Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Link to original article

"Piano with Suspenders": The Squeezebox Set

Those who love the accordion trying to get respect for their instrument

By SONYA PADGETT
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Standing onstage with his fly unzipped, his accordion barely covering his embarrassment, Sammy Thomas was living what could have been a nightmare.

It was the first phase of the Count Guido Diero Entertainment competition, and the 15-year-old accordion virtuoso had every eye in the room on him at a moment that required some privacy. Even his mother pointed and let out a guffaw.

But Thomas managed to make the moment his.

"I'm just going to turn around for a second," he told the audience of judges, parents and peers, turning his back to them.

Once again facing the room after adjusting his zipper, Thomas, a Washington state native, launched into the second song of his set, "Lover," playing as smooth and lively as he had before the awkward moment.

The performance wasn't perfect, thanks to the wardrobe malfunction, but it was good enough to advance Thomas to the finals later that night, where he would compete against two other accordionists younger than 18.

The youth master class and subsequent competition was just one part of the four-day International Accordion Convention at the Plaza last week, but it was vital to the world of music. Because, as one accordionist after another insisted, the youth are the future of the "piano with =suspenders."

"It's great that we have all these hobbyists, but we need young people," said Joan Cochran Sommers, a longtime accordion teacher and the convention's honorary director this year.

The accordion isn't one of the more popular instruments, especially among young people. Thomas, who has been playing for four years and has three recordings out, most recently "Just My Accordion Talkin'," is an anomaly among teenagers. They're usually more into video games and skateboarding than accordion playing, Sommers said, though it was trendy during the 1950s and 1960s. That's when Lawrence Welk's television show exposed an entire nation to the versatility of the waistline Wurlitzer.

"The style of things always starts with the youth," said Paul Pasquali, the convention's organizer and founder. "There were young icons and television stars who made it popular then, like Dick Contino. He was the teenage sex symbol before Elvis."

Pasquali started the convention five years ago with an eye toward exposing masses of younger people to the accordion, hoping to spark their interest. It also was a great way to market his electronic accordions, he said.

It began with 240 people coming together to share their enthusiasm for the instrument, and has grown to more than 400 people at this year's event, Pasquali said, among them about eight younger than 17.

Attendees took classes with names such as "fish aren't the only ones who need scales," "bellowing techniques" and "exploring the polka." They played with fancy new accordions on display, ate chicken salad sandwiches, jammed and talked about the problems facing their favorite musical instrument.

Cartoons disparage them, commercials demean them, while the uninformed turn their noses up, these accordionists lamented.

"It's got a bad reputation for some reason," said Ohio accordion teacher Darlene Terry, 79. "When the Beatles came over here and Elvis started getting famous, that messed up the accordion. But I've played through it."

In fact, Terry added, the past few years have seen former accordion players around the country coming out of the closet, starting a trend.

"A lot of people don't even know they're coming back," Terry said.

But the best way to grow that trend is to hook the kids on the sounds of the accordion, the senior accordionists say.

"If the clubs could sponsor them, pretty soon we'd have a young contingent that would go back and spread the word among communities," Sommers said. "We need a good-looking young guy to really get the kids saying, `I want to be like him.' "

With his blue eyes, chiseled good looks and skillful playing, Spencer Wagner, 17, could easily be that guy. But he thinks it will take a lot more than a single performer to bring the glory back to the accordion.

There are too many clichés and stereotypes, he said, citing the Pepsi commercial that tells the fictional story of how Jimi Hendrix almost became an accordionist instead of a guitar genius. But Wagner hasn't let the negative attention stop him from trying to become the best accordionist he can be.

"There's always the bittersweet knowledge where you know you're never going to be accepted. I can try to get to the top but there's nowhere to go. You're not going to play Carnegie Hall, but you know you can do anything with it," he said.

Wagner, a Colorado native, has done just that, entering competitions, playing for spending money and becoming somewhat of a celebrity at school.

Perhaps more people would be interested in the instrument if they knew of its benefits and versatility, he suggested. And that you can play more than just polkas on it.

"They can play waltzes, classical music, any piece of band music can be arranged for the accordion," Wagner explained. "The accordion can be a 15-year-old playing a 10-minute concerto piece beautifully. That's how I've always seen it, as a full orchestra on the chest. It's unique and strange, so it's impressive."