Once again, my resolve to write regularly has fallen by the wayside but I would remiss if I didn’t talk about my recent experience at the Omega Institute Arts week.
Full disclosure, I’ve been going to Arts Week at Omega for as many years as I could manage for the past 10 years, because of this guy right here.
You may recall that 11 years ago, I saw Stu at Old Songs in 2015 and was immediately invested in making sure I kept up with what he was offering. I thought I met Stu before that day but according to my records (that blog post I linked to above) I had not.
Thinking back to it, I remember now I was at Old Songs to stalk catch up with Bing Futch when I heard Stu playing . Side note: it rained.. a lot.
That night while we were listening to the concert outside and chatting, for Bing totally ditched me right after this photo was taken to RUN inside the building where the evening concert was being held… he said “IS THAT VAN HALEN ON UKULELE??!! I GOTTA SEE THIS!! ” and poof.. he vanished.
That was Stu playing a riff from “Jump” embedded into the Magic Ukulele Waltz.
I went to the very first Ukulele Zen week less than a year later and I have made such good friends there. I look forward to seeing my pals every year. If you are reading this, you know who you are.. and for those of you who couldn’t make it this year, you were missed. 💓
Something about this year felt really special. I’m not sure if it’s because last year, my plans to go were squashed and I needed my fix or if it was because I’m starting to be able to feel joy again… in small bits.. but it’s reappearing. (I still cried a lot but I think that’s just part of the Omega experience. Everyone has big feelings and is encouraged to express them)
I got a little stuck here trying to come up with a way to share my week that makes sense but I’m just going to go ahead and list it all out because otherwise I’ll never get it down.
Paul Butler has been coming for a few years now. He’s a friend of Stu’s and always has something wonderful to contribute. I try not to force myself on people but I had been hoping to get to know Paul a little better as I’m just fascinated by his energy.
Here is just a little clip of Stu and Paul from the concert they gave this year. They have been offering some improv stuff and they say they don’t practice anything really before hand.
Long story short (too late) I got to spend a lot of time with Paul this time around and I’m grateful for it.
My pals and I closed the cafe most nights and then hung out after dark, sometimes well after midnight. Sometime other participants joined us and it was wonderful just sharing time with these beautiful people.
I do want to take a few minute to talk about MaMuse. This is a vocal duo I had never hear before and when they shared their music and encouraged all of the audience to sign with them…. magic happened.
They taught parts and harmonies and rhythms and we all just joined in togehter to sing their amazing music.
Here is an example of what I’m talking about. I don’t know if anyone caught them on camera at Omega where it was the just vocals (no instruments) but I found this clip that I felt was worth sharing to give you an idea.
We all loved this song so much that Stu wrote out the chords and we learned it while we were there and played it during the participant showcase. There is something so incredible about people singing together.
You might be wondering about the title of this post “Loosely Tight”. Stu uses this expression a lot and I really love it. Musicians want to keep it “tight” but keeping it “loosely tight” gives you room when you need to be flexible.
I’m trying to keep that perspective in all aspects of my life, tbh
Oh, if you are interested in learning “Power of Kindness” on the ukulele, Stu’s got you right here.
I have so much more I want to say about how much I enjoyed this week but I’m burning out on typing and I have other shit to do today but I also want to post this short story by Chris Wells. He shared this and I absolutely love it. It sparked some conversations for sure.
Here we all are on the last day.
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