukes for the Hilo Greg children’s workshop. Our sponsors: Elderly Instruments (thank you Stan Werbin), Message Makers, Gallery 1212, Mya-Moe, Ohana, Kiwaya, Lanikai, and Paulele helped us make it affordable to put the whole thing on. Connie and the staff at the Sir Pizza Grand Cafe were welcoming and hospitable as always and are a true community treasure.

The local press was very enthused and supportive of our efforts. A big shout-out to Jane Aldrich from WLNS TV6, Rich Tupica from the City Pulse, Anne Erickson from the Lansing State Journal, and Karen Love, Jack Robbins, and Dave Downing from WLNZ 89.7 FM.

The music was outstanding! From the all the great original and cover tunes we heard at the open mic, the community of Michigan uke groups, the talent of our featured performers Rachael Davis, Julianna Tuell and Andy Wison, Hilo Greg, and John Payne, and of course the skill and showmanship of our main stage performers Pat Malloy, Steve Szilagyi, Gerald Ross, Lynn and Brian Hefferan, and the one and only Lil’ Rev — I think we had one of the most diverse, gifted, and entertaining lineups you could ever hope for at a festival.

I also want to give a special thank you to Tony Coleman and Margaret Meagher, director and producer of the “Mighty Uke”. They were the impetus to get us started on this adventure by holding the inaugural festival last year. They’ve told me that they’ve been to bigger festivals but not better ones. They are truly wonderful people and Rhea and I are honored and blessed to call them our friends.

And of course, I want to thank all of you who came from near and far to be a part of Mighty Uke Day II; after all, a party is pretty boring if no one comes to it! We had people from New York, Indiana, Ohio, Chicago, Wisconsin, Canada, and all around the state visit our festival and Old Town and I saw many beautiful, smiling faces. Attendance at the concert, open mic, movie showings, and workshops were above and beyond expectations.

I value your feedback on our festival; I hope to be able to improve it each year. I will put together an online survey that I hope you take a few minutes to fill out; your input is very important to our continued success. My mind is already thinking of new and cool ideas for next year, so keep checking in on our Mighty Uke Day Facebook page and here on our website for information as things start to come together. In the meantime, go to the Facebook page andenjoy all the wonderful video clips, photos, and memories people are sharing from the special day we spent together on May 5.

Love “uke” all,

Ben

I was honored to be invited to perform my tribute to Tiger Stadium, “The Corner”, at a 100th “birthday party” at the Detroit Historical Museum on April 20, 2012. As soon as I played, we all watched Gary Glaser’s excellent documentary on the park “Stranded at the Corner” along with a sneak preview of his follow-up movie “Force-Out”.

In honor of this special anniversary, I am offering a free download of the song. You can also read a Major League Baseball article about the song and view the video here. “The Corner” was admitted to the archives of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009. (I want it on record that I did not use steroids to get in!)

25 August 2009
Hope your dreams are full of sun and squirrels …
Jake Dog Hassenger
b. 12-1-1993  d. 8-24-2009

I first met Jake in the early summer of 1994. I was dating a woman from Ferndale at the time and we went to the Royal Oak Flea/Farmer’s Market as was usual on the Sundays I was visiting. An animal rescue organization was at the market and in one of the cages was a frisky and incredibly cute little white and black terrier mix. My girlfriend was gushing over him and thought I should adopt him. I had just started my sales rep job, which required me to be on the road quite a bit, and I said that I was in no position to adopt a dog. She said “Let’s take him for a walk”, we did and it was all over — I just fell in love with him. Everyone that passed us by commented on how adorable he was and I had to agree. I half-heartedly tried to resist taking him home, but when the woman that ran the rescue said she wanted me to take him because he might otherwise go to a guy that owned a junk yard (I think she must have been pulling my leg), I caved and signed the papers.

I had to leave him off to get neutered, when I picked him up a week later in West Bloomfield, he promptly peed on the vet’s floor and the pooped all over the inside of my car — we were off to a great start. I had a softball game that evening in Lansing, so I left him off with my friend Chris. Jake was bouncing all over the place like he was on springs, Chris’ wife at the time was horrified when she was told they had adopted the dog and was greatly relieved when I returned after the game to get him and bring him home. A couple of days later, my son Ben met him for the first time and was pretty freaked out by Jake’s energy. Ben wasn’t used to pets and I was worried that they wouldn’t get along, but we all went for a long walk down the railroad tracks and everything was fine after that. The two of them grew up with each other (Ben was about 9 at the time when I adopted Jake), and I think Jake, as well as my cats, really helped Ben become comfortable around and affectionate with animals.

As with most dogs, Jake hated delivery people. He would bark furiously every time the mailman came up to the porch to the mailbox. One day I came home and there was a note that said “I hope your dog is OK”. I went inside and found that Jake had busted the window with his head when he ran up and jumped on the couch to bark at the intruder. He was fine, the window got fixed, and that didn’t happen again.

