Mentone Christmas Tree Lighting
2022-12-10 | Mentone Inn Linger Longer Pavilion
Join the Mentone Ukes at the Mentone Inn as we celebrate the Mentone Christmas tree lighting! More details to be announced!

A Gathering of Friends Playing Three Songs from the South
2023-02-18 13:00 - 14:30 (America/Chicago) | Moon Lake Community Library, 4607 AL Hwy. 117, Mentone, AL, 35984, United States
The Mentone Ukes will once again be gathering together —this time to play three poetic songs that reflect a snapshot in time of Americana in the South: City of New Orleans (Steve Goodman and Arlo Guthrie), King of the Road (Roger Miller), and I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry (Hank Williams). Our opening song will be Take Me Home Country Roads (John Denver) and our closing song will be Aragon Mill (Si Kahn). Different artists took a situation they were in and painted a picture with words and music to capture that moment, to capture those feelings. As Hank Williams once said, “A song ain’t nothing in the world but a story just wrote with music to it.” Join us this Saturday, February 18th at 1:00 PM CST at the Moon Lake Library as Jerry and Debra introduce these songs to our friends, members of the Mentone Ukes. You too can be a part of this wonderful experience! Newcomers and beginners of all ages are always welcomed to attend these free sessions. (Or you can just come to listen!) We provide a beginners session and a limited number of loaner ukuleles are available. Strum and be happy!

LET THE FUN BEGIN!
2023-03-04 13:00 - 14:30 | Moon Lake Community Library, 4607 AL Hwy. 117, Mentone, AL, 35984, United States
LET THE FUN BEGIN! Starting at our session this Saturday we will begin to finalize our Spring performance song set. This set will include some familiar songs we’ve played before but also (because we’re that good!) some new songs will be incorporated into the set. We have plenty of time to practice and the new songs will keep those practices fun and engaging. As always, we’re playing from a variety of genres. Just a few of the new songs we’ll be considering are Friday I’m in Love (The Cure); Cecilia (Simon & Garfunkel), Wildflowers (Tom Petty), and Your Cheatin’ Heart (Hank Williams). We’ve worked out a great song set that will challenge us and be entertaining at our performances. New songs will be downloaded over the next couple days so you can begin to familiarize yourself with them. As always newcomers and beginners of all ages are welcomed to attend our FREE sessions, and loaner ukes are available. So plan to join us this Saturday, March 4th at 1:00 PM CST and bring a friend. Strum and be happy!

Springing Forward towards our Spring Performance
2023-03-18 13:00 - 15:00 | Moon Lake Community Library, 4607 AL Hwy. 117, Mentone, AL, 35984, United States
Our Spring Performance song set is just about there! We have a few more songs to try out — some new tunes and a few we’ve played before — and then we will be ready to begin practicing for our performances in earnest.
The song set for our session this Saturday includes:
-Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain by Fred Rose and popularized by Willie Nelson
– Happy Together by The Turtles
– In the Jailhouse Now by Jimmie Rodgers
– Ripple by The Grateful Dead
-Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond
-Stand by Me by Ben King
– Walls by Tom Petty
– Where Have All The Flowers Gone by Pete Seeger
– Wildflowers by Tom Petty
And the best news of all: it’s never too late for newcomers and beginners to join in the fun! The ukulele is easy to learn, fun to play, and it might just bring a little bit of joy into your life—or maybe a lot—and who doesn’t want that! Loaner ukes are available.

Mentone Ukes KIDS! - Free Beginners Class for Ages 6-12
2023-04-22 10:30 - 11:30 | Moon Lake Community Library, 4607 AL Hwy. 117, Mentone, AL, 35984, United States
WHAT WE WILL COVER: How to hold the ukulele and how to tune it; identifying parts of the ukulele; how to strum and basic strumming patterns; how to play a few chords and play a simple song.
WHAT’S SO GREAT ABOUT THE UKULELE? It is an easy instrument to learn; the nylon strings are easy on the fingers; it’s small, lightweight and easy to carry; it’s affordable; it’s fun to play!
MUSIC LESSONS ARE BENEFICIAL! Learning to play a musical instrument helps improve cognitive functions like: focus and memory; reading skills; eye-hand coordination; and concentration.
PREREGISTRATION REQUIRED! Class size is limited so please contact us at mentoneukes@gmail.com for more information.

