The sounds and smells of the bayou come to Fremont, CA, tomorrow when Ardenwood Historic Farm hosts the 10th annual Ardenwood Cajun/Zydeco Festival. I’ll admit to being taken in by the festival description in the Contra Costa Times that claims “the air will be redolent with crawfish etouffee, gumbo, fried beignets drenched in powdered sugar, and the joyous, rollicking sounds of accordion, fiddle, washboard and French-accented singing on Saturday.” I couldn’t get past the part about the beignets without drooling…

The festival boasts an impressive list of headliners: Mark St. Mary Blues & Zydeco band, Les Amis Creole, Queen Ida & Her Zydeco Band, Andre Thierry and Zydeco Magic, and Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas. Tickets are $18, but parking is free and admission includes access to all of the farm’s activites, including tours of the historic Patterson House, a ride on the horse-drawn train, and visits with the farm animals. The festival runs from 10am to 7pm, and dance lessons will be offered for those of us who need the help.

Kimric Smythe — accordion repairman extraordinaire, Junkyard Wars veteran, and owner of Oakland’s finest accordion shop, Smythe’s Accordion Center — is holding his seventh annual accordion festival this Friday night at 21 Grand. The show starts at 8pm and the eclectic lineup includes Kielbasia, Duckmandu, La Familia Pena-Govea and Culann’s Hounds. Anna and I will be there, too, so come say ‘hi’ and we’ll give you some Let’s Polka stickers.

Started by Laura Selikson more than ten years ago, Let’s Zydeco (no relation to Let’s Polka) is devoted to promoting cajun/zydeco music and dancing events in the New York City area. Every show starts with a free dance workshop in the basic zydeco dance steps to help newcomers get up to speed. So far this summer, she’s already put on shows with Beausoleil, Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys, and Geno Delafose.

The Savoy Family Cajun Band headlines this Saturday’s show at Connolly’s on 45th. The Savoys are one of zydeco’s most famous families. Marc and Ann have played together for years as part of the Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band (with fiddler Michael Doucet) and they run an accordion store in Eunice, Louisiana, known for its Saturday morning jam sessions open to all (but only one triangle player at a time, please).

Dubbed “El Hurac?n del Valle” (“The Hurricane of the Valley”) due to his lightning-fast playing, Narciso Mart?nez is considered “the father of Texas Mexican conjunto.” Mart?nez grew up outside Brownsville, Texas, and was eventually drawn to the accordion music played in the Rio Grande Valley. After taking up the accordion in 1928, he moved to Bishop, where he became steeped in the accordion-playing traditions of local Czech and German immigrants. His pioneering innovation was in the way he focused entirely on right-hand melody (trills, cross-row runs, and vibrato) and left the rhythm and bass to his excellent bajo sexto player, Santiago Almeida. Their style and sound became the blueprint for the generations of conjunto musicians who followed.

So it’s no surprise there’s a big conjunto festival named for him: the 15th annual Narciso Mart?nez Conjunto Festival this weekend in San Benito, Texas. The three-day festival features performances by Los TexManiacs, Amadeo Flores, Eva Ybarra, Los Fantasmas del Valle, and many more. If you can’t make it to the festival, you can listen to coverage on your local Radio Bilingue station or online at www.radiobilingue.org. Also, check out the album recorded at the 1998 festival by Smithsonian Global Sound.

Bay Area accordion legend Big Lou and her Polka Casserole have just put out their third album, Doctors of Polka-Ology. We’ve been listening to it constantly since we got our copy and, if variety is the spice of life, this is the spiciest polka album out there. It features a heady mix of originals, classics, Norte?o, French, Austrian and Finnish polkas and waltzes. There’s also a slew of guest stars rounding out the sound, contributing vocals, trumpet, tuba, bass clarinet, viola da gamba, sitar, and more.

The last Big Lou’s Polka Casserole album, Dogs Playing Polka, recently earned nominations in the Just Plain Folks Music Awards for Best Polka Album and Best Polka Song (for “Is Anything Better Than Beer”). And if you haven’t read our exclusive interview with Big Lou, now would be the perfect time to check it out!

