Bruce Triggs’ [that’s me] book Accordion Revolution: A People’s History of the Accordion in North America heads into the world!
Did you know Charles Wheatstone developed his little squeezebox Concertina in the 1830s, but also sold the first commercially successful telegraph? It was used to prevent train wrecks.
I’m touring the US West Coast (by train) to share stories like this. So feel free to send warnings of danger-ahead while reading Accordion Revolution, order-able via the latest iterations of Wheatstone’s new-fangled telegraphy.
Readers’ response have been great (only spotting one annoying typo, fixed in recent printings). I’m particularly excited to hear from folks in person. This book-project is a lot like the Accordion Noir Radio show. We never know who’s listening unless you say Hi. I’m one of those authors who love to hear from readers, so come on by or give a shout.
(Online reviews are a boost too if you’re shy.)
I’d be grateful if you shared this. Hope to see you soon at one of these fine events!
Latest tour reports @AccordionBruce (on twitter, etc)
ACCORDION REVOLUTIONARY ROAD-SHOW: Dates and Details
Petosa’s Accordions
Saturday, Aug 10th
Noon-3 PM (mid-day event)
19503 56th Ave W Ste B
Lynnwood (North Seattle), WA
719-459-1984
Petosa.com
King’s Books
Sunday, Aug. 11th, 6 PM
218 St Helens Ave
Tacoma, WA
253.272.8801
KingsBookstore.com
Portland House and Backyard Garden Book-Launch
Tuesday, Aug 13th, 7 PM
(Squeezebox Revival Reading in the City of Roses)
4327 NE 8th Ave. (at Prescott)
(Go to the Right around the Garage.)
Portland, OR
email me or check @AccordionBruce for updates.
Cotati Accordion Festival 2019!
Sat–Sun, Aug 17–18
I’m not scheduled to present, but I’m happy to chat!
(Perhaps ask to see photos that didn’t make it into the book.)
I’m staying at the musician’s Rohnert Park hotel.
Accordion Revolution copies should be for sale at the merch tent.
A signed copy of the book and a flaming-heart pin will be raffled off!
Cotatifest.com
And finally, I’m looking forward to:
Smythe’s Accordion Center
Monday, Aug, 19, 6 PM
2511 Broadway
Oakland, CA
(510) 268-4084
SmythesAccordionCenter.com
🎶 Tacoma and Portland: Book-Launch Musicans? 🎶
Text or email me if you’d like to play a tune at the Tacoma or Portland events.
604-782-7245 accordion.noir@gmail.com
Musicians get fab Accordion Revolution badges like this:
The Accordion Revolution is Available Now!
Paperback, 6 x 9 in, 440 pgs.
58 historic illustrations
(in English)
List Price: $20 US, $25 CANISBN
Print: 978-1-9990677-0-0E
ebook: 978-1-9990677-1-7
Order At Many Fine Online Retailers (And A Few Rotten Ones):
indiebound.org (I recommend this Indie-Bookstore network based in the U.S.)
Powells.com (On their website, Hurray!)
The Ebook Is Now Available Too!
The UK’s Hive.co.uk assures us they will have it soon.
Adlibris.com (EU)
Chapters.indigo.ca (Canada)
Amazon.com (invading everywhere)
Some readers have requested the book through their favorite local book or music shops. (It’s not a big money-maker for stores, but they may order if you’re friendly.)
Please let me know if you have success or problems.
Request Accordion Revolution at your Favorite Library!
Simply search “Suggest a Purchase” and “your local library’s name.”
Craft the Perfect Book Review:
Most of the above sites accept book reviews from readers. If you’d like, send links to any Reviews I can share with other Accordion Revolutionaries!
Ten years ago, Prince George’s songwriter-cum-philosopher-king Raghu Lokanathan was passing through town, and we apparently ensnared him into appearing as a guest on episode 140 of our weekly radio program! At its original online home, the episode garnered some 10302 listens, and as usual we hope that it reaches and surpasses that total at its new forever home on the Internet Archive, where you can listen to it! Here’s its playlist:
AccNoir-2009-08-07, Raghu Lokanathan and his Blue Dog
*Artist – Song – Album? (date) – Sources if we got ’em.