More Christmas Songs, Please!
2023-12-02 13:00 - 14:15 | Moon Lake Community Library, 4607 AL Hwy. 117, Mentone, AL, 35984, United States
Our last practice session for our upcoming Christmas performances went great. Now that the pressure is off, let’s have some fun! We can play through some songs on our performance song set, but at this session we’ll add a few more easy Christmas songs for you to enjoy learning and playing during the Holiday Season. Note: new songs will not be played at our Lighting of the Christmas Tree performance, but we might incorporate the new songs at the Library’s Holiday Open House. Newcomers and beginners are always welcomed to our sessions—no musical experience required and loaner ukuleles are available for use during our sessions. So hope to see you on Saturday and bring a friend!

Mentone Community Tree Lighting
2023-12-09 16:30 - 18:30 | Mentone Inn Linger Longer Pavilion
Save the date!
The Mentone Ukes is excited and honored to be a part of this wonderful town tradition!
UPDATE! PLEASE READ: Slight change regarding our performance on Saturday, December 9th at the Town of Mentone Lighting of the Christmas Tree event to be held on the grounds of The Mentone Inn (corner of 117 & 89 at the blinking light). We will be playing under the pavilion (just like last year) and NOT on the green stage. Please bring your stands and music, and wear your Santa Hats or other Holiday wear. Chairs will be provided for those who need them. Plan to arrive by 4:30 and look for Jerry and me. We’ll be there early. We will play after announcements (around 5). It’s gonna be epic!

Moon Lake Library Holiday Social
2023-12-10 | Moon Lake Community Library, 4607 AL Hwy. 117, Mentone, AL, 35984, United States
Join us at the library on Sunday afternoon for fellowship, refreshments, door prizes, and music by our house band, the Mentone Ukes.
We will share plans for 2024 at Alabama’s newest public library!

Revisiting Some Old Friends
2023-12-16 13:00 - 14:30 | Moon Lake Community Library, 4607 AL Hwy. 117, Mentone, AL, 35984, United States
Our Christmas performances are now a part of the Mentone Ukes growing history! And what a success they were! Join us at our last regular session of the year where we play a couple of our new Christmas songs but primarily focus on a small selection of the songs we’ve enjoyed playing this year. During this session we will play through songs that contain the chords A, Am, C, C7, D7, E7, Em, F, G, and G7 — all chords we’re familiar with. Each song in our session will contain some of these chords. Some of the songs will give us an opportunity to incorporate textures like chucking and percussion elements (which we will review). So this will be a fun session to close out 2023: What Child is This (warm-up); Blowing in the Wind; Don’t Think Twice; Folsom Prison Blues; I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing; King of the Road; On the Wings of a Dove; Plastic Jesus; Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Judy Garland version); Stand by Me; and I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas (closing). Each song can be found on our Mentone Ukes Song Collection file (Mentone Ukes website under the caption Songs). We will be using the projector. See you on Saturday and bring a friend!

2024 = More Great Sessions!
2024-01-20 13:00 - 14:30 | Moon Lake Community Library, 4607 AL Hwy. 117, Mentone, AL, 35984, United States
We got some great songs planned for this session that will make you forget it’s bitterly cold outside! Our warm-up song will be Amazing Grace, then we will review a simple fingerpicking pattern for this song and we’ll play it again as we familiarize ourselves with it. We will also play through Wagon Wheel, just introduced at our last session; Under the Boardwalk will make you think of summertime and the beach, Hesitation Blues is one of our favorite blues songs and is a great example of Vamping; Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain is a Willie Nelson standard with a few single note embellishments (optional); and finally our closing song will be Take Me Home, Country Roads. All of these songs can be found on our website, (www.mentoneukes.com). And remember, newcomers and absolute beginners of all ages are always welcomed to attend our FREE sessions. An introduction to the ukulele lesson is offered at the same time as our regular session. So plan to attend and invite a friend! Strum and be happy!

