This John Prine song was chosen to honor Gilroy Ukulele Jam’s Linda on her birthday. Open Mics were asked to select pieces with Linda in the title. I googled, and Linda Goes To Mars jumped out at me. The song has some rhythmic flourishes but is generally straightforward. The melody is kind of generic, so I was concerned at the open mics when singing that I wasn’t making up my own melody. My recording got it correct. I did not have as much time as I liked living with the song. Getting the vocal phrasing right is sometimes the challenging aspect of a piece. My practice pattern is to sing along with a song without a ukulele. Then sing and play along with the music. Then on my own. Glen Baker did an excellent harmonica solo for the instrumental. The Gilroy zoom sessions have a theme, currently, 60’s and 70’ songs, which overs a lot of ground. There are interludes such as sharing, where Curt asked a question for participants to answer and Fun With Linda, which can be a trivia contest or a music quiz. The group includes several current and retired teachers.
Bronco Billy Zoom: The session led off with “Under The Boardwalk,” one of the 1st songs I learned on the ukulele. “A Sunday Kind Of Love” and “Beautiful Dreamer” included a flute solo and Jay’s operatic voice. “In My Life” featured Jeremy on Melodica. Jeremy also simulated a baritone sax using a Roland Aerophone GO for the opening bass intro notes of a song.
Shawn's Ukulele Stuff 