This weekend, polka fans and bands will descend on the “Biggest Little City in the World” for Polkapalooza Reno, a two-day festival showcasing some of the nation’s top polka bands. Headlined by 15-time Grammy winner Jimmy Sturr and his Orchestra, the lineup also includes Neal Zunker and the Music Connection, The Del Sinchak Orchestra, Big Lou’s Polka Casserole, Polka Power of California, and the Sound Connection. The action takes place at the Atlantis Hotel and Casino; tickets are available at the door — $20/day or $35 for a two-day pass.

Anna’s playing accordion at a show in San Francisco this weekend (more on that soon!) so we won’t be able to make the trip. But we’re working on an exclusive interview with one of the Polkapalooza artists; keep an eye out for it sometime in the next couple weeks.

As if I wasn’t already jealous of the folks who attended last weekend’s International Accordion Festival in San Antonio, I found this jaw-dropping clip of three incredible accordionists — Joel Guzman, Renato Borghetti, and Joaquin Diaz — in an impromptu jam after their Saturday afternoon workshop (appropriately titled “Virtuosos, Latino Style”).

I’m already making my plans for next year’s festival — no way I’m going to miss out on that again!

The End is here. No, really. I’m talking about the book, The End — the final installment in Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, released last Friday (the 13th). I’m not sure what happens, but judging from the previous twelve books, I’m pretty sure it’s dreadful, miserable, and just altogether unpleasant.

But there’s even more unfortunate news: earlier in the week, the Gothic Archies released The Tragic Treasury, an album of songs devoted to each of the 13 books in the series. The Gothic Archies are really just singer/songwriter Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields, with help from Lemony Snicket’s “spokesperson”, Daniel Handler, on accordion.

Handler has played as an “adjunct accordionist” for the Magnetic Fields on a number of occasions, including in concert and on their epic 69 Love Songs. So when Handler did his first book tour, he immediately thought of his accordion, and Merritt:

“I needed to come up with a presentation to keep as many as 100 children quiet for 45 minutes — and the accordion is very loud. I thought I could play the accordion and sing, so I asked Stephin to write something. In fact, I have the distinct memory of going to the ATM and withdrawing enough cash and paying him directly upon commission of the song.”

You can hear the Gothic Archies play that song (“Scream and Run Away”) live during their current tour with Lemony Snicket. Though if you go, be warned: Mr. Snicket doesn’t always turn up at these events…

A favorite of disgruntled English majors, indie rock critics, and chimney sweeps everywhere, the Decemberists just put out their fourth album, The Crane Wife. It’s a big milestone for the band as it marks their major-label debut on Capitol Records. Fortunately, they haven’t forsaken their unique musical landscapes and erudite storytelling for drum machines and songs about “My Humps.”

If anything, The Crane Wife is even more ambitious than previous Decemberists albums. Inspired by a Japanese folk tale, it runs the gamut from four-minute pop songs (“O Valencia!”) to twelve-minute prog rock epics exploring murder, abduction, and rape (“The Island”). And, of course, Jenny Conlee’s accordion makes a few appearances, most notably on “Summersong” and “Sons and Daughters”. It took a couple listens to win me over, but I’m really loving this album.

The Decemberists kick off their Fall tour — The Rout of the Patagons Tour 2006 — tomorrow night in Portland and will be in San Francisco and Los Angeles later this week. We saw them a couple years ago (with one of our favorite, non-accordion bands, the Long Winters) and they were fantastic, so grab tickets if you can.

My laptop is in the shop, so I’ve had a tough time staying on top of accordion news lately. Fortunately, some friends of the site have been kind enough to keep us up to date on the latest squeezebox happenings:

• Tom Torriglia just got back from the 25th annual Reno Italian Festival, which was crawling with accordionists, including Michael Maffei, Ray Massa of Eurorythms, US accordion champion Anthony Rolando, Tom Serafini with Oro Puro, the accordionists from TDA, and Tom himself with Bella Ciao.
• Skyler Fell’s San Francisco repair shop, Accordion Apocalypse, is hosting an eclectic, circus-themed show this Saturday night. Experience the gypsy/klezmer sound of Portland’s Vagabond Opera, acrobatics and juggling from Circus Finelli, the foot-stomping energy of One Man Banjo, and an appearance by the Accordion Apocalypse Circus Sideshow.
• East Bay accordion guru Henri Ducharme pointed us to a “musical epistle” about a recording session he recently did for composer, Jorge Liderman. It’s a fascinating look at how a professional accordionist attacks a difficult piece. You can listen to a clip, and view a page from the (daunting) score, on Henri’s site.

Thanks to Henri, Tom, and Skyler, for sharing their news. Remember, if you have any accordion-themed news to share (an event, a new album, etc.), just let us know and we’ll spread the word.

Listen and learn from the conjunto masters this Saturday (October 7th) at the 3rd annual Viva Seguin Conjunto Festival in Seguin, TX. The day begins with a workshop led by two-time Grammy winner Joel Guzman, followed by a conjunto jam session (a chance to show off what you’ve learned!). Then you can dance the night away to a lineup that includes Los Hermanos De Leon, Los Enmascarados, Callejon Oscuro, 4×4, Los Padrinos and “El Chief” Santiago Jimenez Jr. Of course, it was Santiago’s father, Don Santiago Jimenez Sr., who wrote the classic polka “Viva Seguin”:

Santiago Jimenez Jr.: Viva Seguin (Real Audio clip)

Why not spend the weekend with the Italian family you never had? The Italian American Heritage Foundation’s 26th annual Italian Family Festa is happening this Friday through Sunday at Santana Row in San Jose, CA. There’ll be ample accordion entertainment, including performances by squeezebox legend Dick Contino, as well as the Silicon Valley Accordion Society. And like any good Italian festival, there’ll be plenty of food, a grape stomping contest, a tarantella dance contest, and a bocce ball court. We’ll be there Saturday, so say ‘hi’ and — assuming our faces aren’t stuffed with cannoli — we’ll give you some Let’s Polka stickers.

In Texas, the State Fair isn’t just a place to gorge yourself on fried Coke (seriously, they’ve elevated fried food to an art form) and ride the Scrambler until your head explodes, it’s also a great place for an accordion history lesson. “The Accordion and its Roots in Tejano Music” will be one of the showcase exhibits at this year’s fair, which starts Friday in Dallas and runs until October 22nd. The exhibit will feature artifacts, photographs, video and performances highlighting the role of the accordion in Tejano music.

The centerpiece of the exhibit will be a display of vintage accordions on loan from private collections, which include 1940s-era Hohners played by Narciso Martinez and Los Donneños. There will also be numerous accordion workshops and performances at the fair, including appearances by El Conjunto Bernal, Conjunto Motivo Hermanos Martinez, Barajo de Oro Conjunto, Los Texmaniacs, Joel Guzman, and Mingo Saldivar.

The Broken Spoke in Austin, TX, is a legendary honky-tonk country music dance hall, a place where names like Strait, Tubb, and Acuff have all graced the stage, and Willie Nelson still stops in for chicken-fried steak (reportedly the best in town, possibly the state). On the last Tuesday of every month, it’s also home to the Austin Accordion Roundup hosted by Debra Peters.

At each Roundup, a guest accordionist shows up to play a few of their favorite tunes, followed by more accordion music from Debra and her band the Love Saints, who specialize in blues, zydeco, classic country, and Tex-Mex. Debra also teaches accordion lessons in the Austin area, and has recorded a blues accordion basics DVD. So if you’re in Austin this Tuesday, head on down to the Broken Spoke for some accordion music and chicken-fried steak. Mmm…