It is always Accordion Awareness Month at my house, but this month it is official. So, in honor of Accordion Awareness Month, I have put together a little podcast showcasing just a tiny bit of the diverse music styles that feature accordions. It's not your grandfather's accordion music anymore! Sure, everybody thinks accordions equal polka music...but pretty much all cultures have some sort of squeezy-box. The rising popularity of world music is bringing all this good stuff to more ears.
Click here to check out the podcast. Here's a little bit of info about the songs that are included:
The ever-awesome (and Grammy award-winning!) Brave Combo gives an old standard polka a totally new sound.
Nortec Collective from Mexico brings the traditional sound of accordion to the alternative beats.
Cajuns like Bruce Daigrepont are famous for using accordions.
Texas is home to a huge Czech population that brought the polka music with them from the old country and morphed it with the twangy country music.
Chicha music is a freaky psychedelic mix of Peruvian, Columbian, Andean sounds that began in the late 70's. Chicha Libre is a contemporary band from the US that re-introduced this genre.
Gogol Bordello kicks ass with their over-the-top Gypsy punk.
The rest of the list are the kinds of traditional polkas that I grew up listening to.
And of course I had to put some Weird Al in here!
This is by no means a complete list of accordion music...just some of the bands and songs I like. If you want to explore the wonderful world of accordions, check out Let's Polka, a treasure trove of all things accordion.
My cousin Kathleen took this awesome photo of her husband Mark and his accordion. He serenades her (and sometimes the squirrels) every day.
