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Thursday, July 7

*subject to change

5:30 pm | Concert Hall @ The Park | Buckley Park, Downtown Durango
featuring the Jack & the Vox and Company
Company includes Kevin Carroll, Jim Belcher & David Sachs

8 pm |Backstage Party & Jam | Smiley Café, Durango, 1309 E. 3rd Ave. Durango, CO
featuring Victoria & Jack, Kevin, Marnie

Friday, July 8

LOCATION: SMILEY BUILDING, 1309 E. 3RD AVE., DURANGO

10 am | Registration/Check-in

10 am – 5 pm | UkeFest Market Place – Hideaway Ukulele Studio, Suite 114 in Smiley Building

10:15 am | Welcome Coffee Talk

10:30 am | Workshop Sessions #1

Aaron Keim – Clawhammer Ukulele (Intermediate/Advanced)
Clawhammer style is a banjo playing technique that also sounds great on the ukulele. For this workshop, we will get the basic techniques and learn two short tunes. Students will also go home with a series of practice exercises and more tunes for enrichment. We will cater the workshop to the level of the group.

Victoria Vox (uke) & Jack Maher (bass) – Get in the Groove (All Levels)
In this very hands-on class, we’ll play around with different rhythms and grooves. Over a simple chord progression, we’ll work on loosening up the right hand for fun strums! The groove even starts before you play a note! We’ll play a simple tune in many different styles: Pop / Jazz / Ska / Swing / Blues / Reggae / Opera / Bluegrass, etc. This class is groovy,100% fun, and a bit of a strumming crash course! 

Kevin Carroll – Ukestra (All Levels)
We will learn a differentiated song from the vast edUKEcation library. Parts will include beginner, intermediate and advanced parts as well as bass and baritone. 75 mins

Marnie Ward – Rock the Uke, Day 1 (Special Youth Class/Performance)
Calling all youth! These 4 sessions are just for you. We’re going to learn some songs together using strumming, plucking, percussion, singing and more! We’ll put all that together into a brilliant performance featuring YOU on the big stage Saturday night. Bring your awesome self. Bring your uke. And let’s rock!

12 pm | Lunch Break

1:30 pm | Workshop Sessions #2

Aaron Keim – Learn It from the Source (All Levels)
Every day Aaron will learn a song he hasn’t heard before from a recording, with your help. He will show how he approaches chord changes, melody, key, lyrics, style and more.

Kevin Carroll – Ukulele Jazz Band Day 1 (Intermediate/Advanced)  
This 2-day workshop series will have you swinging notes, strumming harmonically rich chords and improvising while learning some key elements of America’s greatest art form. We will also learn a simple song and “jazzify” it. 75 mins

Victoria Vox – Intro to Mouth Trumpet and Other Vocal Techniques (Advanced Beginner Singers)
If your hands are full, with a guitar or ukulele, or if you find yourself wishing you had a horn player, this class is for you. The Mouth Trumpet, also called a Mouth Horn or Lips-a-phone, is an old jazz-era vocal technique first heard by the Mills Brothers. Today, it is used by beat-boxers and vocalists. In addition to giving your “horn” some edge, we’ll explore the “vox toolbox” and explore our voices, range, and timbre!

Marnie Ward – Rock the Uke, Day 1 – Part 2 (Special Youth Class/Performance)
Calling all youth! These 4 sessions are just for you. We’re going to learn some songs together using strumming, plucking, percussion, singing and more! We’ll put all that together into a brilliant performance featuring YOU on the big stage Saturday night. Bring your awesome self. Bring your uke. And let’s rock!

3:15 pm | Workshop Sessions #3

Victoria Vox – I’ll Be at the Barre: (Advanced Beginner/Intermediate)
This will be a comprehensible “ice-breaker” into the world of Barre Chords. Guaranteed to be an enjoyable experience as we play with chords and chord qualities. Barre intimidation no more! We will end the class by playing Three Little Birds (Bob Marley) while using some barre chords, and even adding a melodic riff!