Big Lou’s Polka Casserole will be performing this Friday, September 15, at Schroeder’s German Restaurant in San Francisco for the CD release party of Doctors of Polka-Ology. The party runs from 6pm to 9pm and there’ll be plenty of beer, schnitzel, and polka dancing (lessons courtesy of the Golden Gate Bavarian Club) to go around. Anna and I will be there, too, so come say ‘hi’ and we’ll give you some Let’s Polka stickers.

In the meantime, enjoy this Big Lou original from the new album:

Big Lou’s Polka Casserole: Never a Dull Moment (MP3 sample)

Bernadette Machado wrote in to let us know that her band, Bernadette and the Element, is looking for an accordionist. They play new onda Tejana-style music and traditional conjunto. If you’re interested, you can contact her at bernadetteandtheelement@yahoo.com. You can also check out her band this Saturday at the Moose Lodge on Mount Pleasant Road in San Jose, CA, where they’ll be playing at the 16 de Septiembre dance.

We’re big fans of Dan “Daddy Squeeze” Newton’s Cafe Accordion Orchestra, a Minneapolis-based band that (as their name suggests) evokes the sounds of French cafe music, but with shades of Latin, swing, and gypsy mixed in as well. They’ve just put out their 6th album, Cinema — a collection of songs featured in films from the 1920’s through today, including tunes from The Third Man, Singin’ in the Rain, and Kill Bill Volume 2.

If you’re in the Minneapolis area, you can catch the Cafe Accordion Orchestra performing music from their new album live tomorrow night at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul (home of the Prairie Home Companion). Otherwise, check out sample clips (like the one below) on their site.

Cafe Accordion Orchestra: Harry Lime’s Theme (MP3 sample)

Looking for a place to polka this Labor Day? Try the 31st annual Westfest — a Czech/Polka festival held every Labor Day weekend — currently underway in West, Texas. Westfest draws about 25,000 people annually and has most of what you’d expect from a typical polka festival, including nonstop polka music and dancing (bands include Vrazels Polka Band and Brave Combo), great food, a parade, and even a polka mass.

But how many polka festivals have a horseshoe pitching contest? Or washer pitching and Taroky tournaments? The food sounds even better; they promise plentiful Czech sausage (“sausage-on-a-stick, sausage dogs… even sausage boats”) and the town of West is famous for their kolaches, a Czech pastry consisting of fruit or cheese filling inside a bread roll. (By the way, I love that there’s a restaurant chain called Kolache Factory; it’s like the anti-Cheesecake Factory.) Mmm… polkas and kolaches… now that’s a Labor Day weekend.

History was made last Sunday at the Cotati Accordion Festival. I won the grand prize in the raffle: a brand new Hohner Corona button accordion!

Now, I’m a piano accordionist, but I had always wanted to learn button accordion. After initially pricing them, I realized I couldn’t afford one. So, for years, I had been eyeing them longingly, unsuccessfully searching eBay for deals, and hoping that some day I could get one.

Fast-forward to the Cotati Accordion Festival. Shortly after Chris and I arrived, there was an announcement: “Buy your raffle tickets for the Hohner Corona button accordion!” and I knew right away that I had to take a chance. Chris, knowing I’ve always wanted a button accordion, encouraged me to go buy a few tickets. I got 6 tickets for $5. What a deal! I was really excited. I felt lucky.

Chris and I walked around, browsing the accordions for sale. I mentioned that I wanted to check out some button accordions and he said “Don’t buy one. You might win the one in the raffle!”

And he was right! When they announced my name as the winner, I was completely stunned! I ran up to the stage and showed them my tickets. I couldn’t believe I won! I was ecstatic! When I looked back into the crowd, I saw Chris practically rolling on the ground with laughter. The kind and helpful Cotati Accordion Festival folks said “Congratulations!” and boxed up the accordion for me. Chris took a photo.

After much squeeing, I showed my new win to some people and was introduced to a potential new teacher. Chris helped me carry the squeezebox out to the car and we drove home to show everyone. I think my mom was the most blown away by my great luck. We took it out of the gig bag and saw that they included straps and a lesson book. Awesome!

I’ve been doing the lessons and just having a great time trying to play. I love my new accordion. It is a really cool, unique color, and it sounds really good! So I have just been thrilled to have won it.

Many, many thanks to the folks at the Cotati Accordion Festival, and to Hohner, who donated the accordion!