World Play Your Ukulele Day!
2024-02-03 13:00 - 14:30 | AL
It’s World Play Your Ukulele Day!! To celebrate, the Mentone Ukes has a great line up for this special session on Saturday, February 3rd. Our warm-up song will be This Land is Your Land by Woodie Guthrie. Two new songs will be introduced. Our own Lila Roberts will demo a classic uplifting hymn entitled Till the Storm Passes By, and afterwards the group will play it together. Our other new song was released in 1982 by the band Whitesnake and is entitled Here I Go Again. This song starts slowly and then builds in energy. It has an interesting strumming pattern. We will also play Wagon Wheel, Brown Eyed Girl, Your Cheating Heart, and our closing song will be Plastic Jesus. All songs are available for download on our Facebook page or on our website www.mentoneukes.com. As always, newcomers and absolute beginners of all ages are always welcomed to attend our free sessions, and a beginner’s ukulele class is offered at the same time as our regular session. This promises to be a great session so plan to join us at 1:00 PM CT on Saturday and bring a friend! Strum and be happy.

Songs that tell a great story, featuring songwriter John Prine
2024-03-02 13:00 - 14:30 | AL
John Prine. Need we say more? One of the greatest songwriters of his generation, we will introduce two of his songs, Angel from Montgomery and Paradise, at this session. But first, our own Halee O’Dell will demo a contemporary Christian worship song called “Yes I Will” by Vertical Worship that she has been practicing. Our warm-up song is Aragon Mill written by Si Kahn. The song is a lament about the mills shutting down in northwest Georgia — and this song will let us practice the dreaded Bb chord! Other songs that tell a good story for this session include City of New Orleans by Steve Goodman; Sloop John B, a Bahamian folk song from Nassau that was popularized by The Beach Boys; Don’t Think Twice by Bob Dylan; The Railroad Days by Norman Blake (from Sulfur Springs, Alabama); You Plant Your Fields by Wendy Waldman and Danny Lowery (popularized by Dan Seals); and our closing song will be Wagon Wheel by Bob Dylan and Ketch Secor. It will be a great session full of great stories. And as always, absolute beginners and newcomers are always welcomed to attend our FREE sessions. We have a useful beginners packet to share and loaner ukes for you to try out. So plan to attend our session on Saturday, March 2nd at 1:00 PM CT at the Moon Lake Library and bring a friend. Strum and be happy!

Get ready! Is the life you love making music with your friends?
2024-03-16 13:00 - 14:30 | AL
If so, come on over to the Mentone Uke’s next session on March 16th. The setlist is built from our Mentone Ukes Collection of cowboy songs paying homage to the rich history of American Country and Bluegrass tunes. Willie Nelson is a crowd favorite and iconic figure of the genre. We will learn the well-known On the Road Again. A second Willie song to debut is Rainbow Connection. This song was originally written to introduce Kermit the Frog and his friends in the Muppet Movie and later recorded by Willie Nelson. The song could also be written about the Mentone Ukes and the community created five years ago by Mickey, Debra, Jerry, and all those who faithfully show up on Saturdays to play music and enjoy camaraderie and friendships. We will make Kermit’s song about rainbows our own Moon Lake Library version just like Willie made it his own. We could not complete the session without Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain as told by the old Red-Headed Stranger. To get it all strumming, Mentone Ukes will warm up with the inspirational song I’ll Fly Away in F to practice Bb because it is good to practice hard things. Wagon Wheel will be the ending song. Before starting down the cowboy trail, Mentone Ukes member Sandra Monk will share her experience at the folk school in North Carolina playing unleashed ukulele, how to survive in a jam, tips for barre chords, and a couple of embellishments to Brown Eyed Girl. Put on your best boots and cowboy attire and join us for our next session on March 16th at the Moon Lake Library at 1pm CST. And remember, newcomers and beginners of all ages are always welcomed to attend our FREE sessions, and we have loaner ukes available. Strum and be happy!

