From Vegas to Virginia, this week is all about festivals — accordion festivals, polka festivals, Cajun festivals — you name it, we’ve got it on the calendar. Here are some highlights:
Las Vegas International Accordion Convention (Mon-Thu in Las Vegas, NV) For four days, Vegas becomes the accordion capital of the world as hundreds of accordionists participate in master classes and workshops (“Left Hand Latin Rhythms”, anyone?) and enjoy concerts by headliners Tony Lovello, Art Van Damme, Walter Ostanek, and more.
Leavenworth International Accordion Celebration (Thu-Sun in Leavenworth, WA) Is Vegas too glitzy for you? Head north to the Bavarian village in Leavenworth for their 16th annual accordion festival. There’ll be competitions, workshops, concerts, and even an accordion parade down Leavenworth’s main drag on Saturday afternoon.
Polish Fest (Fri-Sun in Milwaukee, WI) The biggest names in polka, including three of last year’s Grammy nominees (Jimmy Sturr, Eddie Blazonczyk, and Lenny Gomulka), take the stage at the 26th annual Milwaukee Polka Fest.
Long Beach Bayou Festival (Fri-Sun in Long Beach, CA) Bourbon Street moves west this weekend, with performances by C.J. Chenier, Geno Delafose, nine-year-old Guyland Leday, and many more.
Accordionology (Fri-Sun in Brooklyn, NY) Barbès hosts a three-day festival for our “much maligned instrument” with an eclectic lineup that includes Guy Klucevsek, One Ring Zero, the Will Holshouser Trio, Alec Redfearn and the Eyesores, and many more.
Zydeco/Cajun Grammy Celebration (Wed in Lafayette, LA) Celebrate the creation of the newest Grammy category with a party at the Grant Street Dance Hall.
Shuswap Lake Accordion Festival (Fri-Sun in Sorrento, BC, Canada) Three days of jam sessions, solos and duets, bands and dancing on the banks of Shuswap Lake in British Columbia. Beautiful music, beautiful surroundings… what more could you ask for?
On a technical note, I’ve fixed the calendar to better handle multi-day events (like festivals). If you have an accordion-related concert, festival, or meeting to share, tell us about it!
“Blast from the Bayou” Cajun/Zydeco Festival (Thu-Sun in Preston, CT) I don’t normally think of Connecticut as a zydeco hotspot, but this weekend’s Cajun/Zydeco festival in Strawberry Park brings Louisiana’s best to the Nutmeg State. Featuring Geno Delafose, Steve Riley, Chris Ardoin, Corey Ledet, the Pine Leaf Boys, the Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band, and many more.
Syracuse Polish Festival (Fri-Sun in Syracuse, NY) The 53rd Syracuse Polish Festival raises money for the Polish Scholarship Fund and features a slew of polka bands, including Lenny Gomulka and Chicago Push, Stephanie and her Honky Band, and Fritz’s Polka Band.
Motion Trio (Various dates) With a goal to “extract notes from the accordion which have never been heard before,” Poland’s innovative Motion Trio plays rare US tour dates this week in Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago. They don’t come around often, so catch these shows if you can!
Accordion Kings and Queens (Saturday in Houston, TX) This concert spotlights the diversity of the Lone Star State’s accordion traditions with players old and young (including winners of the Big Squeeze competition) and stars from zydeco (Chubby Carrier), conjunto (Mingo Saldivar), and Western swing (Ginny Mac).
Friendly City PolkaFest (Fri-Sun in Johnstown, PA) The 10th annual Friendly City PolkaFest features three days of nonstop polka music from bands like Eddie Blazonczyk’s Versatones, Polka Family, Polka Country Musicians, and many more.
In other important accordion news, today is my wife and co-author Anna’s birthday! Hooray! We’ll be jamming on the porch in her honor this afternoon.
Remember, if there’s an accordion event in your neighborhood, tell us about it!
Memorial Day Weekend marks the unofficial start of summer and, more importantly, the start of festival season: polka festivals, zydeco festivals, plain ol’ accordion festivals… the summer is filled with ’em! On tap this weekend:
National Button Accordion Festival (Fri-Sun in Yukon, OK) Bayans, chromatics, concertinas… oh my! Three days of nonstop jamming and dancing to button accordions. (Piano accordions welcome, too.)
USPA Festival and Convention (Fri-Sun in Independence, OH) The United States Polka Association hosts its annual bash with a huge lineup of polka bands (Eddie Blazonczyk’s Versatones, Polka Family, Dynabrass, and more) and an awards banquet to recognize outstanding achievements in the polka industry.