*Raghu Lokanathan – You Might See Me Soon – Caledonia (2004) – British Columbia, Canada – http://www.raghumusic.com/
*Raghu Lokanathan – When the Dogcatcher Comes – Live in the Studio on Accordion Noir! (2009)
*Raghu Lokanathan – On the Way There – Caledonia (2004)
*Raghu Lokanathan – Macedonian Song (info?) – Live in the Studio on Accordion Noir! (2009)
*Raghu Lokanathan (with Rowan Lipkovitz on right-hand) – The Street Takes You In (by Bob Snider, http://www.bobsnider.ca/ ) – Live in the Studio on Accordion Noir! (2009)
*Raghu Lokanathan – GhostbucketGirl – Blue Girl (2009) – Victoria, BC, Canada – http://www.raghumusic.com/
*Jeremy Stewart – Off To School Again (Acc at halfway by Raghu) – Jeremy Stewart (2007) – Prince George, BC, Canada – http://www.myspace.com/jeremystewartmusic
*Joey Only Outlaw Band (with Rowan on Acc.) – Smells Like Quesnel – Fire On Anarchist Mountain (2008) – Vancouver, BC, Canada – http://www.joeyonly.com/
*Raghu Lokanathan – Osasa – Still a mystery, but now with clues! Help us find this song! The Prince-George Public Library has it [http://www.lib.pg.bc.ca/] on the Italian gypsy band Acquaragia Drom’s record Zingari (1995) – http://www.acquaragiadrom.it/index.php
*The Creaking Planks – Moscow Nights – The Creaking Planks (2008) – Vancouver, BC, Canada – http://creakingplanks.com/
*Raghu Lokanathan – Theme Song (with Rowan on Accordion, Raghu on guitar and whistling, I think) – Live in the studio on Accordion Noir! (2009)Oh, and again, Raghu is at: http://www.raghumusic.com/
and http://www.myspace.com/raghulokanathanThis episode’s cover is: Raghu’s blue-healer dog Sadie on her album Blue Dog, she’d be welcome on the show any time!
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And of course our new “One Less Guitar” sticker is available for $2 (or $8 for five) as a fund-raiser for Co-op Radio and Accordion Noir! Email: accordion.noir@gmail.com
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This is where we love to say: Please support ethical and fabulous media by becoming a member of Co-op Radio, because we love our little radio-station, and it loves us all back.
CFRO Co-op Radio in Vancouver, BC, Canada
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. Cheers & squeeze on!
Accordion Noir radio playlist 2019-08-14: Soundscape by rail
I don’t know, that was a rhetorical question.
Greetings, accordion fiends! As I describe in great detail after our theme song, this week’s episode of Accordion Noir radio ran for two hours, as due to extraordinary circumstances, our colleagues in the Soundscape program that precedes ours were unable to hold down this week’s episode in their regular time slot. It’s also hosted by Rowan because Bruce is heading south by rail (or rather, his luggage is, while he is stuck in Portland) on his “Accordion Revolution” book tour. Coming up — appearances at the Cotati Accordion Festival and a reading at Smythe’s Accordion Centre in Oakland! But all that translates to here is me hosting next week’s episode as well as last week’s and this week’s. We continued our “rail-themed alt-accordion music” theme from last week’s episode for the first hour of our program, then switched to more general tunes from Bruce’s prodigious, weeks-long slushpile of accordion music as the supplies of train-themed accordion music specifically were getting a little thin after occupying two hours of airtime. Anyhow, for the benefit of those of you not subscribed to our podcast, here’s a link to this week’s episode, as hosted at the Internet Archive. And here, the playlists:
- Madonna – Madame X – Crazy
- Alex Meixner (apres Ozzy Ozbourne et al) – Crazy Train medley
- Creaking Planks (apres Andy Fielding) – Accordion Noir theme
- Fabian Beghin and Didier Laloy – One more Night on the Train
- Canailles – Train
- Red Rowe – the Midnight Train
- That Damned Band – Trainwreck’d
- Toeac – Views from a Dutch Train
- Andy Parker and the Plainsmen – Fast Freight
- The Bad Things – Long Black Train
- Alice Hall (apres Duke Ellington) – A-Train
- Krokodil Gena – Blue Wagon
then we took a new direction for hour two:
- Ad Veille Que Pourra – Adagio Des Annees Mornes
- Geoff Berner – Clown & Bard
- La Volee d’Castors – Par monts et par vaux / le reel de Salome
- Accordion Crimes – Fellini Singalong
- Allison Lupton – Lost Jimmy Whelan
- the Barra MacNeils – Racket in the Attic
- Saul Berson Quartet – Middle Class Dance
- Bette et Wallet – Minister’s Daughter
- Accordion Crimes – Stacey’s Space
Then there was a little confusion in the transition between our timeslot and the program that typically follows ours. In the meantime we threw in a few b-sides:
- Levon Helm – A Train Robbery
- Edgar Breau – She Love Me Like A Train
- Jack Garton – And The Train Used To Come Through Here
- the Pogues – Boat Train
- Fredo Gardoni – L’entrainante
- the 17th Pigmy – Like This Train
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. Cheers & squeeze on!
Accordion Noir radio playlist 2009-07-24: Decemberists In July
From ten years ago, perhaps to celebrate the release of the album “the Hazards of Love” (or a local concert at the Vogue promoting the same) by accordion supergroup the Decemberists, we programmed an episode (number 138) full of the finest accordionic folk-pop. At its original online home it garnered some 9443 listens, and as usual we hope that it eventually does at least that well up at its new, permanent online home at the Internet Archive, where you can listen to it today! Here’s its playlist:
AccNoir-2009-07-24, Decemberists in July
*Artist – Song – Album? (date) – Sources?
