Cotati Accordion Festival Photos
Ah… another year, another glorious weekend spent at the Cotati Accordion Festival. We spent nearly ten hours in La Plaza Park today, listening to an incredible collection of accordion-oriented artists. Where else can you hear a klezmer band followed by a yodeling, accordion-playing cowboy? Or see hundreds of white doves released into the sky as a crowd plays “Lady of Spain”? Only in Cotati.
We finally got to see Brave Combo live and they didn’t disappoint; it only took a couple songs before they had most of the crowd in a giant conga line, weaving their way through the park. Culann’s Hounds were a big hit, too; I’m glad that word’s getting around about how good they are. We heard virtuoso accordionists across the generations, from Tony Lovello working the crowd to Alex Meixner alternating between piano and button accordion to young Coupe Mondiale participant Sammy Thomas. We also grabbed a hot-off-the-presses copy of the new Those Darn Accordions album, Squeeze Machine (review coming soon!).
And while Anna didn’t win the raffle this year, we still had a fantastic time. We were completely blown away by the number of people who came up to us and mentioned the site. Thanks for all your support and hopefully we’ll be reporting on Cotati Accordion Festivals for years to come.
2 Comments:
I just attended another wonderfull cotati accordion festival…what a line-up..and these people really know how to put on a great show and create an incredible festival….I even did what I’ve been threatening to do for the last five years….I bought an accordion from Carl, the fantastic man from Victoria, BC….now I need a teacher…either in the marin or sonoma area….any suggestions?
by laura schepps on August 28th, 2007
You know, I actually just ran across a Craigslist ad from someone offering accordion lessons. His name is James Guzzetta and I believe he lives somewhere in the North Bay. You might want to try contacting him.
Also, I’m pretty sure that Skyler Fell at Accordion Apocalypse (accordion repair shop in SF) has a list of area accordion teachers. I don’t see it on her site, but if you email her, she can probably give you some suggestions.
Hope that helps!
by Chris on August 29th, 2007