Frank Cerebino wrote a great piece referencing Accordion Awareness Month in his blog for the Palm Beach Post. At first, I thought it was just going to be another excuse to make bad accordion jokes, but he instead writes about how he played as a youngster, abandoned the instrument, and then unexpectedly picked it up again after 25 years. Frank was lured back by his “accidental discoveries” of the instrument’s beauty, like strolling accordions in cafes, Yann Tiersen’s beautiful Amelie soundtrack, and the powerful tangos of Astor Piazzolla.

The whole piece is worth reading, but I wanted to share a fantastic Carl Sandburg poem he quoted. It’s called “Happiness” and was first published in Sandburg’s Chicago Poems in 1916:

I asked the professors who teach the meaning of life to tell me what is happiness.

And I went to famous executives who boss the work ofthousands of men.

They all shook their heads and gave me a smile as though I was trying to fool with them

And then one Sunday afternoon I wandered out along the Desplaines river

And I saw a crowd of Hungarians under the trees with their women and children and a keg of beer and an accordion.

Amen, Carl!

After Lordi’s Eurovision 2006 victory, I’ve jumped head-first into the Finnish metal scene. I’ve grown my hair long, invited friends over for animal sacrifices… you know, the usual stuff. During my conversion, I stumbled across Korpiklaani, another Finnish metal band, but with fewer theatrics and more folk flavor than Lordi. Korpiklaani mixes a healthy dose of accordion and fiddle in their head banging music, as evidenced in this video for “Hunting Song” (from their “Voice of Wilderness” album).

I’d love to find more hard rock/metal bands that incorporate the accordion — leave a comment if you have any good ones to share.

Watch out ladies, Dick Contino, the “world’s most handsome accordion player,” is on the prowl. Contino performed in Chicago last night and the local CBS affiliate did a segment on him titled “Accordion-Playing Hunk Pushes The Right Buttons”. Seriously. Watch the accompanying video and listen to Dick talk about being an original “American Idol” and how Colonel Tom Parker used his moves to coach Elvis.

In related Dick Contino news, Anna and I recently received a VHS copy of his movie, “Daddy-O”, as a wedding gift. That’s right — the same film that was once featured, and mocked mercilessly, on Mystery Science Theater 3000. Needless to say, as soon as we can manage to sit through the whole thing, we’ll post our review here.

Even NPR can’t help getting excited about National Accordion Awareness Month. There was a segment on it yesterday during “All Things Considered,” featuring some friendly banter between Tom Torriglia and Gary Sredzienski (whose weekly polka radio show was profiled here previously). They talked about history, people’s reactions to the instrument, and their shared goal of bringing joy to people through the accordion. Check out the full clip here:

The Accordion vs The Beatles (NPR, 3:47)

Just in case it isn’t already marked in bold on your calendar, June is National Accordion Awareness Month! Accordion Awareness Month is the brainchild of Bay Area accordionist Tom Torriglia (who also helped make the accordion the official instrument of San Francisco back in 1990). It’s the perfect excuse to pull that ol’ squeezebox out of your closet and make your neighbors, um, “aware” of its existence.

To kick off this important month, the 16th annual San Francisco Accordion Festival will be held this Sunday, June 4th, at the Cannery at Fisherman’s Wharf. The event is free, runs from noon to 6pm, and features some of our favorite accordion-flavored performers, including Those Darn Accordions, Big Lou’s Polka Casserole, Conjunto Romero, Bella Ciao, Culann’s Hounds, Kielbasia, and the San Francisco Accordion Orchestra. As mentioned previously, the festival features the San Francisco Main Squeeze Pageant, a contest to crown the most talented (and colorful) accordion player in town.

We’re planning to be there on Sunday, so if you see us (probably not wearing lederhosen), come up and give us a big squeeze!

Once again, we’ve been cruising the world’s greatest garage sale for unique accordion-related goodies. Here are some highlights:

• Charles Magnante Comic Book
  Part of the “Famous Men of Music Series”, this comic book (circa 1953) depicts the life and times of accordionist Charles Magnante. Watch the mighty Magnante as he fights for truth, justice, and the accordion way. Pow! Biff! Squeeze!
• German Accordion Coin Bank
  A cute little accordion-shaped coin bank from Germany (probably 1930s/40s), emblazoned with the words “Gruss Aus Dem Aschberggebiet”. I’d like to think this was given away with bank accounts or home loans (more practical than a toaster, if you ask me), but I’m sure I’m wrong.
• Lawrence Welk Letter Opener/Nail File
  Finally, for those of you who couldn’t get enough of the Lawrence Welk collectibles from last time, there’s this little gem: one side is smooth and the other side is a cross-marked nail file. The handle is brass and depicts Lawrence playing his accordion while standing in a champagne glass.

That’s it for this week — happy bidding!

If you’re near Ennis, TX, (outside Dallas/Ft. Worth) this weekend, get your dancing shoes on and head down to the 40th annual National Polka Festival. The festival started as a way for the people of Ennis to celebrate their Czechoslovakian heritage, and that proud tradition continues to this day — all parade entries, street dancing, and bands performing must have Czech themes and play Czech music. The festival is the largest of its kind in the United States and attracts up to 50,000 people. Bands playing this weekend include Brave Combo, the Dujka Brothers, and many more.

You can feel it in the air — the sound of attack ads, the smell of mud slinging, the sight of old men kissing babies — it’s political primary season! In Iowa, though, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed Fallon is spreading his message while accompanied by his own accordion soundtrack. Fallon has been playing since he was seven (taught by his grandmother) and even took 2nd place at the 2005 Iowa State Fair accordion competition (he’s actually won twice before). Of course, we at Let’s Polka don’t generally endorse political candidates, but having an accordion-playing governor couldn’t be all bad, could it?

I was hoping there would be at least one solid accordion act at the annual Eurovision finals, but it looks like only the performers from Bosnia & Herzegovina (Hari Mata Hari, who took 3rd place) brought along an accordionist (see photo). I didn’t get a chance to watch the entire show, so let me know if there were others I missed.

Even without accordions, though, the winning act — Finnish heavy-metal rockers Lordi, who dress like orcs that have wandered off the set of Lord of the Rings — was certainly impressive. Watch the video of their anthem, “Hard Rock Hallelujah”; it’s almost Spinal Tap-worthy. (And further proof that no one in Europe takes Eurovision seriously anymore.)