Lifelong music lover builds community of Ukesters

For Alan Ash, the Niagara-on-the-Lake Ukesters is a total labour of love. 

Since he and his Village neighbour Doug Widdicombe started the group in July, 2012, Ash has watched it grow in size, with almost 470 current members today. But more importantly he’s seen the joy on the members’ faces as they gather at the NOTL Community Centre for weekly sessions.

He’s also seen the transformation of a number of his fellow Ukesters, many of whom had never considered their own musical potential prior to joining. As well, he’s proud of the efforts in fundraising, to the tune of more than $40,000 over the past ten years that the group has donated to local causes.

Music has always been a part of Ash’s life since his days growing up in Washington, D.C. 

A young Ash first learned to play the piano. When he was 14 years old, the bass player in his older brother Richard’s band quit, and he asked Alan if he was interested in taking his place. He picked up the four-stringed instrument and his career as a gigging musician began. 

“I played in cover bands all over the Maryland, D.C. and Virginia areas,” the 73-year-old says. “My love affair with the bass started at that point.”

Following high school, Ash attended American University in Washington then went on to earn an MBA in finance while working as a computer systems analyst and playing gigs sometimes six nights a week. 

He met and married his wife Diana, and around 1980 the couple moved to Gainesville Florida, where he worked in the auditor’s department at the city. Before they moved to Florida, however, he had to find out if he would be able to find a gig as a bass player. 

“I went there and auditioned with a band at the Holiday Inn,” he recalls with a laugh. “I got a gig with them, and I went back home and told Diana that we were moving there. We had two kids by then, and my wife’s parents and her two sisters were there. We were moving to be closer to them.”

Slowly, Ash’s musical tastes shifted from soul, funk and rock to jazz. He switched from the electric bass to an upright bass and played in a jazz combo for many years in Gainesville as he climbed that city’s corporate ladder. 

In 2004 a job offer came from the City of Toronto’s auditor general’s office. The adventurous couple pulled up their American roots and moved to Canada. 

“Moving from Florida, people were telling us we were going the wrong way,” laughs Ash. “It’s the best decision we've ever made, though. I think I’m a way better fit for Canada.”

In 2010 they bought their house in NOTL, but kept a place in Toronto as Alan continued to work for the city while also playing in a Toronto jazz trio until his retirement in 2015. Along the way, the couple took the step to become dual citizens of both Canada and the US in 2013.

The idea for the NOTL Ukesters grew out of a visit by Ash to a Toronto restaurant where a group of about 75 ukulele players were performing. It started small, with about seven to 20 people coming out for early sessions. 

As more and more people began to catch on, Ash found himself putting more work into organizing things. He books the community centre room, administers a website where he posts ukulele tablatures and audio clips, chooses the set list, collects the $15 monthly from active members (about 80 or them) and makes quarterly donations to local organizations such as Red Roof Retreat, Hospice Niagara, NOTL Palliative Care and Crossroads Elementary School.

“It seems as it’s grown it’s become a bit like a part-time job,” he says. “We play at the Best Western in St. Catharines  once a month, too. Before that we used to play at the Sand Trap and for a while we were playing at Monty’s GastroPub in St. Catharines.” 

Besides those gigs and the Sunday afternoon sessions, Ash also runs smaller open mic sessions and willingly and eagerly steps up to teach newbies how to play the uke in eight-week Zoom or in-person sessions. One can imagine that his gentle manner and his enthusiasm for the uke and music in general make him easy to learn from.

“It’s like the bass in that it has four strings,” he says, “but it’s very different. As far as legitimate instruments go, though, you can basically learn four chords and play hundreds, if not thousands of tunes if you learn the basics of strumming. That gives most people a lot of inertia to keep learning.”

Alan Mills bought a ukulele about five years ago. The isolation of COVID prompted him to finally pick it up and learn to play, gathering with three friends in outdoor sessions. When the other three stopped playing, he decided to join the Ukesters. 

“I took Alan’s lessons in the fall,” says the 78-year-old from St. Catharines. “I’m getting better, more confident. I love playing for my 19-month-old granddaughter Cecile, she seems to love my playing.”

New NOTL resident Dave Senior was at the Community Centre one day and stumbled onto the Ukesters. Intrigued, he picked up his long-neglected ukulele and started coming out to the Sunday sessions. 

“I used to play just a couple of chords on the guitar,” he says. “I caught on fairly quickly, especially compared with guitar. The nylon strings are easier on your hands, too. The planning that Alan does, with the set lists and the song sheets; he makes it so easy. The social thing is a real draw for me.”

Ash says the popularity of the group is due to three components. 

First is the music itself, and the camaraderie that it inspires, the social interaction that comes with playing together being a key element. For some members who live on their own it’s an important regular chance to gather with friends. 

Next is the encouragement the Ukesters gives to many to step outside of their comfort zone by leading the group for a song and taking the microphone in smaller open mic sessions. The third component is the feel-good aspect of giving back to the community through those quarterly donations. 

Ash looks back on his days playing in bands with fondness. He was much younger then, having a lot of fun playing and getting paid for it. 

“I did love that at a different level,” he says. “I do this, though, for nothing. I would never want to get paid for this. I get so much more out of this. Some of the joy in this is that great feeling you get from giving. Tangible compensation would ruin that.”

The soft-spoken father of two and grandfather of four has recently been teaching his 15-year-old grandson how to play the uke.

“I’ve been teaching him guitar, bass and singing, too,” he says. “It’s great. It’s so much fun.” 

And that’s the thing about the ukulele. It’s such an uplifting, positive-sounding instrument. Ash says it’s hard not to smile when he looks out at the 45 to 75 members who show up to the Community Centre every Sunday. 

And he promises that he gets as much out of his efforts as he puts into them.  

“I’m nothing without this group,” Ash insists. “But the credit really goes to the people that come out every week. Without them, none of it happens.”