Between various relationships and other friendships over the years, Jake spent time with a variety of people and animals and got along well with women, men, cats, and other dogs. He could destroy any play toy he was given and took a special joy in tearing apart the “indestructible” ones. He also loved to chew up clothes and had a special taste for women’s underwear (he transformed them into those special crotchless panties), socks, and the armpits of my t-shirts. He put the “tear” in terrier for sure.

He adjusted nicely to moving to Barb’s house in Haslett when we got married. He had 10 acres of invisible fenced-in property to roam and Barb’s dogs Buddy and Harry showed him the ropes. He loved to wander around with his nose in the air sniffing all the scents of the country and was a good deer and squirrel chaser until his later days. He also enjoyed drinking water out of the pond, which led him into big trouble a couple of years ago. It was the middle of the winter and Barb and I were upstairs puttering around on a weekend morning. I looked out our bedroom window toward the pond and commented on the fact that there was something that looked like a swan in the middle of the pond, which doesn’t freeze over because of the windmill that aerates it. All of a sudden I realized it was Jake and threw on my clothes, boots, coat, and gloves and ran out there. Jake was in the water and was shivering and barking very weakly. When I made eye contact with him, he looked at me like he was asking me to save him, and I rushed out to the edge of the ice without a minute’s hesitation, picked him up out of the water, and carried him back to the house. He wouldn’t stop shivering and I held him close to me for a couple of hours until he warmed up, relaxed, and we both fell asleep. I was very wary about leaving him out while I was gone for the winter, but he seemed to have learned his lesson and we didn’t have to go through that with him again (although we did have to rescue a neighbor’s dog earlier this past winter).

Jake never left my side, unless someone else was going to give him some food. When we would have parties or house concerts, everyone would comment on how he would follow me around everywhere. Whenever I was sitting around playing guitar, reading the paper, or watching the Tigers on TV — Jake was there. That’s probably the hardest thing for me right now; I keep looking for him lying on the floor sleeping at my feet. When he was diagnosed with kidney failure a few weeks ago, I tried to spend as much time with him as possible and spoiled him more than usual. I took him out to the Meridian Farmer’s Market last Saturday, and he lay in the grass at my feet while I performed. Little kids came up to pet him and he accommodated them with much patience. One little girl in particular just stroked his head and ears for the longest time, it was hard to tell which one of them enjoyed it more.

He was an incredibly good friend and companion; it was the hardest thing in the world I have ever had to do when I called the vet on Monday to put him to sleep. Dr. Harris at the Haslett Animal Hospital is the most compassionate and caring vet I have ever known, he came to the house and gave Jake the injection as I held him. He went to sleep gently; as he had been sleeping so much over the last year or so, it seemed very natural. I dug a hole by the windmill in the backyard, next to Harry who we had buried a few months earlier, and laid him down wrapped up in a beach towel. In a sealed plastic bag, I left some photos of him along with the Blue Jello CD featuring songs I wrote for him, and covered him up with dirt.

We still have two dogs; Rusty and Noche, along with our cats Freckles and Pepper, and are not at a loss for animal companionship — but it’s hard right now to believe I will ever again have a relationship like I had with Jake. Goodnight my little co-pilot, you will be missed and forever loved and remembered …

BED & BREAKFAST FOR MIGHTY UKE DAY
If you’re look­ing for a spe­cial place to stay for Mighty Uke Day, we have worked out an arrange­ment with the Cozy Koi Bed and Break­fast, located in-between Old Town and Down­town Lans­ing. It has eight rooms in an his­toric house and next-door “cot­tage”. Seven rooms are still avail­able, and they will give Mighty Ukers $10 off the prices of $85-$135 dol­lars if you men­tion Mighty Uke Day. They need a deposit of $50 to reserve the rooms, checks and cash only. Check it out via the link below and con­tact Diane San­born at the Cozy Koi if you are inter­ested. http://www.cozykoibandb.com/index.htm

Our car was split up into 10 — 12 cabins with four bunks in each. Bill and I had the two bottom bunks, which were basically like single beds and comfortable. They were a bit shabby, but had clean sheets, blankets, and pillows. Two brothers were in the upper bunks; one a policeman. They spoke some English and were pleasant and friendly. The policeman had a girlfriend in the next cabin who came over and spoke with Bill in English for quite a while. After she left, all four of us pretty much fell asleep to the rhythm of the rails and woke up after the dining car had closed for the evening; no supper for us. Luckily we had some fruit and munchies on board with us and that was just enough to make it through the evening.

We arrived in Xi’an around 8:00 am and were met by some friends of a friend from Changzhou. Proud owners of a medium-sized Buick, they drove us to a restaurant just outside of town where we had a huge breakfast of fish soup, sardine salad, mushrooms, and vegetable dumplings. I was so hungry I ate about twice as much as I usually would have, and was very satisfied. Then, we headed off to see the Terrracotta Warriors at the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, China’s first Emperor.

