A Mad, Mad World

My much loved, much played gold Weltmeister Rubin (30/60/II/3)* accordion is home again after several weeks at Smythe’s Accordion Center.

9+ years solid of playing had taken its toll on some of the keys around the low D. Kimric Smythe diagnosed that some parts had to be replaced. I and my poor squeeze had to endure waiting for those parts to come from the Weltmeister factory in Klingenthal, Germany. Once they arrived Kimric performed a successful surgery. Sigh of relief.

Now I can look forward to many more gigs with my old gold friend.

Kimric is an inventor, builder and all around clever guy. He recently distilled plums and roses into a delectable 60 proof liquor — one of the many perks of visiting the accordion center

* 30/60/II/3 means 30 keys on the keyboard, 60 bass buttons, two sets of reeds on treble side, three sets of reeds on bass side.

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They met in the theater…

And GDub and Mags of the Mad Maggies have been tumbling through life together ever since that Mardi Gras night two decades ago.

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On December 11, 2010 Studio E presented an Accordion Babe Cabaret at Aubergine after Dark in Sebastopol, California. We shared the stage with Vagabondage, Tara Linda and Roxanne Oliva‘s Bellows of Bedlam. Great crowd, great venue, fab lineup!

Drummer, Dan “the Man” Powers sat in with us for our set. Dan is also a videographer and caught the evening’s fun on tape. This is one of the tunes we performed.

I really do share the stage with the finest musicians this side of the Volga River

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Calling all squeezers and those who love our bellowed beauties.

Event: Accordion Day in San Francisco
Day: Friday June 11, 2010
Time: 11:30am
Location: Polk St. between Grove and McAllister

This is the 20th anniversary of San Francisco proclaiming the accordion as the city’s official instrument. Wow!

Tom Torriglia, who spearheaded the effort for SF to honor the accordion, has organized an event the City Hall steps. Mayor Gavin Newsom is expected to make an appearance at noon.

Go to Tom’s website for more info on how to participate.

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This is so cool. We “West Coast Accordion Babes” now have our own internet radio show — The Accordion Babes Radio Hour — courtesy of Uncle Ozma of NeverEndingWonder Radio. Stream it live on Wednesdays 7pm, Sundays at noon and Friday 4am.

More info from the Never Ending Wonder Radio website:

“The Accordion Babes Radio Hour is the only radio show anywhere that features the music of women accordion players exclusively. You’ll hear traditional folk melodies, contemporary experimental numbers and everything in between!”

“OPENING THEME: Cabbage Rolls & Coffee by Big Lou’s Polka Casserole
CLOSING THEME: ellemenope by Salane & Friends“

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GDub and I met Stefan Hiss and his band “Hiss” back in 1997 when we were in Germany visiting my sister who is a friend and fan. In fact, Stefan played her wedding 2 years later in 1999. They dished up a rousing night of music and I danced like a wild woman.

We’ve stayed in touch since and whenever we travel to my sister’s home outside of Stuttgart we usually get a visit in with Stefan to talk “music” and swap our current CDs.

Stefan’s latest band is “Los Santos” and he just mailed me their new CD entitled “Blue in Hawaii”. It’s a Western/ Tex-Mex celebration performed by stellar musicians. Instrumentation includes pedal steel, ukulele, dobro, banjo, and of course, accordion – Stefan Hiss is an amazing accordionist!

The fifteen tracks include, “My Wife Thinks Your Dead”, “Rag Mop” and “Deja Que Salga La Luna” plus three Hiss originals, “Blue Hawaii”, “Twisting in the Taiga” and “El Mezquite”.

One of my personal favs on the album is “Johnny Guitar” (a great tune written by Peggy Lee and Victor Young for the 1954 movie). They’ve capture just the right amount of “Out West” surrealism.

And their version of “Rag Mop” swings!

So LISTEN to THIS: “Blue in Hawaii” by Los Santos.
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Los Santos play “Rag Mop”:

Stefan Hiss playing one of his original tunes: “Tanz aus meinem Grab” (Dance on My Grave):

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Legendary accordionist Clyde Forsman has passed. I was lucky enough to see him perform with TDA (Those Darn Accordions) several times and have chatted with him backstage. He was kind, funny, spunky and a super accordionist and entertainer.

He enjoyed fame late in life which included national touring, MTV and screaming female fans throwing underwear. To the delight of his adoring audiences he’d often remove his shirt to reveal his physique and flamboyant tattoos as he sang such hits as “Do You Think I’m Sexy” and “Fire”.

Tonight we’ll sing the Lament for you, Clyde. May your new adventures be as wild and crazy.

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Renée de la Prade has asked several of us local accordion-playing women to be part of an “Accordion Babes” Pin-up calendar for 2009. Her plan is to bundle a sampler CD with the calendar. All very cool. I love the idea of beauties and the bellows! So yesterday I went to the studio of photographer John Clayton and did my pin-up best. I will happily share the results when I receive the final photos from John in a couple of days.

What was fascinating about the process was choosing provocative but not too serious looks and then striking poses that were flattering. Not easy! There’s a fine line between a sexy and a silly outfit. The twists and turns that are appealing in a photo are not naturally occurring to this body, looking relaxed standing on 4 inch spikes took serious “core strength” and hoisting a 16 pound accordion into demure positions required ingenuity. As for seductive, well, thanks be for those wonderful soft light filters.

Here’s a few links to the world of pin-up artists and their fans:

some pin-up herstory
some calendars and playing cards
more examples

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