Nicole Keim – Set Your Voice Free (All Levels)
Students in this class will explore different aspects of singing using a variety of folk songs. We’ll briefly discuss proper vocal production, vocal health, breath support and technique, but mostly we’ll just sing! Everyone is welcome and encouraged to join us.

7 pm | UkeFest Open Mic Night @ the Smiley Cafe
hosted by, Marnie Ward

Saturday, July 9

LOCATION: SMILEY BUILDING, 1309 E. 3RD AVE., DURANGO

10 am | Registration/Check-in

10 am – 5 pm | UkeFest Market Place – Hideaway Ukulele Studio, Suite 114 in Smiley Building

10:15 am | Welcome Coffee Talk

10:30 am | Workshop Sessions #4

Victoria Vox  & Jack Maher  – Introduction to Left Hand Movement (chord melody) (Intermediate/Advanced)
Learn an instrumental Celtic-style song, “Ship Goes Down”, with chords and melody! Based off a C major scale, we’ll be using chord and non-chord tones – applied with the technique of strumming and plucking – which will outline the melody. We’ll also be using hammer-ons AND pull-offs as a left-hand technique. Music and tab will be provided. Techniques and concepts from this class can be applied to any song. It will change the way your play… forever!

Marnie Ward – Rock the Uke, Day 2 – Part 3 (Special Youth Class/Performance)
Calling all youth! These 4 sessions are just for you. We’re going to learn some songs together using strumming, plucking, percussion, singing and more! We’ll put all that together into a brilliant performance featuring YOU on the big stage Saturday night. Bring your awesome self. Bring your uke. And let’s rock!

Kevin Carroll – African Ukulele (All Levels)
Learn a South African Zulu chant arranged for 4 ukuleles and bass. We will explore the individual rhythms of each part as well as the overall polyrhythmic effect of playing the parts together. 75 mins

12 pm | Lunch Break

1:30 pm | Workshop Sessions #5

Aaron Keim – Fingerstyle Ukulele (Intermediate/Advanced)
Techniques adapted from banjo and guitar are a great way to arrange music for the ukulele.  Arrangements using fingerstyle techniques can make the ukulele sound like a whole “orchestra,” with melody and accompaniment played at the same time!  Students can expect to work on learning a picking pattern, incorporating the melody into the picking pattern, and adjusting the picking pattern to suit other songs. 

Victoria Vox & Jack Maher – Songwriting Master Class (All Levels)
Both armed with a degree in Songwriting, Victoria and Jack will workshop the craft of songwriting! The ukulele is an excellent tool for songwriting. If you have an original song, you’d like to openly workshop, bring it in – we’re happy to help! We will share our songwriting processes and stories about particular songs we’ve written. Feel free to ask us anything!

Kevin Carroll – Ukulele Jazz Band Day 2 (Intermediate/Advanced)
This 2-day workshop series will have you swinging notes, strumming harmonically rich chords and improvising while learning some key elements of America’s greatest art form. We will also learn a simple song and “jazzify” it. 75 mins

2:45 pm | Workshop Sessions #6

Aaron Keim – Jug Band Songs (All Levels)
Jug bands are a unique mix of blues, jazz, and country music, often played on simple homemade instruments.  We will learn how to strum and sing two classic songs, along with some licks, fills and solos for more advanced players.  This music is fun and challenging and great for your ukulele repertoire!

Marnie Ward – Rock the Uke, Day 2 – Rehearsal (Special Youth Class/Performance)

4:15 pm | Busking the Streets of Durango | Durango Welcome Center

5 pm | Dinner on your own in Downtown Durango

7:30 pm | RMUF All-Star Band Concert | Community Concert Hall @ Fort Lewis College & In-Person with Live Stream Featuring Victoria Vox with Jack Maher, Aaron & Nicole Keim, Marnie Ward and Kevin Carroll

Sunday, July 10

11 am – 1 pm | Soulful Sunday Ukulele Jam | Serious Texas BBQ (South)
Hosted by, Denise Leslie, RMUF Director & Friends