A crowd of people swaying their heads from side to side, a toddler dancing in the corner of the room, a group of talented musicians sharing their love for the ukulele. These are all images one could have experienced on Feb. 20 at the Olathe Community Center.

Jeff Freling and Erin McGrane, a married couple and members of the successful ukulele group Victor and Penny, performed nine of their songs at the Olathe Community Center.

Some songs were from their upcoming albums, others from their past albums and they even played some old classics from early 1900s

Their songs were inspired by early 20s and 30s jazz and the lyrics were inspired by their life experiences.

According to McGrane, one song was about “coming home from the road and falling in love with [their] apartment,” another one was about “getting up early,” but also about “waking up in your life” and one of their newest songs, “She Knows, She Says. She Says She Knows,” is a “cautionary tale” about love.

Most of Victor and Penny’s songs were upbeat. McGrane believes “you can’t underestimate joy as a tactic to fight depression.”

Victor and Penny recently put out their first national album, and McGrane just published her first poetry book. They have been married since last spring,

Following Victor and Penny’s performance, James Hill and Anne Janelle played the ukulele and the cello.

Hill and Janelle played modern and old songs, some originals and some covers.

One of the highlights of the show was when Hill played Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” by using only his voice and his ukulele.

“The thing that makes an ukulele unique from other instruments, and that people don’t realize, is that it can be used to play single notes, chords, and as a drum, all at the same time,” Hill said as he used his ukulele as a “hip hop beat machine.”

To close the show, Freling, McGrane, Hill and Janelle played together along with the people in the crowd who had an ukulele. Hill instructed the crowd what chord to play by using what he described as “ukulele sign language” ;he would raise his ukulele when he wanted the crowd to play an F chord, lift his leg when he wanted to play a G chord, etc.

At the end of the show there was an ukulele giveaway, and both groups expressed how grateful they were that people of all ages came to hear them perform and promised to come back to Olathe and perform again some day.