The Decemberists – Sons & Daughters – The Crane Wife (2006) – Portland, Oregon, USA – http://www.decemberists.com/
The Decemberists – Isn’t It A Lovely Night – The Hazards Of Love (2009) – http://www.decemberists.com/
The Decemberists – The Legionnaire’s Lament – Castaways And Cutouts (2003) – Portland, Oregon, USA – http://www.decemberists.com/
Casey Neill – The Holy Land (Jenny Conlee, acc) – Brooklyn Bridge (2007) – http://www.caseyneill.org/
Twilight Hotel – Shadow of a Man – Highway Prayer (2008) – Winnepeg, Canada – http://www.myspace.com/twilighthotel
Jon Bartlett – the Grand Hotel / the Peekaboo Waltz / Buck’s Camp Down At Monroe – the Green Fields of Canada (1979) – Princeton, BC, Canada – http://www3.telus.net/jonbartlett-rikaruebsaat/
Raghu Lokanathan – Grave – Vancouver, BC, Canada – http://www.raghumusic.com/
Kate & Anna McGarrigle – Swimming Song – self-titled (1975) – Canada – by Loudon Wainwright – http://www.mcgarrigles.com/
Zulya – Children’s Bird Song – 3 Nights (2007) – Tatarstan, Russia; Australia – http://www.zulya.com/
Terror of Tiny Town (Geoff Berner) – Kim Philby – Terror of Tiny Town (1938…just kidding) – Vancouver, BC, Canada – http://www.geoffberner.com
Elvis Costello – The Crooked Line – Secret, Profane And Sugarcane (2009) – Memphis, Tennessee, USA! (or not) – http://www.elviscostello.com/ (Navigating his website causes vertigo.)
Those Darn Accordions – Vagabond Girl – Squeeze Machine (2007) – San Francisco, California, USA – http://www.thosedarnaccordions.com/index.htm
Korpiklaani – Bring Us Pints Of Beer – Karkelo (2009) – Finland – http://www.korpiklaani.com/news/index.htmThis episode’s cover is: a little Jenny Conlee graphic from the official http://www.decemberists.com/ site.
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Again, our new “One Less Guitar” sticker is available for $2 (or $8 for five) as a fund-raiser for Co-op Radio and Accordion Noir! Email: accordion.noir@gmail.com
——-
This is where we love to say: Please support ethical and fabulous media by becoming a member of Co-op Radio, because we love our little radio-station, and it loves us all back.
CFRO Co-op Radio in Vancouver, BC, Canada
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. Cheers & squeeze on!
Rowan operated this week’s episode (again), as Bruce is riding the rails south on his fabulous Accordion Revolution book tour! In honour of the occasion, he left behind a complete playlist full of accordionic train songs for us to draw on for this week’s episode… and next week’s… and the following week’s! Yow! If you’re not already hooked up to our podcast (sorry, iTunes only — we just realised we need to get it set up on Google Music Play and Spotify, whoops!) you can enjoy listening to the episode via this link right here. If having a little information about what is contained therein would help you to make up your mind… here, enjoy its playlist!
- Kamil Behounek – Choo Choo
- Yeti – Train de Nuit
- Carson Robison – I’m Leaving On That Blue River Train
- Jason Webley – Train Tracks
- Roy Jackson & his Northwesterners – the Midnight Train
- Tom Waits – Train Song
- Bill Boyd & his Cowboy Ramblers – Dream Train
- World/Inferno Friendship Society – Trains
- Didier Laloy – L’arrivee du Train Fantome
- Golem – Train Across Ukraine
- Motion Trio – Train to Heaven
- Le Vent du Nord – Train de Vie
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. Cheers & squeeze on!
Ten years ago, we saw that there was so much accordionic talent scheduled to converge in the same small town in northern BC that we devoted an episode of our radio program (not for the only time), number 139, to promoting the squeezebox side of the annual ArtsWells Festival, which has just enjoyed its 2019 installment this past weekend. At its original online home, this episode accumulated some 9976 listens, and hopefully you will be able to continue enjoying it for at least another ten years up at the Internet Archive. Here’s its playlist:
AccNoir-2009-07-31, ArtsWells Festival Squeezebox (p)Review (INCLUDES A DIRTY WORD!)
*Artist – Song – Album? (date) – Sources?
Scotty Dunbar – Billie Jean – British Columbia, Canada – http://www.myspace.com/edmunddunbar
Twilight Hotel – The Ballad of Salvador and Isabelle – Highway Prayer (2008) – http://www.twilighthotel.ca/ (Who weren’t at the ArtsWells fest, oops.)
Linda McRae – Carve It To The Heart – http://www.lindamcrae.com/
Yael Wand – Ballad of You and I – (I think this is from) Good Stitch Gone (2009) – Vancouver, BC, Canada – http://www.yaelwand.com/
Raghu Lokanathan – Sick Boy – Blue Girl (2009) – