Accordion Revolution: Book Design Revolution (a look inside)

I worked with publishing designers Peter Cocking and Taysia Louie to create this beautiful book.

The Five Parts of the book open with “block print” splash pages

Section openers are set off with the “Flaming Heart” Accordion image, and a slightly larger font

Comparison of Print and eBook Texts:

eBook Text “Sidebar” Design

Print book “Sidebar” design

Left side: “Bite-sized” subheadings. Right side: Chapters with thoughtful subtitles

Full-page images paired with text.

Stand-alone sidebar pages framed by “button accordion” border.

“Best of” bibliography of 100 books and recordings that inspired Accordion Revolution

Index details individuals and groups, events, places, and key concepts (i.e.. “Industrial Revolution”) discussed in the book.

Accordion Revolution: About the Author

Bruce Triggs co-hosts the weekly Accordion Noir Radio show (broadcasting since 2006) on Co-op Radio in Vancouver, BC. He was on the ground floor of the annual Accordion Noir Festival, going on its 13th year. There he met folk, experimental, classical, and punk rock squeezebox players from around the world.

After meeting so many fabulous accordion players, Bruce decided to write about the instrument rather than learn to play it. His Accordion Revolution: a People’s History of the Accordion in North America from the Industrial Revolution to Rock ’n’ Roll was released in 2019. Also in 2019, Bruce wrote the proposal for the #AccordionEmoji, due for global release in 2020. (Really.)

He lives in a bachelor pad surrounded by broken accordions. (These things may be related.) Amidst all this he co-parents delightful and talented twins (who don’t play accordion) with their queer moms and their extended family.

Bruce with the Chinese hulusi (ancient free-reed cousin of the accordion) he found in a local thrift store.

Bruce got into accordions after growing up with rock and roll. During ten years inviting people without homes into the radical Catholic Worker community in Tacoma, Washington, he broke his first squeezebox at the 1999 WTO demonstrations in Seattle. Now, he dabbles in electronic manipulation of a Giuliette chromatic button accordion — built-to-last in the 1960s.

In Accordion Revolution, Bruce recalls that all the way back in 1955, Toni Charuhas’ book The Accordion predicted a bright road ahead for her favorite instrument.  It didn’t quite turn out that way over the next few decades.  Now it’s time for the squeezebox to reclaim its place in history. Bruce hopes to be there to report as it happens

Accordion Revolution: Table of Contents

Accordion Revolution: A People’s History of the Accordion in North America from the Industrial Revolution to Rock and Roll

Viola Turpeinen: the Finnish American Accordion Princess (chap 5)

Part I: The Dawn of the Accordion Revolution

Chapter 1: The Accordion Conquers the World
Chapter 2: The Accordion’s Family Tree
Chapter 3: Blackface Minstrelsy: Roots in Racism

Part II The Golden Age

Chapter 4: Vaudeville and the Dawn of the Golden Age
Chapter 5: Polka and “Ethnic” Music
Chapter 6: Jazzing the Accordion
Chapter 7: The Closing Acts of the Golden Age

Part III Roots Music: An Outsider’s Canon

Chapter 8: Acordeón: Mexican and American Roots
Chapter 9: Creoles, Cajuns, and Zydeco: French Music in the American South
Chapter 10: Irish and Scottish Accordion: Immigration, Transition and Tradition
Chapter 11: Canadian Accordion: Northern Traditions
Chapter 12: Klezmer: a Restoration with Accordion

Part IV: American Wheeze: A Pre-History of Rock

Chapter 13: African Americans Played Accordion Before They Played the Blues
Chapter 14: Country & Western: Cowboys and Squeezeboxes
Chapter 15: The Folk Revival: The Accordion Betrayed

Part V: Accordion Exile: The Rise of Rock

Chapter 16: Rockin’ the Accordion
Chapter 17: The Accordion Exodus

Buy the Book

Accordion Revolution: the Annotated Version

Working on Accordion Revolution, I struggled with two contradictory goals: I wanted an enjoyable, readable book for music fans—whether accordionists or not. But I also hoped to include detailed annotations to inspire future research.^⁠ The idea of splitting off the popular and academic versions of the book, each sharing the same main text but one with many more footnotes and annotations, sprang from this conflict.

