Nice Accordion
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laterent2000From organist/accordionist Jon Hammond comes this wonderfully strange photo of an accordion so gigantic that it takes two people just to squeeze it. The photo was taken in Castelfidardo, the name of the Italian town known as the center of the Italian accordion industry since the late 1800s. These days, Castelfidardo is also home to an accordion museum and an annual accordion festival and competition (where Those Darn Accordions famously took fourth place — out of two bands — in 1990).

Nice Accordion
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This Year’s LoveI came across this photo — probably from the late 1950s/early 1960s — and couldn’t help but wonder if this boy kept playing into adulthood, or if he was forced to take lessons, quit a short time later, and this is the only known photo of him smiling and holding the accordion at the same time. Either way, he’s got the right idea with the bow tie — regular ties always get caught in the bellows.

Judging from the handful of photos I’ve found, it looks like the 1st annual Main Squeeze Accordion Festival last Saturday was a success. And this post on the “missed connections” board at Craigslist NYC suggests that the enchanting squeezebox melodies may have helped sweep at least one attendee off his feet:

“You were the cute, short-haired brunette photographer taking pictures of the colorful characters dancing to the merengue group at the accordion festival on Saturday… I’m the redhead with whom you exchanged smiles. Maybe we were just reacting to the hilarious dancers, but I enjoyed your smile nonetheless and would love a chance to meet you when you’re not busy capturing Kodak moments.”

I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely rooting for this crazy kid.

In Case of Emergency
uploaded by lizhenryIn case of a fire, businesses are required to have a fire extinguisher somewhere on the premises. Silicon Valley institution, Buck’s of Woodside, though, takes it a step further; they have a couple accordions secured behind glass with the message: “In case of emergency, break glass — save accordions.” That’s good advice for anyone, and part of the reason why, at our house, we keep the accordions near the door.

Culann’s Hounds at the San Francisco Accordion Festival
uploaded by banjoheadIf you felt an earthquake in the Bay Area on Sunday afternoon, it was probably caused by the foot-stomping, booty-shaking good time had by everyone at the 16th annual San Francisco Accordion Festival. Here’s a roundup of audio/visual highlights from the weekend:

• “Squeeze Play” is a juicy cover story about the 2006 festival from Sunday’s SF Chronicle Datebook (the pink section), with quotes from local squeezebox luminaries like Tom Torriglia (the festival organizer), Big Lou, and Paul Rogers of TDA. Be sure to check out the accompanying photo gallery, too.
• Jan Sluizer from Westwood One Radio did an interview with Tom (MP3, 1.5 MB) at the festival.
• Jamin posted a fantastic short video that includes an interview with Skyler of Accordion Apocalypse and some festival performance clips. (I love the shot of all the bemused onlookers watching from above the courtyard.)
• Flickr user banjohead posted a huge photoset of Culann’s Hounds’ performance. (Renee de la Prade, button box player for the Hounds, also won the festival’s annual Main Squeeze pageant. Congratulations Renee!) He’s since added photo sets of San Francisco Accordion Band, Kielbasia, and Conjunto Romero.
• Flickr user melastmohican also posted a bunch of festival photos, including shots of TDA, Kielbasia, and Bella Ciao.

I’ll update this list as I find more, but it sure looks like everyone had a fantastic time. Tom deserves a gigantic thank you from the local squeezebox community both for putting the festival together, and for his tireless promotion of accordions everywhere. Thanks Tom!

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.)

Mother’s Day Morgani
uploaded by musicmuse_caNobody dresses the part quite like The Great Morgani, the Santa Cruz accordionist known for his outrageous (and sometimes slightly disturbing) costumes. This photo catches him in one of his tamer outfits, all decked out in roses for Mother’s Day last weekend.

Balkan style
uploaded by plenty.r.We’re suckers for photos of cute animals, so this Flickr shot of an accordion-playing puppy is right up our alley. And according to the description, he’s available for booking for weddings, bar mitzvahs, and funerals! I noticed he’s playing a button accordion — I wonder if he switched after having trouble hitting the piano keys with his paws?

The 7th annual Vienna Accordion Festival wrapped up last weekend and, judging from this post on rec.music.makers.squeezebox, there were some stellar performances. The month-long festival brought together performers from all over the world — over 160 artists from 28 countries — and also included films, workshops, and plenty of squeezebox networking. A handful of Americans made the trip and performed this year, including Frank Marocco, Jason Webley, and CJ Chenier and the Red Hot Louisiana Band. Check out some photos from this year’s festival, and then start making your plans for 2007.