MAIN SQUEEZE: The accordion, affectionately known as a “squeezebox” due to the method of playing it, has become a worldwide cultural icon. An extremely eclectic and diverse instrument, the accordion is associated with everything from Parisian cafés to mariachi bands and Polish polkas. And, of course, we have a very strong accordion presence here in Louisiana, due to the prevalence of Cajun and zydeco music in Acadiana.
12
Outdoor Fun | Where Y'at Magazine
By Kathy Bradshaw
Formerly relegated to the outer edges of the musical mainstream, the accordion is currently enjoying a major surge in popularity and coolness. It’s making its way onstage with your favorite bands and reaching a broader range of ears, and accordion sales are now at an all-time high—although, in some cultures such as Cajun and Creole, it’s always been at the top of the musical food chain. But where did this iconic instrument come from? What makes it sing, and what is it about accordion music that makes us want to two-step or tango every time we hear its characteristic wail? David C. Symons—accordion player, expert, technician/repairman/owner of Big Squeezy Accordion Repair, as well as co-founder of the New Orleans Accordion Festival—squeezed in some time to talk accordion to us. “Accordions are not a single instrument, but a vast and varied sub-category of bellows-driven free-reed aerophones,” Symons explained. If that sounds too technical for the average non-musical Joe, it means that accordions are in the same family as harmonicas, melodicas (that mouth-blown, piano-looking thing that Jon Batiste plays), and “those old organs that you
pump with your feet.” Accordions come in a wide variety of flavors and personalities. They play a myriad of music from Cajun and klezmer to classical and cancan. They can be large and cumbersome or small and boxy. Accordions are played with either keys or with buttons—and within this last category, there are diatonic button accordions (each having two different notes per button) and chromatic button accordions (which come in two different varieties). According to Symons, the piano accordion, which is so-named because its keyboard looks just like that of a piano, is the sort of accordion that you see most frequently in the U.S. and in Western Europe. In its early days, the accordion demanded to be noticed. It was like your drunk uncle at the family reunion, a neon tie-dyed sweater in church, a belligerent football fan after a bad call—it was the loudest, the most attention-grabbing, the most “look at me” instrument in any band. This helped to bring it into the spotlight, where, in the case of Cajun music, it somewhat eclipsed the fiddle. “The accordion blasted the fiddle out of its starring role,” Symons said. “It was louder and could be heard at the back of a room with
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY STEPHANIE REED
Getting to Know the Accordion
David C. Symons enjoys his work