Here’s how the versions would compare:

For those with visual impairments, an annotated version of the text shown repeatedly in these screenshots should be downloadable here (as of Dec 2020). It’s important that the complete annotated version be accessible as possible, so let me know if that’s not usable.

Nicely laid out text as it appears in the book.

The print book is nicely illustrated and laid out, and about 400 pgs long. (The ebook also looks nice and has all the same text and classy photos.)

The annotated version of the text will contain 200+ pages of footnotes and a detailed bibliography. It won’t have the illustrations (to save on relicensing all the art and, as a bonus, keep the fancy print version enticing). It will most likely be free for scholarly use.

Unformatted “ugly” text from Word, with many footnotes. You can see my conflict. If I’d included the 200 pages worth of notes, few people would want to buy or read the 650 pg brick just for fun. But the notes add many layers of detail and bread-crumbs to follow for Further Research. So I hope to release a version with all these annotations and the much more obsessive bibliography, with 1,200 works instead of the printed book’s “Selected Bibliography” of about 100.

If you are interested in “beta-testing” the annotated version, please contact me here or in the comments below, or on any of my @AccordionBruce social media.

I still need guidance on figuring out the right Creative Commons license to make a free version available while keeping the commercial one in print. If anybody has expertise, I’d love to hear from you.

Finally, below is an image of how the book appeared while I wrote it in Scrivener (see applause below)*, which allows for in-line annotations I then organized in Bookends and stored in DevonThink. It’s a bit of a mess, but the grey blocks with “#Identifier@page” codes turn into formatted footnotes that print with my text comments and asides included. [The footnotes are fairly amusing I think, just not “add 200 pages to the book” amusing.] The red notations here don’t appear in the finished versions, but show me the reference names, with links from my Scrivener working-text to thousands of digitized files I have of original sources.

*One of the reasons I was attracted to Scrivener for writing was because of this amazing page where they objectively compare their own software and the uses and positive traits of a helpful list of competitors. Who does that? Only very cool people who are making very good stuff.

So that’s a bit of vision of the drafting process and my hopes for the expanded version for the benefit of other Accordion Historians.

Accordion Noir radio playlist 2006-10-09: Accordion Underground (, Noir, Underworld, Underwear) — Demo II

AccNoir-2006-10-09: Accordion Underground Demo II

Our weekly radio broadcast was pre-empted this week, which is fine — we log over 50 hours per year, more than 4 episodes monthly on average, and we gave up the spot to the show that follows ours, a show that has often stepped aside to allow us to accommodate guests and go into overtime.  (Sometimes the overtime is even planned 8)  But there was one little twinge of regret at giving it up, because this week would mark our 13th anniversary of first going on the air in the middle of the night.

However, for the occasion, Bruce dug deep, deep into his archives and produced this oddity: a pre-Accordion Noir episode of Accordion Noir, an unaired playlist of pretend radio that he had to make in order to demonstrate to the programming committee at our radio program that he had what it took to successfully plan and operate the required equipment for an entire hour on the air.  (And then, hopefully, for another hour a week later.  And so forth.)

Did he pass the audition?  Well, it’s been 13 years, hasn’t it?  You be the judge: would you give these weirdos an hour of airtime on your station?  Hear it for yourself!  And here’s the playlist, with annotations from Bruce:

AccNoir-2006-10-09, Accordion Underground, (…Noir, …Underworld, ….Underwear?): Demo II

I haven’t found Demo I yet, but this is the second unbroadcasted show recording we made to convince the Co-op Radio Programming Committee to let us fill an hour with accordion music every week. You can hear my voice over modulated and distorted as we worked to get the show off the ground. Luckily they trusted us to improve over time.