Springtime Performances Practice!
2024-03-29 13:00 - 14:30 | AL
It’s time to get ourselves ready for our upcoming Spring performances at the Farmers Market at Mentone and the MERF luncheon! But first, our own Romey Atchley will demo “Lasagna” by Al Yankovic, a parody based on the melody and tempo of the Ritchie Valens’ song “LaBamba.” This song has a fun strumming pattern and the lyrics will make you a-hungry! After Romey’s demo the group will play through the song. Afterwards, we will begin to play through our Spring Performance Song Set which includes some old familiar tunes that folks enjoy hearing us play as well as a few newer songs added to our repertoire. The Song Set for this session includes Jambalaya as our warm-up song, Margaritaville, Hound Dog (blues version), Wagon Wheel, In the Jailhouse Now, Hesitation Blues, Folsom Prison Blues, Take Me Home Country Roads, Amazing Grace, and King of the Road. Our closing song will be Will the Circle. We may not get through all of these songs and if not, that’s ok. We will take our time as need be. But we are creating a great song set! As always, newcomers and beginners of all ages are always welcomed to attend our FREE sessions. We offer a beginner’s lesson at the same time as our regular session, and loaner ukuleles are available. So plan to come this Saturday and bring a friend! Strum and be happy!

LAST PRACTICE BEFORE OUR SPRING PERFORMACES!
2024-04-13 13:00 - 14:30 | Moon Lake Community Library, 4607 AL Hwy. 117, Mentone, AL, 35984, United States
We are creating an awesome Spring Song Set for our upcoming performances at the MERF luncheon and Farmer’s Markets (and who knows where else)! At this last practice session on April 13 at 1:00 PM CT we will play through the following songs: City of New Orleans; You Plant Your Fields; Sweet Caroline; Fly Me to the Moon; On the Wings of a Dove; On the Road Again; Take Me Home, Country Roads; In the Jailhouse Now; and King of the Road. All of these individual songs, and the others in our Spring 2024 Song Set, can be downloaded from our Facebook group page under the FILES tab or from our website, www.mentoneukes.com. Or you can download our entire Spring 2024 Song Set Collection. As always, our sessions are FREE and open to the public. We also offer a FREE introduction to the Ukulele class for beginners of all ages that is held at the same time as our regular session, and we have loaner ukuleles for you to try out. So plan to attend and bring a friend! Strum and be happy!

MERF luncheon
2024-04-17 11:00 - 13:00 | AL
Reminder: Our MERF luncheon performance is scheduled for Wednesday, April 17th. Thus far I have the following names of folks planning to play. There’s plenty of time, but please do let me know if your name is not listed and you’re intending to join us for that event:Hank AKelleyJerry and DebraRayRomeyLilaJanet
Don

Farmer's Market at Mentone
2024-04-20 10:30 - 12:30 | Mentone Inn Linger Longer Pavilion
Meet at the NEW stage on the grounds of Mentone Inn around 10:30. We will begin playing around 11:00 and play for as we’d like, probably until 12:30.
We will draw songs from our Spring 2024 Song Set. Bring your ukulele and tuner. Chairs will be provided at the venue.

Women’s Impact on Music: Singers, Songwriters, Influencers
2024-04-27 13:00 - 14:30 | Moon Lake Community Library, 4607 AL Hwy. 117, Mentone, AL, 35984, United States
Join us this Saturday, April 27th at 1:00 PM CT at Moon Lake Library for a special session that will explore a few songs written and/or sung by women, or other songs that speak to or are about women (relationships, love, family, longing) that we haven’t played for a while: Brown-Eyed Girl, Sweet Caroline, Circle Game, Barbara Ann, The Water is Wide, I Can Help, Don’t Think Twice, Across the Great Divide, and Angel from Montgomery. We will also learn a new song at this session: Bye Bye Love recorded by The Everly Brothers (1957). This song reached #2 on the US Billboard Pop Charts and is ranked in the Rolling Stone magazine’s list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.” And, as always, newcomers and beginners of all ages are welcomed to attend our FREE sessions. We offer an introduction to the ukulele at the same time as our regular session, and loaner ukes are available for you to try out. So plan to attend and bring a friend! Strum and be happy!

Mentone Farmer's Market
2024-05-03 15:00 - 17:00 | Mentone Farmers Market, 5200 AL-117, Mentone, 35984, United States
Calling all players: This Friday, May 3rd we will perform at the Mentone Farmer’s Market (3-5 pm)!! We have an awesome Spring 2024 Song Set. The more the merrier! Invite your family and friends to come on out and support our local growers and—of course—the Mentone Ukes!

