But it was a fateful - and fated? - evening in 2010 when I went along to Ukulele Wednesdays in central London that the ukulele got its hooks into me. I'd dabbled for many years, but this was so crazy, so euphoric, such fun! Yes, please: gimme more!
So... I set up Berkhamsted Ukulele Random Players and things have grown from there.
Things as random (sic) as playing with a full rock band at the local open mic. Now THAT'S a blast. A rock audience whooping it up to ukulele (and band). Or including several ukulele numbers in guest appearances at a folk club
I've run ukulele workhops up and down the country from Yorkshire to Cornwall, hosting the Towersey Festival Ukulele workshops for five years...
My approach to workshops has developed over this period and transformed into what I think of as workshops by stealth. Not so much a classroom experience, more a bit of fun where delegates immerse themselves in the joy of playing together and hardly notice that they're actually learning whole lots of new stuff