Video: TDA Alumni at Cotati Accordion Festival

For the big ending to Saturday's 20th anniversary set at the Cotati Accordion Festival, former Those Darn Accordions members joined the current lineup for several songs.

In the first clip, Big Lou and Art Peterson sing "Hotsy Totsy Polka" and original TDA drummer Bill Schwartz sings "Low Rider."



In the second, Ron Muriera sings "It's Not Unusual" before Tom Torriglia and the rest of the TDA alumni reunite onstage for "We're An Accordion Band."

Big Lou Plays 'Chicken Dance' in Africa

Those Darn Accordions founder Big Lou, aka the Accordion Princess, plays the "Chicken Dance" with the Maru a Pula Marimba band (and Lou's husband David Golia on bass) at the Ladies Number One Opera House in Gaborone, Botswana. Weirdest instrumentation yet?

A little closer to home, Big Lou's Polka Casserole plays Schroeder's Cafe in downtown San Francisco this Friday from 6 to 9 p.m.

She'll also be joining TDA during our big reunion set at the 2009 Cotati Accordion Festival.

Outrage: Grammys Kill 'Best Polka' Category

The Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences is eliminating the Grammy for best polka album.

The latest slap in the face to accordion lovers everywhere, announced Thursday, is a move to keep the Grammys "pertinent within the current musical landscape," according to the recording industry group.

"It's not that the polka world's not used to it," said Carl Finch, leader of the mighty Texas band Brave Combo, which beat out perpetual winner Jimmy Sturr for the polka Grammy twice in the last decade.

"The polka world expects it," said Finch. "It's like, 'Yeah, the man did it to us again.'"

No kidding -- this is an outrage! The academy now wants polka records to be nominated in the folk category.

This is all part of the gray-beard music industry's drawn-out death throes -- the old categorizations don't work anymore. The old ways of selling records don't work anymore. The superstar system doesn't work anymore. MTV doesn't play music, people don't buy CDs, even the giants don't reliably sell millions of units anymore.

Maybe the Academy will replace the polka category with a "best manufactured band created for a television show and marketed via a soft-drink tie-in" category. Because it's clearly not about the music anymore.

Teller Talks Magic and Science

In the current issue of Wired magazine (which is crammed with interesting stuff):

Magic and the Brain: Teller Reveals the Neuroscience of Illusion

We're fans of Penn & Teller -- great comedy, great magic, great genre-bending entertainment. (And Teller's a swell guy to talk to.)

Embroidered Drew Carey Art

You've watched our pal Drew Carey on his many shows and you've sung along with him on our Squeeze Machine album. Now you can enjoy his presence in embroidery art courtesy of artist Sarah Horton. As part of an art show consisting solely of embroidered work, she created the piece seen here, "Lucky In Love." Her site is full of art where crafts meet pop culture.

Wild Women of the Accordion

Tonight, Nov 13, at the Cafe du Nord there's a Wild Women of the Accordion show scheduled to entertain you this Mini-Friday. The show features TDA alum Big Lou and her band Polka Casserole, as well as Kugelplex, and Renee de la Prade and Friends.

Visit SFGate.com for more info, including an interview with Lou.

Cotati Accordion Fest Lineup Is Live

Here's the full lineup for the 2008 Cotati Accordion Festival.

Those Darn Accordions is not on the list, but some great and quirky squeezeboxers will perform: Dick Contino, TDA alumna Big Lou, Polka Freakout, The Great Morgani and many more.

Don't stay away on our account.

Two Shows Down and One to Go

Our Wisconsin whirlwind mini-tour is two-thirds of the way done, and the first two gigs couldn't have been more different.

The first, at the wonderful Swiss Turner Hall of Monroe, was quite quiet -- the venue calls for a low-key sound. The accordion players didn't even use amps (a return to TDA's roots, in a way). Michael played drums, of course, and I had a bass amp, but we kept the volume tamped waaaaaaaaaaaaaay down.

It made for a sort of storyteller's show -- special thanks to the guy who told the true tale about nailing a 7-10 split in Turner Hall's bowling alley. His demo, with two pins and a bowling ball, was pretty amazing. And the post-show limburger and beer in the Ratskeller was remarkable as always. Special thanks to all our friends at Turner Hall who always make us feel so welcome.

