So many accordions…so little time.

It’s a warm and beautiful 4th of July weekend and the last time I updated this blog the sky was chilly and grey. That’s just sad. It’s certainly not for lack of material. In fact, the moment I sat down to write this post (I kid you not) I heard the beautiful wail of the accordion on NPR. Old Crow Medicine Show was on Garrison Keillor to sing their new song, Sweet Amarillo. It’s sweet, indeed, and the accordion accompaniment makes it that much sweeter. Bob Dylan actually handed this unfinished tune of his over to Old Crow. Here’s their official video.

You can find this song on their new album Remedy available in these ways:

iTunes: http://smarturl.it/OCMSremedy_iTunes
Amazon: http://smarturl.it/OCMS_AmzCD
OCMS store: http://bit.ly/1aKb33b

If you liked that, you’ll probably dig the Felice Brothers. This is one of my favorite new (to me) Americana bands–a shout out to my pal, Andy Swartz for turning me on to them. Just enter Felice Brothers on YouTube and you’ll find lots of songs as awesome as this one. James Felice is the accordion player of the trio. Quite frankly, I don’t understand why every band doesn’t have an accordion player.

Bringing it a little closer to home, I was yet again treated to the truly original sound of RVA’s own Happy Lucky Combo this holiday weekend. While hanging out at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens on a lovely Friday afternoon, my husband and I heard this equally lovely tune by Barry Bless. Ahhh, deliciousness.

But wait, there’s more. Just last night, local honky tonk band, Andy Vaughn and the Driveline had their CD release party at Hardywood Brewery. Here’s a snippet of my friend Slim Stanton, who occasionally stops playing Pedal Steel long enough to wail on the accordion conjunto style. Country music and accordion go together splendidly since anywhere you can saw a fiddle you can squeeze an accordion.

Happy Trails.

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