For those who are still wondering what Dyngus Day is, here’s a helpful clip from “Polonia: Western New York’s Polish-American Legacy”, a documentary produced by WNED-TV in Buffalo. Just as everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, everyone is Polish on Dyngus Day.

I have a confession to make: there’s a new instrument in my life.

It started innocently — one day, I was just sitting on the couch, picking on the banjo that I bought Anna for Christmas last year. Next thing you know, I’m filling my iPod with Tony Trischka albums and hunching in front of the TV to play along with “The Ballad of Jed Clampett.”

So starting today, April 1st, we’re switching our focus from the accordion to the plucky banjo. Instead of polka and zydeco, we’ll be discussing bluegrass, proper clawhammer technique, and Scruggs tuners.

To get things started, here’s one of my favorite clips featuring five banjo greats — Earl Scruggs, Tony Ellis, Charles Wood, Pete Wernick and Steve Martin, calling themselves “Men With Banjos Who Know How to Use Them” — playing “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” on the Late Show with David Letterman:

A true accordion prodigy, Joey Miskulin first picked up an accordion at age four and made his first record at twelve. When he was thirteen, Miskulin’s career took off and he became a featured accordionist in his idol Frankie Yankovic’s band. It was a partnership that lasted for over thirty-five years, as Miskulin frequently joined Yankovic both in the studio and on the road, and even produced Yankovic’s Grammy-winning album, 70 Years of Hits.

In 1987, Miskulin moved to Nashville and hooked up with Western music and comedy group Riders in the Sky, known for paying homage (and poking fun) at the classic cowboy songs of yesteryear. Today, he still plays accordion, writes, and produces albums for the group, including their work for the Pixar movies Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., and Cars. Here’s a Riders in the Sky clip with Miskulin singing Webb Pierce’s “Texas Sand”:

One band I missed in my SXSW accordion recap was Shawn Sahm and the Tex Mex Experience. As you might have guessed, Shawn is the son of the late Doug Sahm, founder of the Sir Douglas Quintet and Texas Tornados.

The Tex Mex Experience is quickly making a name for themselves with their high-energy, accordion-fueled Texas rock, and have opened shows for Los Lonely Boys, Robert Cray, and Susan Tedeschi. And this review of their SXSW showcase suggests they’re ready to break out:

“The fusion of all-out rock, hot-licks accordion and guitar, spot-on vocals and catchy, hook-laden songs is irresistible. If the business types from the music industry are worried about marketing a rock band with an accordion, they need to get over it, strap on their dancing shoes and unleash the Tex-Mex Experience.”

Here’s a live clip of the Tex Mex Experience playing “Why Doncha?”; watch for the accordion solo (by former Texmaniac Michael Guerra) halfway through.

Accordions certainly aren’t the only instruments blocking the exits at our house. In fact, the first instrument I bought Anna (shortly after we first met) wasn’t an accordion at all, but a musical saw. There’s something oddly beguiling about the saw; maybe it’s the otherworldly sound, the amazing flexiblity, or the fact that (in a pinch) you could use it to fix an uneven table. Regardless, it can sound fantastic when accompanied by an accordion.

For proof, check out Minneapolis-based duo Dreamland Faces, which consists of Karen Majewicz on accordion and Andy McCormick on musical saw. Together, they play an enchanting mix of original tangos and waltzes, as well as jazz and folk classics from yesteryear. Majewicz has studied with Tejano accordion legend Eva Ybarra and Russian virtuoso Stas Venglevski, and even worked on accordions at Hohner’s repair center in Virginia. (She currently offers lessons and repairs in Minneapolis.)

In addition to their self-titled CD, Dreamland Faces has provided original music for theatre shows and accompanied silent films. I haven’t found many clips of their work online, but here’s a quirky music video for one of their songs:

Dreamland Faces: Zawszie Bedzie Czegos Ci Brak (Quicktime video)

This year’s Tejano Music Awards will be held Saturday in San Antonio, but it’ll have a hard time matching the fireworks of this all-star accordion jam from the 1992 show. The video may be fuzzy, but the music is incredible. From left to right, the lineup includes David Lee Garza, David Farias, Pete Ybarra, Mingo Saldivar and Flaco Jimenez, who kicks things off with “Viva Seguin.”

[Found via the Reyes Accordions forums]

As America settles into another season of Ryan Secrest and Simon Cowell catfights (aka American Idol), Europe gears up for its annual continent-wide song competition, Eurovision. Each country votes on a song to represent them at the Eurovision finals, then viewers across Europe vote on a winner from that pool of entries. This year’s entries have their work cut out for them — it’ll be hard to top last year’s winners, Finnish heavy-metal rockers Lordi.

This year, there’s controversy brewing around Israel’s chosen Eurovision entry: a song called “Push the Button” by the band Teapacks. Eurovision organizers have threatened to ban the entry due to its “inappropriate” political message. The song warns of the dangers of nuclear war and seems to be a thinly-veiled jab at the nuclear ambitions or Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. One verse goes: “There are some crazy leaders they hide and try to fool us / With demonic, technologic willingness to harm / They’re going to push the button.”

Musically, the catchy song jumps back and forth between folk, hard rock, and even hip-hop, with the lead singer singing in English, French, and Hebrew. In the video, there’s even a (somewhat lazy) accordion player smoking a pipe:

He may not have the name recognition of Myron Floren or Dick Contino, but few accordionists (past or present) could match the talents of Johnny Pecon. Pecon joined fellow Cleveland native Frankie Yankovic’s band in 1947; Yankovic played melodies on his piano accordion while Pecon harmonized on his chromatic. Pecon even introduced Yankovic to the song that would become his biggest hit: “Just Because”.

After a couple years of recording and touring with Yankovic, Pecon left and began a successful partnership with another excellent Cleveland accordionist, Lou Trebar. To this day, the Pecon-Trebar Orchestra is considered one of the greatest Cleveland-style polka bands of all-time.

Here’s a rare TV clip from 1958 of the Johnny Pecon Orchestra playing “Marybelle Polka”:

It’s probably because I watched The Sting too many times while growing up, but Scott Joplin’s ragtime classic “The Entertainer” was the song that inspired me to learn to play the piano. (Years later, it’s still the only song, besides “Chopsticks”, that I can play from memory.) I fumble around with accordion renditions occasionally, but none quite like these two I found on YouTube.

The first is an all-accordion orchestra from the Netherlands called Accordeonola. I don’t know about you, but there’s something about ten or more accordionists playing together that restores my faith in humanity.

And for something completely different, the second clip is a 30-second commercial for a Japanese pachinko chain. It features one-man band Mark Di Giuseppe (“The Straniero”) playing the Stranierofono, a combination accordion/bass clarinet that he invented.