Food note: If you ever find yourself near Monroe, you really owe it to yourself to enjoy a meal in Turner Hall's Ratskeller -- the food is genuinely amazing. (Check out the menus for a taste of what you can expect in the way of Swiss delicacies -- do not miss the rösti.)

Day two of the TDA Wisconsin mini-tour found us on the giant Miller stage at Polish Fest in Milwaukee. The event is on the Summerfest grounds (although it's not nearly as maddeningly crowded as at the Big Gig). The stage is still huge, though, and the sound is truly awesome. The high volume makes for a totally different kind of show: The accordion players ran through amps (Paul reveled in his Marshall half-stack), and Michael banged his drums to his heart's content. My bass rig was taller than me.

In short, it was much more of a rock show. We'll be doing the same thing again tonight -- loud and proud at our first Milwaukee shows since 2005. Can you believe it's been that long?

If you can make it out, we'd love to see you. We start at 9 p.m. tonight and go to midnight (with a break in the middle for fireworks). Come on down and enjoy some great Polish food and piwo -- you'll get to hear a couple new and revived TDA tunes, lots of stuff from our latest CD, Squeeze Machine, plus plenty of back-catalog classics.

Accordions Anonymous Gets 'Behind the Bellows'

Nobody will ever call Those Darn Accordions the world's most-covered band, so when we see or hear somebody doing a version of one of our tunes, we're thrilled.

Witness Accordions Anonymous' cover of "Behind the Bellows." From the the YouTube description: "Accordions Anonymous, here joined by one of our founding mothers, Lorelei A. (aka Queen Accordionna), performs the Those Darns Accordions song 'Behind the Bellows' at the S.L.U.G. Queens' Ball, June 6, 2008, at Cozmic Pizza in Eugene." (I'm guessing that must Oregon.)

And here's a secret little coincidence: We recently added "Behind the Bellows" to the TDA set list. Come see us in Wisconsin this weekend (we play Monroe and Milwaukee) and you might hear it.

How to Promote Your Band on MySpace (With Accordions)

Wired.com's How-To Wiki has a cool post on How to Promote Your Band on MySpace, and I must say they've chosen an excellent band photo to illustrate "Step 1: Gather Your Promotional Materials."

Here's a hint from the instructional article: "Look and learn: Women with accordions in front, dorky dudes in the back."

A little background: The photo is a collage put together by our pal Sean "It's Not Art" Pete, who's recently started blogging on The Wall of Wheeze. The individual pix, which were shot by Wired.com photo editor (and my old college buddy) Jim Merithew, were taken for our latest record, Squeeze Machine.

Sean also created the steampunk accordion that graces the cover of Squeeze Machine (steampunk accordion T-shirts are still available).

June Is National Accordion Awareness Month

Time to party, squeezebox style. Get a quick hit of accordion facts from TDA founder Tom Torriglia on his National Accordion Awareness Month 2008 page.

'Weird Al' Goes Digital With Roland FR-7 V-Accordion

The man who made the accordion cool (or at least funny) has gone digital. Our parody-song guru and all-around pal "Weird Al" Yankovic is
enjoying his Roland FR-7 V-Accordion, which offers a variety of MIDI sounds, according to Wired.com's Listening Post.

Squeezebox Is a 'Secret Handshake'

"The accordion is a secret handshake," says Don Turner, 43, a board member for the Milwaukee Accordion Club. "If you play accordion, and someone else plays, well, you'll help one another."

That's just one of the squeezebox secrets laid out in a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel profile of the club, which is keeping the accordion spirit alive in the city Those Darn Accordions is proud to call its second home.

The article tells the by-now-ragged tale of the squeezebox's fall from grace after its polka-powered heyday in the '50s.

"The misconception is that it's only good for the polka," says club president Shirl Barry. "You can play wonderful French waltzes, Argentine tangos and classical pieces."

Oh yeah, and rock and funk and swing and goofball country and heavy metal, too. Keep on squeezin' ...

Tiny Tim Remembered #2

TDA fan Michael Butler forwards this photo of he and the brilliant song stylist. As you can see, the photo was taken in July, 1993, which is about 7 years earlier than the one with Tiny and I at the Sweetwater. I wish I had a shot of Tiny when he got down on the stage and started spinning around on his back in a frenzy as we banged out an Elvis tune. It was a great moment in rock history.

