Assorted Accordion Awesomeness

I am woefully behind on my accordion posts. Blame it on a crazy work and travel schedule, a cracked cast iron sewage pipe that resulted in a kitchen re-renovation (don’t ask), and the heat and humidity of a Richmond, Virginia summer so oppressive that  I can barely complete my ABCs, much less a blog post. Sigh.

So in lieu of a thematic blog post, I will simply share a few random nuggets I’ve collected over the past few weeks. Have a look, and in some cases, a listen, and enjoy.

Cool Accordion Stuff (in no particular order)

1. A special shout out to my buddy, Jared Miller, who told me about this super cool video by the band, OK Go. It goes without saying that it features the accordion. But as a special, super fun bonus, it also features the entire Notre Dame Marching Band.

2. My buddy Jared Miller also gets credit for this next nugget. Jared doesn’t even play the accordion, but he has an uncanny ability to find great accordion stuff. I like Jared. I also like this comic.

3. Here I am outside the Northwest Arkansas airport, testing my accordion to make sure it wasn’t jostled in the overhead bin. I played a tiny little snippet of Waltz Across Texas, the only song I know from memory, and the two passersby actually clapped and asked for more. Northwest Arkansas rocks.

Karen at NWA airport

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Playing the accordion ain’t easy. But here are two cute Bavarian twin girls who sing AND play accordion, all the while zipping around the dance hall on roller skates. Um. Don’t try this at home.

5. Yesterday was Bastille Day, so here is my friend Barry playing a lovely version of Mon Amant de Saint John. He recently performed this and other beautiful tunes while busking in Carytown in our fair city. Barry has a great blog called the delicious accordion. Check it out for more accordion awesome sauce.

6. Finally, if you haven’t already seen it, read this fabulous NY Times article that says what I’ve been saying in accordiontokaren for over two years now. I’m heading to NYC in August to check out some of the accordion playing in Bryant Park, so stay tuned for a post!

 

3 thoughts on “Assorted Accordion Awesomeness

  1. The OK Go video makes me long for Johnny LaRue (a.k.a. John Candy) demanding a crane shot. Oh, Canada, were the 1970′s really the high point of your contributions to world culture?

    The German girls actually rhymed Canada with Panama — I thought that only rap and country could get away with that, but if you do it in a beer hall on in-line skates with accordions, polka can do it, too. I guess.

    Great blog post!

    Nick

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