 

13 years, and 650+ episodes later…

 

Here’s the playlist: (url’s were probably good in 2006. We definitely met Balún and Iva Nova on Myspace…. And for gosh sakes some of them came to our Accordion Noir Festival a decade later!)

 

* The Bills – The Traveller – Let Em Run (2004) – Canada – “The Bill Hilly Band”  http://www.thebills.ca/
* Tummel – Jeri-ko-round – Transit (2004) – Sweden – http://www.tummel.nu/
* Angelo Debarre et Ludovic Beier – Stomping At Decca – Come into my swing ! (2003) – Paris, France – http://www.myspace.com/ludovicbeier
* Balún – I Shouldn’t Do This – While Sleeping (2004) – Puerto Rico – http://www.balun.tk/    “Balún are three kids from the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico. They are named Angélica, José and Andrés. They like to make dreamy electro-acoustic melodies for imaginary films.”
* Hossam Ramzy – Bey-Olouly Tooby – El Amar (The Moon) (2000) – Egypt, Africa – Belly Dance,  Mohsen Allaam, acc.
* Ismo Alanko Säätiö – Paha Silmä – Sisäinen Solarium (2000) – Finland – Kimmo Pohjonen, acc.  http://www.kimmopohjonen.com/ Sounds like Sky Cries Mary
* The Decemberists – Oceanside – 5 Songs (2001) – Portland, Oregon, USA – http://www.decemberists.com/
* Zetaboo – Tonto – MediZine (2000) – Finland – from Finland
* Speedy West – Sunset – Steel Guitar (1960) –  – with Billy Leibert on piano accordion   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speedy_West
* IVA NOVA  – Rodopian Song (Bulgarian traditional) – Iva Nova  (2003) – Saint-Petersburg,  Russian Federation – http://www.iva-nova.ru/
* Riccardo Tesi & Banditaliana – Donde Estas Maria (Intro) / Thapsos – Thapsos (2000) – Tuscany, Italy – http://www.riccardotesi.com/
* Accordion Tribe – Inte Quanta – Accordion Tribe (1998) – Slovenia, Sweden, Finland, USA, Austria –
* Sharon Shannon – Coridinio – Sharon Shannon (1993) – County Clare, Ireland – Homepage:  sharonshannon.com   http://www.daisydiscs.com/
* Ultramarine – Bronze Eye – Folk (1989) –  – http://www.ultramarine.uk.com/   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultramarine_(band)
* Philemon Arthur & The Dung – Mor anka – Musikens historia del 1 och 2 (1972) – Sweden – http://www.last.fm/music/Philemon+Arthur+and+the+Dung/+wiki   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philemon_Arthur_and_the_Dung

 

Notes:

 

LOL, I started promoting our show’s run with Philemon Arthur & The Dung (57:13). 

 

And I didn’t know how to pronounce Kimmo Pohjonen yet.

 

And is that how you say Billie Liebert’s name? He’s got a whole section in the chapter, “Country and Western: Cowboys and Squeezeboxes,” of my Accordion Revolution book, published only 12 1/2 years later….

 

Oh, and what I said about Speedy West being in Pee Wee King’s band probably isn’t right. I can’t figure out who that steel player was right now though. Hmm. (Rabbit hole) It may have been Robert “Bobby” Koefer in 1952 when Roy Ayres was a Marine in Korea, according to this forum:

https://steelguitarforum.com/Forum15/HTML/003642.html

Thanks for reading us here (and hopefully listening to us, there), but if you find you want more, you can always keep up with us on Twitter (@AccordionNoir and @AccordionBruce), Instagram (@AccordionNoirFest), and Facebook at Accordion Noir fans, the Accordion Noir Festival, and the Vancouver Squeezebox Circle (taking place… tonight!) Cheers & squeeze on!

Accordion Revolution: Endorsements

Famous Accordionists Support the
Accordion Revolution!

Some well-known musicians have said very kind things about the book.

A rollicking journey that enhances the joy of the instrument I hold in my arms every night!