Mad Maggies Return to Penngrove

The Mad Maggies play the Black Cat Bar in lovely Penngrove, California, on Friday, Jan. 25. Show starts at 10 p.m. -- nice little club, so if you're in the neighborhood, drop on by for some squeezebox-and-horn music.

And the Best Polka Album Nominees Are ...

Here are the bands competing for the Grammy for best polka album of 2007:

• Brave Combo for Polka's Revenge


• John Gora and Gorale for Bulletproof Polkas


• Bubba Hernandez and Alex Meixner for Polka Freak Out


• Walter Ostanek and His Band & Brian Sklar and the Western Senators for Dueling Polkas
  


• Jimmy Sturr and His Orchestra for Come Share the Wine

We've had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Brave Combo and Bubba many times over the years, and we got to hang with Alex at this year's Cotati Accordion Festival. But we've never met the old-school guys like Jimmy Sturr and Walter Ostanek -- we just don't seem to mingle with the straight polka crowd. (Guess that's sensible enough, considering the oddball nature of our music.) Maybe someday ...

Congrats to all the nominees.

P.S. I'm intrigued by Brian Sklar and the Western Senators. Turns out the band has an alter ego called the Tex Pistols, which sounds like essentially the same group, sans accordions. The Tex Pistols say they "play the (country) classics with today's sound and energy" -- they even dress up in Nudie suits, just like the pre-outlaw greats.

P.P.S. I'm equally curious about the National Polka Festival in Ennis, Texas. And the more time we spend in Texas, the more I like that musically rich state.

Carl Finch's Polka Faves

Brave Combo leader Carl Finch runs down his top five favorite polka albums for the Houston Chronicle, then goes on to list other "essential artists" in the genre. Shockingly, Those Darn Accordions did not make the list -- but our friends in Polkacide, Polka Freakout and The Polkaholics did. Time for some kielbasa, beer and sauerkraut to celebrate!

A Visit With Clyde

Got this photo from former TDA member Patty Brady on a recent visit she made to Clyde Forsman, another TDA alum. For those of you lucky enough to have caught Clyde in action at Milwaukee Summerfest and other festivals, you know what a great showman he was. He's had a pretty rough year and I'm hoping to pay a visit this week while I'm in the Bay Area. His rendition of Hendrix's "Fire" is legendary. If anyone would like to send a note to Clyde, just post a comment here and I'll forward it to him. I know he'd love to hear from his fans!

'Santa Lost A Ho' Hits No. 1

As I write this George Strait has been bumped by yours truly and "Santa Lost A Ho" is sitting up on top in the Amazon.com Country Swing category for MP3 downloads. It's No. 273 in all MP3 downloads. I'm not sure what any of this means when it comes to buying groceries, but it's still kind of fun to see that folks are catching on to the Christmas Jug Band.

Mad Maggies Set Sail for Smiley's

Big band in a little bar, tonight! The Mad Maggies play Smiley's Saloon & Hotel tonight, so if you're anywhere near Bolinas, Calif., come on out and listen for a spell.

To call Smiley's "colorful" is like saying Dick Contino plays a little acordion. The place is a hoot.

This is a warm-up gig for the Maggies' recording session next weekend. TDA drum alum Bill Schwartz is back in the band, so prep yer ears fer a display of some mad skin-poundin' skillz on the third CD.

Little Buddy Radio

I got a nice message from the folks at Little Buddy Radio, a streaming online radio station that keeps the dream of Bob Denver (Maynard, Gilligan) alive. They listened to "Maynard Played The Bongos" and liked it so much they are adding it to their playlist. How about that! And to think that poor song has been sitting on a shelf for years. Dreama, Bob's wife, said that Bob would have gotten a kick out of hearing it. That makes it all worth while for me! Little Buddy Radio is involved with the Denver Foundation, started by Bob and Dreama Denver to aid handicapped and disadvantaged kids in WV. Please give LBR a listen!

A Tour With Teller

Having had the pleasure of performing with Teller on Penn and Teller's Sin City Spectacular, I found it quite interesting to take an inside peek at the abode of this quiet magical genius, courtesy of USA Today. While Teller's onstage persona is mute, I am honored to say that I have had lively conversation with him and he is indeed a gentleman and a scholar.

