August 22, 2011 – Accordion Boy

When you’re a teenager, being cool is so important. Alas, most teenagers are still too young to get what really is cool. Many teenagers simply crave the latest iGadget or something overpriced with a designer label. It’s refreshing to see that some kids get what’s cool. Shane is a kid that gets it. And what could be cooler than getting a new accordion? Actually it’s an old accordion, a real beauty, about 80 years old and sounds great. The accordion even came with its original case, lined in purple crushed velvet. Now we need to find him a tuxedo to match.

The accordion was purchased at the Accordion Festival up in Cotati. I love the Accordion Festival and go almost every year. How can you not smile and have a good time in a park filled with happy music and some of the most fun people ever. And unlike Burning Man, there is no dust involved. Afterwards you can stop for a nice dinner in Petaluma and just come home.

March 4, 2011 – The Accordion is cool

Yes, the accordion is cool. If I had to pick my favorite instrument, the accordion wins. It’s an instrument that is exceedingly difficult to learn (oh to have the time). In less than two hundred years the accordion has spread and been incorporated into local music all over the world. As the accordion has traveled it has given birth to many musical genres from Forró in Brazil to Cumbia in Columbia to Norteño in Mexico. And of course, the happiest music of all, Polka!

The accordion is still often maligned in American culture. Years ago, it often was seen as the “ethnic” and working class instrument for immigrants. Generations later, many people who dismiss the accordion don’t even realize they are perpetuating bourgeois and anti-immigrant attitudes that linger in our culture. They need to step back and just listen. The accordion is the ultimate immigrant and has made a home for itself in all corners of the world.

Now mark those calendars, it’s less than six months to Accordion Festival in Cotati, California.