– Jenny Conlee, The Decemberists

Bruce Triggs gives the accordion the scholarship it deserves, demonstrating its overlooked, yet important impact on our music history.

— Krist Novoselić, Giants in the Trees, Nirvana

Given the general, pretty much universal level of mockery of the accordion, this a book that I never thought I’d see written. Well done.

— James Fearnley, The Pogues, The Walker Roaders

I’ve played accordion in 17 countries, and if there’s anybody who knows more about accordions and their history than Bruce, I’ve never met them.

— Geoff Berner, novelist, singer, songwriter and klezmer punk accordionist.

“Accordion Revolution is an inspirational guide to the accordion’s deep and shadowy past.”

— Skyler Fell, Accordion Apocalypse Repair Shop

Triggs is the closest I’ve known to a human encyclopedia of all things accordion. He’s been slaving on this book for as long as I’ve known him, and I’m very excited to see it’s finally coming into existence.

—Jason Webley, songwriter, vagabond, cult leader, eater of artichokes.

A worthy redemption for an instrument that has always been far more beautiful and complicated than its reputation might have you believe.

— Brooke Binkowski, Accordionist / Award-Winning Media Fact-Checker

The most extensive research into accordion music across all genres that I know of. Triggs has painstakingly unearthed details but made it accessible to everyone. If you love music, check this out.

—Alex Meixner, polka’s ambassador for the new millennium,
“Happiness is a Choice.”

I give it five out of five bellows-shakes.

— Renee de la Prade, Producer,
Accordion Babes Pin-Up Calendar

Accordion Revolution: Buying the Book

Purchasing Options (for Every Reader)

(If you leave reviews at any of these shops and libraries it really helps!)

The AccordionBruce Etsy Shop

I personally send out signed/custom-stamped copies of Accordion Revolution, along with a bonus ebook and stickers and pretty illustrated postcard/bookmark/fliers.

Cost is a bit more with postage but supports the author (me) more than other purchasing methods. Also available: flaming accordion pins and amusing badges.

eBook Cover

Convenient/affordable ebook!

ePub (everywhere but kindle)

Kindle (Amazon)

(Many shops below carry the ebook too.)

Ordering the Real Book:

In the U.S. I recommend:

Indiebound.org They will recommend local independant bookstores, or you can order online with part going to indie shops of your choice. Pretty cool.

Powell’s Books in Portland, Oregon (has online service to your door).

Alibris.com connects you with a network of local booksellers.

Barnes & Nobel

Goodreads.com is a popular Amazon subsidiary that lets you leave reviews of what you thought of the book.

If you’re interested, I created an Accordion History bibliography on Goodreads that includes many of the books used while writing Accordion Revolution

Search through various options on Nicebooks.com which include Amazon’s online Monopoly if there’s no alternative.

Internationally:

Wordery.com is a global alternative to Amazon. They’ll post to anywhere. Pretty cool.

In Canada:

Chapters.Indigo.ca

In Europe:

In Northern Europe and much of the world: Adlibris,com

In the Netherlands and Belgium folks have ordered from: Bol.com/nl

In the UK:

Hive.co.uk (UK local bookstore network. Says “Out of Stock” but they inform me that means it’s not in shops, but they’ll mail it to you right away.

Blackwells.co.uk

BookDepository.com (an Amazon subsidiary.)

Request that Your Local Libraries Order Copies!

Finally, I encourage you to Request the Book at your local and academic Libraries. Most Libraries appreciate requests and have easy online request forms. Simply search online for “Request a book, your library name,” and fill it out.

Suggesting books is a wonderful way to support authors and get books in the hands of more readers:

You’ll probably only need a few of the following:

Title: Accordion Revolution: A People’s History of the Accordion From the Industrial Revolution to Rock and Roll

Author: Bruce Triggs

ISBN: 978-1-9990677-0-0

ISBN eBook: 978-1-9990677-1-7

Publication Date: June 2019

Publisher: Demian & Sons

Place of Publication: Vancouver, BC, Canada

Thank your librarian for me!