Ayrshire Ukulele Clan & Ayrshire Ukes

Fun & Fundraising Combined

Gill Sherry

We’re all familiar with the ukulele, the guitar-like stringed instrument usually associated with folk music. It dates back to the 1800s when it was introduced to Hawaii by Portuguese immigrants. Bizarrely, the word ukulele translates to ‘jumping flea’ in Hawaiian. Answers on a post card please…

Fast forward to 2014, Glasgow-born and honorary Ayrshireman, Bill Muir, bought a ukulele for his son as a Christmas gift.

“In the run up to Christmas I decided to try it myself and I got hooked!”

As well as teaching himself to play the instrument, he also attended a workshop in Glasgow. Once the course ended, keen to continue playing, he searched for a local group only to discover there were none in Ayrshire. Not to be defeated, he decided to set up his own, with his wife Aileen assisting in distributing leaflets to try and attract interest.

Meanwhile, Stevie Neil, already familiar with the guitar, bought a pink ukulele for this granddaughter.

“She just ignored it,” Stevie recalls. “I bought myself one to try and work with her… but she still ignored it, and I ended up learning it. I used to go to the Glasgow Fiddle Workshop (GFW), it’s now called Glasgow Folk-Music Workshop, to play trad music on guitar. They had three or four ukulele classes all doing popular songs. I attended a weekend ukulele workshop run by Finlay Allison of GFW and enjoyed it, so just kept playing.”

Anne Hogg attended a ‘come and try ukulele’ event. Encouraged by a member of her singing group, she invested in her own ukulele and went along to Glasgow for another of Finlay’s weekend workshops.

Both Stevie and Anne responded to Bill’s flyers and Ayrshire Ukulele Clan soon started to grow. The first few meetings, beginning in July 2015, took place in The Harbour Arts Centre in Irvine but a lack of space saw Bill seeking new premises and moving to The Cabin in Troon. After a few years, the Clan moved to its current home, Ivy Cottage, adjacent to Troon’s Walker Hall.

Meetings take place every Monday evening (although they take a break during school holidays and over Christmas) with up to 40 people regularly attending. In fact, the group is so popular, the three organisers have temporarily called a halt on new members.

Within Ayrshire Ukulele Clan (the ukulele music group) which performs two gigs each year – Troon’s Summer Gala and Wintertainment – is Ayrshire Ukes (the ukulele band) consisting of nine players who regularly perform outwith the group at local care homes, church fetes and other community events. Although Bill has now retired from ‘The Ukes’, both Stevie and Anne continue to play for the band. Stevie has this to say about their care home visits:

“All of the songs we do are uplifting. It’s well known in dementia circles that music takes people back, so the memories are hopefully good ones. Some of the residents will sing along… the staff are really good at getting people up or dancing in their chairs.”

He goes on to tell me that it’s necessary to sing in addition to playing the ukulele.

“If you play the ukulele which is all chords, you’ve got to sing as well to get the melody.”

The band plays over 100 gigs a year, including regular performances for some local groups such as the Alzheimer Scotland Dementia Resource Centre in Kilmarnock.

“They’re such a brilliant group,” says Stevie. “They know us, and we know them, so we play for them every month. But we cover the whole of Ayrshire, as far north as Largs, south to Dalmellington, and even across the border to Strathaven.”

It’s obvious from talking to all three musicians that they enjoy their involvement with the Clan. Not only is playing the ukulele a fun thing to do but there’s also the social aspect and the satisfaction from seeing the response from their audiences.

“There’s a bit of work in it, but it’s all worthwhile,” Stevie says. “No-one leaves here unhappy on a Monday night. We all enjoy playing. In the band, we always enjoy ourselves and that goes out to the audience.

We’re all happy and while you get a buzz out of doing it yourselves, you get a buzz from the audience as well. We cover a whole range of stuff from the 50s and 60s up to fairly modern stuff. The main thing for us is that the whole group is able to sing it, play it, and enjoy it.”

Bill informs me that the group is currently working on its seventh song book and that their playlist includes the likes of The Fratellis, Bruno Mars and Elvis.

“You have to cater for everyone,” Bill continues. “It’s like everything else, there are different genres of music, and you have to play for the audience.”

There is, however, another very important aspect to Ayrshire Ukes – fundraising. The band doesn’t charge for its performances but, more often than not, receives charitable donations in lieu of payment.

“We have a list of charities,” Ann, Charities Liaison, tells me. “We make our way through the list and once we’ve received £500, we hand it over and start another one. I get the nice job of phoning the charity and saying we have money for them. Quite often, myself and a few of the band members will go over… it’s good because we get a chance to talk to the people and find out a lot more about what they do.”

“Sometimes they’ll come to us on a Monday night,” Bill adds, “so the Clan can meet them as well.”

“We try and keep the charities local within Ayrshire,” Anne confirms. “Often it’s smaller charities. They don’t get big funding so they’re relaying on donations. Up to now, we’ve given to 32 different charities and given out just over £16,000.”

Stevie describes it as “a win-win-win” which sums it up pretty well. I do, however, wonder about the longevity of the Clan. They admit that most members are over the age of 50, so are they worried that the popularity of the ukulele may be under threat?

“There are youngsters all over learning to play the ukulele,” Stevie assures me. “Some schools now teach ukulele instead of the recorder… and there are lots of young teachers.”

That’s certainly encouraging, and both Ayrshire Ukulele Clan and Ayrshire Ukes seem to be keeping the ‘jumping flea’ alive. In fact, 2025 is the group’s tenth anniversary so celebration plans are underway. Keep an eye on their Facebook page (Ayrshire Ukulele Clan) for details. For other enquiries, send an email to: billmuir123@gmail.com.