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They say music can heal the soul, and for Army veteran and singer-songwriter Ukulele Lisa, there's more, that's more than just a saying. She travels with 15 ukuleles, teaching people how to play. Every second Sunday, Lisa brings that joy to the Pilsen Arts and Community House for group classes. She is here with us today to talk about how she's inspiring creativity and community through music. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Why the ukulele? How did you get into that specific instrument? I just love the ukulele so much, and it's so easy and fun to play, and I just believe anybody can play the ukalele, and, you know, it comes in all shapes and sizes. This is my little Willie. I named him after Willie Nelson. Say hello to Willie, say hello to my little friend. Ah, see, you can make anything into a song, too, right? That's, that's, is that really the whole idea? It is an outlet as well, yes. And I just grew up with instruments in the household, and I think that's so important. I wouldn't be the songwriter I am today without that. And as an Army veteran, does that music also help you personally to heal? Oh, yes, for sure. I even brought my ukulele to Afghanistan with me when I deployed, and music just followed me into the Army. I was a paratrooper, and then I sang in the 82nd Airborne Division's All-American Chorus. Oh, that's amazing. Well, we thank you for your service. I think it's lovely that you're bringing that now to other people, too. I just find a lot of veterans when I keep serving after they leave the service. And it's such a joy. And I'm just inspired by my parents. I grew up playing music. I played the bells in grade school band. My dad, Patrick Mannion, was in a Kiss cover band. Oh, nice. And my mom, Lori Mannion. She plays the drums. And my brother, David, he could just pick up and play anything. So it's always been in the house. So important. and so now you're teaching it to everyone yes that's right yes and to you okay and so we've got one for Amy and then we got one for Tanya okay and I'm gonna switch over to my performance ukulele here so we're gonna learn the C chord first so when we play a chord we want to ask yourself which finger which string and which fret so I want you to wave at me with your left hand say hi ukulele all right so now we're gonna put our thumb behind the neck here and then your index finger is your first finger okay give your middle finger a wiggle that's two and then you're third finger is next your pinky so put your third finger on the bottom string closest to your toes on the third fret we're going to count from the head one two three so this is your C chord Okay. Two, three, four. That's row, row, row your boat. That also. I learned to good job in the city. Working for a man every night and day. Sing it! Now we're going to play the A minor chord. Okay. So we're gonna use our middle finger, our second finger, top string closest to our nose, second fret from the hat. Okay, and that's A minor. One, two, three. So now we're going to play the C chord again. Remember that? Bottom string, third finger, third fret, and just let that ring out. Now A minor, top string, second finger, second fret. Back to C chord, bottom string. There you go. Look at that. Just adding more chords together. And what I love about the ukulele is that, you know, all you need is just a few chords. Like so many songs, you can just play with three chords. And it just opens up the door to just other genres. So you offer free classes every second Sunday? That's right. Every second Sunday at Pilsen Arts and Community House. It is donations accepted. It's free for veterans. And it's ran by co-founder Teresa Magana. They also offer affordable art classes. And it's just a really wonderful Latino community and they offer a wonderful creative safe space. Okay, so you're gonna show us how to actually play, right? Oh, well, I- You gonna play a little something for us? Oh, I would love to share an original song that I wrote. Go for it. Okay, go for it, yes. Okay, okay, so this song is called I Played the Ukulele in the USA. So I played, played the ukulele in the U.S.A. Yes, I play the ukulele in the USA, where I can be anything I want to be. And what I want be is free to play the ukelele. See, I believe that anybody can pick up and play the Ukulele. And I have a dream, just like my loose cane, to get the world together to sing, sing, sing. We are free to play the ukulele. Break free and play the ukelele. It's the best kind of therapy. Break Free, Break Free. Break, free, break, free. No, no, no. Break free and play your ukulele, I guarantee it's the best kind of therapy. Beautiful. Beautiful. Thank you so much for letting me share. That is amazing. Thank you. Oh, I know that you actually, when you have your classes, you give away a ukelele, right? Yes. If you're Hawaiian, ukuleles. Ukuleles, yes. Very nice. Yes. Every month we give away a free ukulele after class and it's usually hand painted by a Chicago artist. So art and music goes hand-in-hand and then we provide people with the instrument to have in their household because that's just so important to have. How long do you think it takes for someone to actually be able to play like a full song? A full song, so we do complete full songs. You do? Yes, it's a 90-minute workshop, an hour and a half, and we go over about three chords and it's um yeah it's it's a it's a great way to just get an introductory into an instrument or just refresh well it's yes thank you so much for joining us Lisa we really appreciate it the next group class is this Sunday at the Pilsen Arts and Community House you can reserve your spot at groupuk.com Eventbrite.com you can see all that information right there on your screen