A new month brings new songs!
2024-05-12 13:00 - 14:30 | Moon Lake Community Library, 4607 AL Hwy. 117, Mentone, AL, 35984, United States
We’ve got a great line up of songs to play at our session on Saturday! Some are familiar tunes we haven’t played for a while (Sloop John C and Somewhere Over the Rainbow); some songs were recently introduced that we’re still learning (Wagon Wheel, Bye Bye Love, I Can Help, and You Plant Your Fields); and a couple songs we’re very familiar with (Take Me Home, Country Roads and Sweet Caroline). Plus, we’ll be introducing two brand new songs — Don’t Be Cruel (Elvis) and Bad Moon Rising (CCR). We’ll spend a little time on strumming patterns, introducing a muted strum technique for the Elvis song and a staggered strumming pattern for the CCR song. And of course, these strumming patterns are totally optional! So come on out and join us as we learn two new songs and enjoy playing through a great song set! And as always, newcomers and beginners of all ages are invited to attend, and a beginners class is offered at the same time as our regular session, and loaner ukes are available. Hope to see you on Saturday! Bring a friend

Big Art Pop-Up
2024-05-18 11:00 - 13:00 | Mentone Inn Linger Longer Pavilion
Jerry and I are so looking forward to seeing you all at the Mentone Ukes Performance THIS Saturday, May 18th at the Little River Arts Council Big Art Pop-Up mini-festival on the grounds of The Mentone Inn. We play once again on the totally new and very cool Make Your Mark on Mentone Stage. Players, arrive at 10:30 AM; we start playing at 11:00. Bring your instrument, tuner and Spring 2024 Song Set. And after we play you will have plenty of time to browse all the farmers market and artists’ booths. Invite your family and friends to this EPIC PERFORMANCE AND ART SHOW! See you on Saturday!

Celebrating the Songs from "O Brother, Where Art Thou"
2024-05-25 13:00 - 14:30 | Moon Lake Community Library, 4607 AL Hwy. 117, Mentone, AL, 35984, United States
Bring your whiskers. Bring your banjolele. Be prepared for some good pickin’ and strummin’! I’ve been wanting to do this session for a long time! We’ve got nine great songs from the movie soundtrack. Gospel, Bluegrass, Traditional. You name it! If they were good enough for George Clooney they’re certainly good enough for the Mentone Ukes! Plus we’re already familiar with three of the songs: I’ll Fly Away in the key of F (and I added the key of G), Man of Constant Sorrow, and In the Jailhouse Now. New songs for this session include: You Are My Sunshine; Walk That Lonesome Valley; Down to the River to Pray; Big Rock Candy Mountain, and Keep on the Sunny Side. All of them are easy, familiar chords so don’t hurt your head over it. Just show up and prepare to have a good time! And remember, newcomers and beginners are always welcomed to attend our FREE sessions, and loaner ukes are available. Strum and be happy!

“50-plusers” of the Mentone Community
2024-06-08 16:00 - 20:00 | AL
Reminder! No Mentone Ukes session this Saturday, June 8th. We are performing at a get-together for a church senior group that afternoon/evening. And be aware that GREAT THINGS are in the works for our next regular session on June 22nd! It will be lots of fun and informative, too. More info on that session as we get closer!! Keep strumming. Stay happy.

Feel the Warmth from these Great Summertime Songs
2024-07-06 13:00 - 14:30 | Moon Lake Community Library, 4607 AL Hwy. 117, Mentone, AL, 35984, United States
With Debra suffering from multiple bites from her extremely well-mannered and gentle 20 year old cat Jake, she and Jerry haven’t been able to practice all that much this week. Saturday’s session will be an amalgamation of songs that we’re practicing for our Fall Festival performance as well as some feel good summertime songs. We’ll open with This Land is Your Land to help extend our 4th of July celebration, then we’ll move onto Bye Bye Love, Sloop John B, and Margaritaville. Three Little Birds by Bob Marley, Surfin’ USA by The Beach Boys, and Under the Boardwalk by The Drifters will all make you smile as you sing along and tap your feet. You Plant Your Fields reminds us of the continuing circle of seasons (with the first day of Autumn only 83 days away!). We will close out the session with the complete verses and chorus of the hymn, Will the Circle be Unbroken. As always, newcomers and beginners of all ages are welcomed to attend these FREE sessions, and loaner ukes are available. So, strum and be happy! See you on Saturday and bring a friend.