National Polka Festival (Fri-Sun in Ennis, TX) This is the largest Czech heritage festival in the United States, with authentic food, costumes, and polka dancing, as well as music by Brave Combo, Vrazel’s Polka Band, and others.
Simi Valley Cajun Creole Music Festival (Sat-Sun in Simi Valley, CA) One of the biggest Cajun festivals on the West Coast, featuring performances by Rosie Ledet and the Zydeco Playboys, Pine Leaf Boys, Curley Taylor and Zydeco Trouble, and more.
And festivals aren’t the only things on our accordion calendar this week. DeVotchKa is playing a unique show at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Murl Allen Sanders performs for both the Chicago and Milwaukee Accordion Clubs, and there’s a big Tejano-Conjunto and Cajun dance party in Austin with Mingo Saldivar and the Gulf Coast Playboys.
Squeeze Box Night (Tuesday in Monroe, WI) The first in a monthly series of informal accordion jam sessions at Turner Hall’s Ratskeller. Local accordionist Del Heins leads the session and will offer tips and advice for anyone who’s a bit rusty.
Tri Tip Trio (Tuesday in Berkeley, CA) Every Tuesday night at Ashkenaz, they host a Cajun/Zydeco dance party with a local band (Tri Tip Trio this week) and a pre-show dance lesson.
Smilin’ Scandinavians (Thursday in Seattle, WA) Led by accordionist Toby Hanson, Seattle’s #1 polka band invades the Leif Erikson Lodge #1.
Is there an upcoming squeezebox gathering in your area? Tell us about it!
Later this month, thousands of accordionists will head to Innsbruck, Austria for the 9th annual World Music Festival. This year’s festival focuses on the accordion and features performances from over 300 accordion orchestras and ensembles from around the world. Unfortunately, the only information I could find was either in German or badly-translated English (“Innsbruck will be overflowed!”), but there will also be a musical revue (written especially for the festival) on the accordion’s role in world music.
Tejano Conjunto Festival (Thu-Sat in San Antonio, TX) One of the biggest and best conjunto festivals of the year takes place this weekend in Rosedale Park. The lineup is a “who’s who” of conjunto accordion legends: Mingo Saldivar, Flaco Jimenez, Joel Guzman, Eva Ybarra, Flavio Longoria… you get the idea. Don’t miss this one.
Billy McComiskey (Friday in New York, NY) Button box virtuoso (and Brooklyn native) Billy McComiskey performs at NYU with banjoist Peter Fitzgerald and keyboardist Matt Mulqueen.
Gator By The Bay (Sat-Sun in San Diego, CA) San Diego’s biggest Zydeco, Blues and Crawfish Festival features entertainment on three stages with huge wooden dance floors and bands like Jeffery Broussard and the Creole Cowboys, Brian Jack and the Zydeco Gamblers, and more.
As usual, if you have an accordion event in your area — polka, zydeco, rock, whatever — and it isn’t on our calendar yet, tell us about it!
There was a great AP article today on accordions at the New Orleans Jazz Fest, calling accordions at the festival “popular, prolific and downright sexy.” Just listen to one female festival-goer’s description of Buckwheat Zydeco:
“He is so sexy… There is just something about a guy and a squeezebox.”
I swear, I did not make that quote up. The article pointed out that accordions weren’t confined to the cajun/zydeco stage, but that “they were showing up this year on the big stages and even in some of the big bands”, noting performances by Calexico and the New Orleans Klezmer Allstars. Sounds like this accordion thing might just be catching on…
Posted May 5th, 2007 in Events, News · Comments off
I like to think of The Big Joe Polka Show as polka’s answer to American Bandstand. Just replace the TV studio with a large plywood dance floor in an Elk’s Lodge, the awkward teens with polka dancing seniors, and Dick Clark with the charming “Big Joe” Siedlik and his loud, accordion-patterned vests.
For more than 25 years, Big Joe was a polka radio king, spinning a popular mix of Polish, Czech and German polka records for listeners in the Midwest. After retiring from radio, he moved to television and now showcases live polka bands and dancers on his program which airs nationwide on RFD-TV, “Rural America’s Most Important Network.”
Later this month, Big Joe will film a series of shows at the RFD-TV Theater in Branson, Missouri. It’s a big deal for the bands chosen to perform and they’re coming from all over the country — the Polka Chips from Alaska, Smilin’ Scandinavians from Washington, Phocus from Buffalo, and many more.
One of polka’s biggest promoters, Big Joe likes to say that “polka tots make polka teens, and polka teens make adult human beings.” This clip is proof of that, as Big Joe welcomes (and teases) the younger members of Colorado’s Polka Nuts:
