BIG NEWS!
Mark and I are very excited to announce that our Bytown Ukulele Group (BUG) Jam has moved to a new home!
WHERE: Ottawa Masonic Centre
2nd Floor Lounge
2140 Walkley Road, Ottawa
The door to enter the centre is accessed from the parking lot at the rear of the building. If the door is locked, please ring the doorbell to be admitted.
TIME: 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Please do not arrive before 6 p.m. Bring your dinner and snacks if you'd like!
TICKETS: $10 tickets for our August 20 BUG Jam will be available to purchase on August 6 at 6 p.m. on Mark's Bytown Instruments website. Visitors, please note that this is a ukuleles only jam - no guitars. Here's the link: Bytown Ukulele Group (BUG) Jam Tickets – Bytown Instruments Once you've paid for your ticket, you will receive an order confirmation email which you'll show to our ticket-taker at the jam. All monies from ticket sales go toward the cost of hall rental and equipment - Mark and I continue to do what we do for free.
WAITLIST: If tickets sell out, you can email Sue@bytownukulele.ca with your name, phone number, and the number of tickets you would like to order, and I will add your name to my waitlist. If tickets become available before 12 noon on the day of the jam, I'll email the first person on the waitlist to let them know that tickets are available. I will hold the tickets for an hour, but if I receive no response in that time, I will continue to the next name on the waitlist. I'll continue in this manner until 4 p.m.
TICKET RETURNS: If you find that you are unable to attend the BUG jam, your ticket(s) may be returned by emailing Sue@bytownukulele.ca. We will refund the full price of your ticket(s), less 10% to cover the costs of the bank/merchant fees paid. No requests for refunds will be accepted after 12:00 p.m. (noon) on the day of the jam.
SEATING: 1600 square feet on the 2nd floor with seats for 85+. Regular height tables and chairs. Lots of room for coats, ukes, and socializing.
FOOD & DRINK: You can bring in our OWN FOOD - pizzas, subs, burgers, etc. - and have dinner before the jam with your uke friends! Yippie! In our room there is a Smart Serve certified bartender with a fully-stocked bar with very reasonable prices for domestic, premium, and imported beers, wine by the glass or bottle, single and premium malts, blended whiskies, etc. as well as water, pop, juices, and packaged snacks.
ACCESSIBILITY (fully wheelchair accessible): Elevator to the 2nd floor
WASHROOMS: main floor (accessible) and 2nd floor
PARKING: Free parking for 140 including 8 handicapped parking spots near the entrance.
SONGS: ANYTHING GOES!
The PDF songbook with the songs you've chosen for this month will be posted at the top of the songlist below about a week before the jam. Individual songs will be posted as they're added to the list.
YOU CAN REQUEST A SONG THAT YOU'D LIKE US TO SING BY CHOOSING ONE FROM OUR SONG LIBRARY and then emailing me the title at Sue@bytownukulele.ca Better yet - why not grab a couple of friends and volunteer to lead the song. It's wonderful fun when we get lots of different BUGs at the mics to lead songs, so please don't be shy! Email me the name of a song that you'd like to lead. Of course, Mark and I and lots of other BUGs are always happy to sing and play along with you as well! Just let me know if you need it in a different key to suit your voice.
YOU CAN ALSO SUBMIT A NEW SONGSHEET, in an editable text file, along with a link to a YouTube video that best represents how you like to play it to Sue@bytownukulele.ca. I'll work with you to format it for BUG. If you sing it differently than an artist's recording, then please send me a video of you performing the song so that I can format the songsheet to how YOU play the song.
*DEADLINE for new song submissions and requests: August 6, 2025, but sooner is better.
OPEN MIC: We have two or three open mic spots at each jam. If you're interested in a spot, please email me, Sue@bytownukulele.ca, with the name of the song you'd like to sing and the artist/songwriter. If spots are full, you'll be put on a waiting list for the next available spot. If you love open mic sessions, we'd also highly encourage you to participate in other open mics across the city to spread the ukulele joy!
*DEADLINE for open mic submissions: August 6, 2025, but sooner is better.
IF YOU CAN'T JOIN US LIVE for whatever reason, no worries! We record the jam, so that you can play along with us anytime! We'll upload the jam video and the songbook we use for the evening on our BUG Jam Videos page.
If you'd like to help Sue and Mark cover the monthly costs they pay to maintain this website, please consider making a small donation. Thank you for your support.