Qin wanted to recreate the imperial palace in which he lived to protect him in the afterlife so he had over 8,000 soldiers along with horses, chariots, and other figures — all out of terracotta (“baked earth” in Italiano} clay, and each one unique in its characteristics. Apparently, over 700,000 workers, most of them prisoners and slaves, toiled for years to build the figures and surroundings, with many of them dying in the process. Very high levels of mercury have been measured in the area and the conjecture is that shimmering rivers were simulated using the toxic liquid metal. There is still much of the mausoleum that has not been excavated, so many surprises still await discovery. It’s truly fascinating; you can find out more about it at these sites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terracotta_Army, http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=441, and http://www.china-family-adventure.com/xian-terracotta-army.html.

After the warriors, we were dropped off at the Xi’an airport for a trip back to Bejing. We got back to Bill’s apartment quite late (after a rather wayward taxi ride), grabbed about two hours of sleep and shower, and then returned to the Beijing airport for the trip back to the US. I had a few tears in my eyes when I left them; it was such a special and wonderful experience and it reminded me all the reasons I left my sales rep job a couple of years ago after a very similar experience in Vietnam.

Traveling and sharing music, the English language, and American culture to people around the world, learning about other’s cultures and countries, and making new friends is truly what I wish to be my life’s work. At the age of 56, I feel I have at least 20 years left in which to pursue these dreams; stay tuned …

Today (Friday) we are teaching a class in the morning, then doing a bit of sight-seeing and shopping before we take a 16-hour train ride to Xi’an and the Terracotta Warriors http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terracotta_Army. Stay tuned for more …

Sunday morning we caught the bullet train to Jinan and Shandong Sports University, where Bill teaches English. We hit speeds of 311 kph (193 mph) and the ride was smooth and relaxing. The train was clean and the seats comfortable. Why we can’t get it together in our country to invest in this mode of transportation is beyond me; it’s so much more enjoyable than flying. Our former MSU student Rose picked us up at the train station in Jinan. Rose was one of my favorite students at MSU; attractive, smart, and a great sense of humor. She has been Bill’s “right-hand woman” in Jinan: she is very connected and helps him navigate the often confusing structure of Chinese bureaucracy and culture. I had an amazing peanut dish at a very nice restaurant which seemed to contain peanuts, soy sauce, cilantro, onion, and tomato: I am going to have to try and re-create it when I get home. She dropped us off at Bill’s small dorm room on campus and we settled in to get prepared for a concert in the school auditorium that evening.

We did a sound-check around 3:00, which I insisted on after my experience in Vietnam with the karaoke-type approach many college Asians have to mixing, set it up so it sounded reasonable and then headed over to the college radio station for an interview. Sophie, the interviewer, was well-prepared and we did the interview in English and Chinese, with a very capable young interpreter by my side. I sang a few songs and then it was time for the show. We had well over 200 students in the 300-seat auditorium, so it was reasonably full. Many of the students were English majors, but others knew little English at all, so I had another interpreter with me, along with Bill on stage. The students were engaged most of the time and enjoyed singing along on the songs. I mixed in a few of my originals with some folk classics; the big hits were: “This Land is Your Land”, “Erie Canal”, “500 Miles”, and of course “Country Roads” (which I have found to be the favorite American song anywhere in the world.) A personal highlight of the evening was getting all the students to sing “Root, root, root for the TIGERS” in “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”; it was a funny moment. I spent at least 30 minutes after the show getting my picture taken with various students and had many nice comments from them about the performance.

Bill and I spent Monday and Tuesday teaching together in his English classes and it was like old days back at MSU. We have a good back and forth with each other that the students really enjoy. Everywhere we went on campus, we were greeted with “Hi” or “Hello” from students who Bill said had never said anything to him in English before. The ones that were at the show or in the classes came up and told us how much they liked the songs and the singing; it was very heart-warming and reminded me of my trip to Vietnam two years ago which made me embark on this new career. We had a hot-pot dinner with Rose and her friend Sherri, choosing various vegetables and other additions to the soup from a toy train that would pass our table.

Sophie, the young lady who interviewed me on the radio, and her mother (a former colonel in the army) took us to the train station with a couple of stops at the Black Tiger Spring in Jinan, one of 72 in the city: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Tiger_Spring. We also went to a beautiful lake and stopped at a friend’s music store where I gave Sophie a guitar lesson and jammed with the owner on American folk classics. Then it was on to the bullet train station for another smooth ride in the countryside, this time to Changzhou. After we arrived, I played my uke and sang “You Are My Sunshine” with a cab driver, had dinner with some VIPP alumni and went back to the hotel where we both crashed about 7:30.

I’m up at 1:00 am Thursday typing this — so that means its Thanksgiving; a very happy one to you all! I hope to get some photos posted soon, but no video until after I return (no YouTube allowed in China).

Happy Thanksgiving from Changzhou, China!