Take a virtual tour of Teller's home in this Flash photo gallery (don't miss the secret bookcase).

Flashback: 'Weird Al' Unveils His New Look With TDA

Pretty funny blog post by a "Weird Al" Yankovic fan who describes watching Those Darn Accordions on the American Music Awards back in 1998, scanning for Al and being stunned by the first appearance of the parody king's new look.

"Surely Al's got to be in there somewhere...scan for frizzy hair, glasses, moustache, Hawaiian shirt...NOTHING! Just Drew, Dick, and the guys from Those Darn Accordions again, including that one member with the shiny shirt who looks kinda like Varna the Squirmese Cook, and it looks like he stole Al's accordion or something...

Wait a minute.

Is that.................................................AL?!

Yes, hard as it was to fathom at the time, Al had ditched the glasses, grown the biggest goatee I've ever seen on him, and apparently gained a bit of weight from the Weird Al Show post-production process. To compound the confusion, Drew's mike was out when he yelled "Al Yankovic!" so the reveal was blown. For the first, last and only time in his life, the new "Inconspicuous Al" Yankovic simply blended in with the rest of the band."

It is kind of shocking, really, seeing Al's makeover and remembering how he used to look. Check out the YouTube video and see for yourself, as we do "a medley of 25 years of hits" with "Inconspicuous Al," Drew Carey and Dick Contino. (Right after us? Wu-Tang Clan, baby.)

Jamming With Dick Contino in Reno?

Great news! Accordion-centric blog Let's Polka reveals that we will be sharing the stage with Dick Contino at the Eldorado's Great Italian Festival this weekend. Of course, that information is buried on the casino's website (although the appearance is confirmed on Contino's site).

Check out the full schedule and you'll see that OG TDA member Tom Torriglia's band Bella Ciao will be playing, too, along with many other fun bands.

S.F. Giants: Oh Say Can You Squeeze?

OG TDA squeezer Tom Torriglia's band Bella Ciao will play the national anthem Tuesday at the San Francisco Giants' Italian Heritage Night. Undoubtedly this will propel Barry Bonds to hit No. 756 -- should be a packed house. Knock 'em dead, you Italiano party crazies!

Accordions Invade Ashkenaz

The Mad Maggies open for Dginn -- yet another eclectic, accordion-powered California band -- at Ashkenaz in Berkeley this Thursday. Get details on the Maggies' gig calendar.

The Price Is Definitely Right for Drew Carey

Congratulations to Drew Carey, who has confirmed the rumor that he will replace Bob Barker as host of The Price Is Right. It's a smart move by CBS, which also tabbed him to host a new game show called Power of 10 that premieres Aug. 7.

The twin wins (tough luck, Rosie) pretty much make Drew the new king of the game shows. And it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

When he flew us down to Los Angeles last month to back him up -- he was singing a few tunes at the Greg Proops Chat Show, and needed an accordion band -- he told us about the Price Is Right negotiations as champagne flowed at the fabulous One Sunset restaurant on Sunset Boulevard.

Drew was rattling off concepts for the show, and it was clear he was psyched about the opportunity to take Price Is Right to a new level. We had a great time hanging out with him (he even picked up what must have been a fat tab for the fab meal), and the Greg Proops show was a real hoot. All in all, we couldn't have had a better time.

Drew, described by the Associated Press as a "genial comic" -- no quibbles there, although I prefer "America's funnyman" as a shorthand descriptive phrase -- is a truly nice guy with loads of energy and ideas. And he even found time to record some vocals for a duet with Paul on the upcoming TDA record. (You heard it here first: Drew and Paul share lead vocals on a new blue-collar song called "Glass of Beer Polka.")

Now, Drew just needs to get a band for his game shows ...

Tom Torriglia, Squeezebox Evangelist

Canadian news source Canoe profiles former TDA squeezer Tom Torriglia (and rolls out a barrel full of accordion jokes) in a piece pegged to National Accordion Awareness Month. You are celebrating, aren't you?

Accordion Fun in La-La Land

What happens when you mix Drew Carey, Those Darn Accordions and a smokin' horn section from Vegas' Lon Bronson Band? Big, big fun on a little bitty stage at the Greg Proops Chat Show.