Picking on the Mentone Ukes
2024-07-20 13:00 - 14:30 | Moon Lake Community Library, 4607 AL Hwy. 117, Mentone, AL, 35984, United States
Join us this Saturday for a truly unique and exciting session! Hank Allen is one of our very talented pickers. He will be demonstrating flat picking on the ukulele and go over the differences between flat and finger picking. Hank will have extra picks of various styles for anybody that wants one.
We will start off with “Keep On The Sunny Side” to warm up. On our new song, “Get Together” by The Youngbloods and “Can’t Help Falling In Love”, we will play an arpeggio pattern on the verses and strum on the chorus. “Brown Eyed Girl” and “Fly Me To The Moon” both have tabs for melody/lead parts. Before playing “Wagon Wheel” and “Hesitation Blues”, Hank will briefly speak about the differences between playing a banjolele as opposed to a standard ukulele. “Don’t Think Twice” is another song you can optionally pick arpeggios, and we will end with “On The Road Again” and “Ripple”. All of our songs can be found on our web site, www.mentoneukes.com. And as always, newcomers and beginners of all ages are welcome to attend our free introduction to the ukulele class, and loaner ukes are available. See you on Saturday and bring a friend. Strum and be happy!

World's Largest Yard Sale Performance
2024-08-03 11:00 - 14:00 | Moon Lake Community Library, 4607 AL Hwy. 117, Mentone, AL, 35984, United States
This Saturday, August 3rd will be an epic performance by the House Band of the Moon Lake Library (aka the “Ambassadors of Joy” — the Mentone Ukes) as we play for an extended period of time while the library remains open to the public. It is a rare opportunity for you to come and support your local library while at the same time enjoy playing (or just listening) to your Mentone Ukes perform many familiar songs. Our song list draws from multiple genres including rock, gospel, folk, blues and country. So come on out and plan to stay awhile. More details to follow in the coming days

Three NEW Songs in One Session
2024-08-17 13:00 - 14:30 | Moon Lake Community Library, 4607 AL Hwy. 117, Mentone, AL, 35984, United States
Along with a few familiar songs, members Romey Atchley, Sandra Monk, and Lila Roberts will each demo and then introduce a song that they selected for the group to learn. Romey will introduce “Take ‘Em Away” by Old Crow Medicine Show. We love playing Wagon Wheel and this should be an exciting new song to learn. Sandra will introduce “Going Down the Road Feeling Bad” popularized by the Grateful Dead. This song has been recorded by many artists since it was introduced in 1923 and is an example of the 16-bar blues. Lila will introduce the gospel song “Unclouded Day” (aka “Uncloudy Day”) popularized by Willie Nelson but recorded by many artists over the years. As always, newcomers and beginners of all ages are invited to attend our free sessions. A beginners class is offered at the same time as our regular session, and loaner ukuleles are available. So plan to attend and bring a friend! Strum and be happy!

It's a Monster Mash-Up Session
2024-10-26 13:00 - 14:30 | Moon Lake Community Library, 4607 AL Hwy. 117, Mentone, AL, 35984, United States

Veteran's Day Picnic Performance!!
2024-11-09 11:00 - 14:00 | 195 Cove Road, Mentone, 195 Cove Road, Mentone, AL, United States
Join us for a day of celebration and fun as we “play for our dinner” at the annual Veteran’s Day picnic hosted by the Mentone Post 215 (195 Cove Road, Mentone). We will play from our awesome Fall 2024 Song Set (bring your music). Chairs will be provided. Arrive when you can and leave when you must. This will be an informal affair. Lunch will be provided for all players!! Let’s have some fun as we celebrate and honor our local veterans at this event. NOTE: This performance takes the place of our regularly scheduled session at the library.

Canyon Christmas
2024-12-07 10:30 - 2024-12-09 14:00 | Canyon Center, 4322 Little River Trail NE, Fort Payne, AL, 35967, United States
“Canyon Christmas” Saturday, December 7th at Little River Canyon Center (4322 Little River Trail NE, Fort Payne, AL — off Hwy. 35). Players, please arrive by 10:30AM. Chairs will be provided. We will set up and play in the lobby starting at 10:45 and we will play through our Christmas 2024 Song Set. Mickey Luck will be our leader.
