About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (July 24, 2019)
Wednesday, July 24,2019 dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 5A FROM 1A Ukulele Amalfi Cato and Ruth Burrell play a song at the Thunder Road Strummers jam session July 16. Burrell (center) learned to play ukulele five days ago after being inspired to learn how to play her grandmother's ukulele. to about 25 members. “I’m not the teacher or the leader or anything,” Booth said. “I’m here to have fun too.” Booth picked up ukule le playing about a year ago and gathers with a group of 72 members in St. Simons that plays every week and performs twice a month. But while Booth spends her time in Dawsonville, she wanted to create a group where she could play and practice with other ukulele enthusiasts. “We just have fun,” Ben Plowman said. “We don’t care what your skill level is, just come have a good time with us.” Plowman, a founding member of the Thunder Road Strummers, picked up the ukulele only a few weeks ago. He is president of Georgia Pick and Bow, a nonprofit afterschool pro gram based in Lumpkin County that teaches chil dren in elementary up to high school how to play stringed instruments. He, along with fellow instruc tor Heather Smith, were excited to join a ukulele playing group a little closer to home. “We had a uke jam up in Dahlonega for a couple years and then we kind of petered out and then Margo moved down here and con tacted us and said if we wanted to start one up around here,” Smith said. Plowman and Smith also brought a couple friends from Georgia Pick and Bow to join in the fun. For the first few jam sessions, 9-year-old Cash Kirby had the distinct honor of being the young est ukulele player of the group, however on July 16 his 6-year-old brother Dylan dethroned him. “I just love playing,” Cash said as he strummed his ukulele that he built himself. The boys’ mother, Alii, who’s in charge of organiz ing sheet music and driving the duo to jam sessions, said Cash wanted to join the group because he was in the Georgia Pick and Bow program with Booth and Plowman. She was also excited to see Dylan trying his hand at ukulele with his big brother. “(Dylan) bought his uku lele last month by playing on the street with his broth er in Dahlonega and they both made money so he purchased a ukulele with that,” Alii said. “(Cash’s) been teaching him some and hoping to come here and he’ll learn some.” At the July 16 jam ses sion, it wasn’t just Dylan’s first time playing with the group. Dawson County native Ruth Burrell, who had only picked up her ukulele five days prior, decided to give it a try. “My grandmother played and I have her uku lele and I always meant to learn it,” Burrell said. The ukulele is a Hawaiian string instrument in the guitar family that gained popularity in the United States in the 20th century. It typically has four strings and is much smaller than a guitar. “It’s really a big thing, ukulele playing,” Booth said. “There are ukulele groups all over the place.” Many of the Thunder Road Strummers have only recently picked up ukulele playing, having played gui tar and other siring instru ments for years. “I knew guitar before too so it’s a little bit easier to pick up,” Burrell said. Founding member Dan McLaughlin agreed, say ing that he enjoys playing guitar with a group but loves the small size and versatility of the ukulele and being able to play in a group setting. “It’s a good place to meet new people and have some fun and learn a new instrument and learn how to play music in a group,” McLaughlin said. “I play at the house, but it’s easier to play with a group,” Smith said. “It’s more beneficial to play with a group too.” The Thunder Road Strummers meet at 6:30 p.m. on the first, third and fifth Tuesdays on each month at Because Coffee, at 240 Dawson Village Way North STE100 in Dawsonville. For more information about the Thunder Road Strummers, visit their Facebook page at www. facebook.com/groups/ thunderroadstrummers. Left: Alii Kirby helps her 6-year- old son Dylan tune his ukulele. Dylan bought his own ukulele so he could play with theThunder Road Strummers and his older brother, Cash. Below:The Thunder Road Strummers, led by Margo Booth, center, is a new ukulele group that formed this summer. The group meets the first, third and fifthTuesdays every month at Because Coffee. Photos by Jessica Taylor Dawson County News LEARN MORE AT A FREE COMMUNITY EDUCATION EVENT PRESENTED BY DR. SANJAY ATHAVALE OF ENT OF GEORGIA NORTH Thursday, August 1st at 6:00PM Dawson County Library 342 Allen Street, Dawsonville, GA 30534 View Important Safety Information & Register at ispireSleepEvents.com STILL STRUGGLING WITH CPAP? Get relief with Inspire therapy Inspire therapy is a breakthrough sleep apnea treatment that works inside your body with your natural breathing process. Simply turn Inspire therapy on before you go to bed and off when you wake up. No mask, no hose, no noise.
