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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
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