Accordion Noir Festival

Accordion Noir, the world's only all-accordion radio show and podcast, celebrates the renaissance of the dark, edgy accordion over the Lawrence Welk-ian "champagne music" that stultified the instrument's public image in North America for decades.

And now, it's also a festival! To help boost the show's profile, open locals' minds to the musical possibilities squeezeboxes have to offer, and (if we're lucky) offset some of our ~$700 in community radio operating expenses annually, Accordion Noir is following the lead of our friends nearby in Kimberley and Victoria and inaugurating a festival in Vancouver, BC, to celebrate the instruments and the people who love them!

The first of the two nights supplants our monthly squeezebox circle at Spartacus Books starting early at 7 pm with an open stage, featured live performers, an accordion fashion show and a 9 pm screening of the 2004 Accordion Tribe rockumentary!

The next night, local klezmer punk accordionist Geoff Berner headlines the mainstage of a festival that will soon become a Vancouver favourite. Also playing with him at the Railway Club stage starting at 9 pm are Amy Denio (Seattle), Natasha Enquist (Victoria) and Vancouver's own jug band of the damned, the Creaking Planks! Admission to the concert on the second night is $10 (less for Railway Club members).

The radio show continues to broadcast weekly every Friday night 9:30-10:30 pm at 102.7 fm CFRO CO-OP community radio, and podcasts through its website at http://accordionnoir.org/