PORTLAND – Mary “Ukelady” Hargreaves, an emerging singer-songwriter from the Oxford Hills area who has cut her teeth making a name for herself in the Maine folk scene, will bring her cheerful kids/family music to 1 Longfellow Square in Portland on Memorial Day, Monday, May 26, at noon. She will perform originals and favorites on her custom concert ukulele, her eight-string tenor uke and acoustic/electric guitar.

Hailing from a musical family in southern Massachusetts, Hargreaves was highly influenced by the Beatles and Boston folk music of the ’60s and ’70s. After her college days, she and her husband settled in western Maine where she found the peace to continue in writing and music.

In 2001, Hargreaves attended a birthday celebration in the Virgin Islands bringing along a soprano ukulele. Here she shared the stage with folk legends Fritz Richmond of the Jim Kweskin Jug Band, and Tom Rush. After singing the classic tune “Ukulele Lady” on stage in the tropics, she’s been known as Mary Ukelady ever since.

In 2002, she was chosen for the Discovery Stage at the Maine Festival, and has appeared at local coffee houses, the Common Ground Fair, the Old Port Festival, St. Lawrence Arts Center and Norway Summer Festival.

Hargreaves has shared shared stages with Anni Clark, Kate Schrock and Heather Pierson. As a longtime promoter of local music, Hargreaves has worked with Mount Blue TV’s “Musicians of Maine” program, which received the Down East Country Media Award in 2005, and with Norway’s Commons Music Collective, and the Maine Songwriters Association. Recently, she’s been hosting a program “Mainely Musicians” at Great Falls TV which showcases Maine singer-songwriters and is available for viewing online at www.banddmusicservice.com.

Showtime is noon, Monday, May 26, and doors open at 11 a.m. Tickets are $8 (free for children under 2 years old) and can be bought in advance at the box office at 181 State St., Suite 304, Portland, by phone 207-761-1757, online at www.onelongfellowsquare.com, or at the door.


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