One Wednesday evening in 2006 I was enjoying the ABC’s Spicks and Specks as usual when on the segment “Look what they’ve done…” appeared a handful of members of MUK – the Melbourne Ukulele Kollective. The segment was great. But then, at the end of the show, the original handful was joined by countless other MUKers to play the show out. They kept coming…and coming…and eventually seemed to take over the entire studio! All ages, all abilities…all seeming to have the time of their lives! It was fantastic and I thought, “I want what they’re having!”.

I spent the next little while rummaging about looking for my old red uke. I knew it had to be somewhere as I would have never thrown it out! Eventually I found it, hit Google to refresh my memory of tuning and chords, dug out our old Buskers music books and started strummin’!! I hadn’t strummed a uke for nearly 40 years! Over the next few months I returned regularly to my happy little instrument and was surprised to find how much muscle memory had remained from all those years ago. The really neat thing was that while playing, along with lots of great memories from my youth flooding back, all daily stresses dissipated! It’s simply impossible to feel stressed while strumming a ukulele!

After several spectacularly unsuccessful months endeavouring to find someone to start a ukulele group in Hobart it eventually dawned on me that it would have to be me or it would not be at all. So, I found a suitable venue – the Republic Bar & Cafe in North Hobart – made some fliers and placed them in music shops, cafes, and the university.

HUG began on 28 February 2007 with 3 people and 2 ukes…but it was a start! The very next week there were 7 people and 7 ukes and by May HUG performed their first gig. In June HUG participated in an ABC Radio’s Breakfast live broadcast; in November HUG was filmed for a Christmas episode of ABC TV’s Collectors program (aired in December); finally in December HUG performed live on ABC Radio’s Breakfast program’s end of year show. Not a bad first year!!

HUG celebrated 10 years in 2017…

My favourite performance pic. Suzi (centre) joined HUG a week or two after it began and Grannie Annie (left) a little while after that. You could say we’re HUG’s ‘oldest’ members!…