Drew sang lead vocals and led the band as we opened the night sans horns with "Party Hard" by Andrew W.K. Then we turned the stage over to Proops, who yatted it up with songstress Aimee Mann, investigative journalist Greg Palast and shockingly funny actor John C. Reilly. Finally we closed the night with the funky horns on The Mavericks' "Shine Your Light" and The Beatles' "Hippy Hippy Shake."

I hope the packed house had as much fun as we did. Drew, who's about to become the king of game shows, sure knows how to treat a band right, and Proops has a funny thing going, even if he does hate Indiana.

Weird Al's Secret Formula

That prized info and much more -- including "Weird Al" Yankovic's run-in with Coolio, the surprising downside of YouTube and a look back at how the parody master got his start annoying people with his squeezebox at his college coffee shop's folk night -- is delivered in a cool interview in the Express-News, San Antonio's accordion paper of record.

Happy Accordion Awareness Month

June is the month to let everybody know: We squeeze, we wheeze, get used to it.

National Accordion Awareness Month, started almost two decades ago by accordion activist and TDA OG Tom Torriglia, is the time to bust out the mother of pearl and break out of the squeezebox stereotypes.

Let's hope the The Express-Times' feature story, "Accordion Is Too Cool," is just the first of many articles this month chronicling our beloved box's triumph over a dorky past.

P.S. Paul and I spent the first day of this precious month in the studio, continuing work on the next Those Darn Accordions opus, which will be released this summer. I gotta say, it's sounding pretty good!

Squeezin' in the North Bay

Attention Bay Area accordion junkies: Need a quick squeezebox fix? The Mad Maggies play tonight at the Black Cat Bar in Penngrove, Calif. Great place, good times, see you there. (Get the gory details on the Mad Maggies site.)

Smile! It's the Mad Maggies

The Mad Maggies play Smiley's Saloon in Bolinas, Calif., this Saturday night. See you if you can find it sans sign.

And speaking of smiling, the Maggies have some new press pix that are, well, slightly disturbing.

Cotati Accordion Festival Posts Its Lineup

The squeeze-studded lineup for this year's Cotati Accordion Festival is online, and it looks like it's going to be a blast. Those Darn Accordions take the stage Sunday (and so do The Mad Maggies), with the day building to a Brave Combo climax.

Come for Saturday and Sunday and catch loads of great accordion action, including sets by former TDA members Tom Torriglia (with his Italiano band, Bella Ciao) and Big Lou (with her Polka Casserole). Get your plane tickets now!

Another Take on "My Friend Jim"

Jeff Davis whipped out his gee-tar and played a cool country version of "My Friend Jim" Saturday night for me outside the Last Laugh Coffee House. He says he's been slaying the Shanghai crowds with his acoustic rendition of the TDA classic about a boozin' loser "who's never gonna get it together" (maybe you've seen the original video).

The song really works as a kind of country weeper. Jeff tweaks the song's structure slightly, but faithfully reproduces the lyrics. They really shine in the stark arrangement. And, like a lot of the best country songs, they're great because they're basically 100 percent real.

Jeff's impromptu solo sidewalk show followed a couple smokin' sets by the Snake Oil Boys at Bill's birthday party. I'm sure most everybody's fully worked their way through the recovery process by now.

Turner Hall Starts 'Squeeze Box Night'

Turner Hall of Monroe, Wisconsin -- a lovely place TDA had the pleasure of playing for the first time last year -- is launching a monthly "Squeeze Box Night" in the rockin' Ratskeller. The Monroe Times has the scoop on the series, which is designed "to offer people a chance to reacquaint themselves with the instrument in a fun and nonthreatening way, as well as offering veteran players a chance to come together and play."

It's guaranteed you won't meet a nicer bunch of people than the folks who run Turner Hall, and they'll even be serving light dinner (in case you want to just listen to the accordion music while dining). If you go, keep your nose peeled for the limburger!

P.S. We'll be returning to Turner Hall on Aug. 17. Get more tour info here.

Bill's New (Old) Band

The Snake Oil Boys, featuring original Those Darn Accordions drummer Bill Schwartz on the skins, plays Frisco's Last Laugh Coffee Shop on Saturday, May 12.

The band features the singing and gee-tar genius of Jeff Davis, producer of The Mad Maggies' CDs. You might recognize the coffee shop's owner, too. And the guy who cleans up.

