Ukulele Players Now Have Their Own Local Group–Yooper-leles

Do you have a ukulele lying around your house that you always wanted to learn how to play? Or maybe you used to play that ukulele, but would like to brush up on your skills and expand your abilities. A new group is forming that may help.

Yooper-Leles is scheduled to begin Jan. 9. Mark Plichta and Mark Wilcox (two local musicians who won’t quit their day jobs) decided it would be fun to form a group of local ukulele strummers. Similar groups have formed all over the country (Texas, Georgia and just north of us in Copper Harbor and Calumet) and have been well received.

Plichta and Wilcox are both competent guitar players and have found the ukulele is quite similar, yet somewhat easier to play, because there are only 4 strings, instead of 6. However, for both Marks, the big attraction to playing the ukulele is that so many songs they remember from their teenage years can be played on the ukulele and sound quite amazing, especially when 30 or 40 ukuleles play together. So, if you like CCR, James Taylor, the Beatles, Mamas and Papas, to name just a few, you may want to check out the ‘Yooper-leles’.

The first meeting of the group will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 9 at Grace United Methodist Church in Houghton. No auditions are required. The goal of this group is to have fun and provide a place for new and old friends to gather and share music that excites the spirit and warms the heart. All you need is yourself, an open mind and your ukulele.