Be there or be, you know, rectangular with all your sides the same.

More on Speisekammer's 'Springfest'

I already told you about this Alameda bash, at which the Mad Maggies will perform. Here's a little more from Maggie:

"Relax on the patio beer garden, drink excellent German beer, eat grilled specialties while we crazy musicians serenade you from 2 to 4:30 or so."

It all happens this Sunday, April 29, starting at 1 p.m. at Speisekammer Restaurant, 2424 Lincoln Ave., Alameda, Calif. This promises to be a good time, so if you're in the mood for quality food and drink -- along with a healthy dose of accordion music -- come on out to the East Bay's island city.

Boogie Dawgz Hibernate

Good times, bad times, you know we've had our share. The bonus is hearing the new Black Sabbath tune "The Devil Cried" on The Bone on the way home from an Electric Boogie Dawgz victory dinner.

Long live rock (especially when Ronnie James Dio and Tony Iommi are involved) ...

The World's Largest Gathering of Accordion Stars!

That's the claim made by The Las Vegas International Accordion Convention. The lineup does look good: Walter Ostanek, Art Van Damme and many more (including former Those Darn Accordions riffmeister Ron Borelli).

The big big shoooo runs June 18 to 21 at the Gold Coast Hotel in Sin City, and celebrates "the centennial of the piano accordion" (although it's not clear how they pegged that date, given the instrument's murky history).

Barbecue, Beer and Music

That's a great trio. You can enjoy all three (plus the music of The Mad Maggies) next Sunday, April 29, at Speisekammer Restaurant in Alameda, Calif.

World's Worst Band Photos

As members of both TDA and the Mad Maggies prepare themselves mentally for the grueling task of having a band photo taken, Maggie forwards a fun-filled link to Rock and Roll Confidential's foul-mouthed-yet-cautionary web gallery.

Yes, the title and captions in this seemingly endless display of bad fashion decisions contain certain unsavory words. So if that's not your cup of tea, please just skip the link. If, however, you can handle a few four- or 10-letter dirty words, then enter the Hall of D*****bags. And prepare to laugh and laugh.

Warning from the site: "Rock And Roll Confidential/Your Band Sucks is a humor/parody/satire site. It is not intended to be viewed by anyone under the age of 18."

Catch a Black Donnellys Encore

The Black Donnellys, NBC's new Irish crime show that everyone's talking about (and that just happens to feature a song called "Sleepy Maggie" by The Mad Maggies), is ready for a round of repeats.

The pilot shows again March 1 at 10 p.m. on NBC (that's tonight), March 6 at midnight on USA and March 11 at 4 p.m. on Bravo.

Says Maggie: "About 7 minutes into the show there’s a bar scene that turns into a brawl -- 'Sleepy Maggie' plays over the slow-motion portion of the fighting and continues the scene.... We're excited! Almost 10 million pairs of ears heard it on Monday night. Wow!"

So tune in this week (or you can just watch the clip below, at least until they yank it from YouTube).

More Black Donnellys Madness

NPR sneaks a snippet of The Mad Maggies tune "Sleepy Maggie" into its audio report on tonight's NBC pilot. It's must-hear TV!

Mad Maggies Reels In New TV Soundtrack

Maggie Martin, squeezin' diva and leader of The Mad Maggies, sends this exciting note:

"Our tune 'Sleepy Maggie' has made the final cut of the pilot for a new dramatic series on NBC called The Black Donnellys. The pilot airs Monday, Feb. 26, at 10 p.m. (9 p.m. Central) in the United States. We get close to three minutes of airtime! About seven minutes into the show there’s a bar scene that turns into a brawl -- 'Sleepy Maggie' plays over the slow-motion portion of the fighting and continues throughout the scene.

"The show was created by Paul Haggis (Million Dollar Baby, Crash, Casino Royale) and written by Robert Moresco (Million Dollar Baby, Crash). Haggis directs. It's well-written, has great acting and an excellent soundtrack. ;-) We’re very excited to be part of it."

You can listen to "Sleepy Maggie," which Maggie calls "a Mad Maggiefied version of a traditional reel," on the MMs' MySpace page. Be sure to tune in Monday night (or watch the pilot online over at Fanpop).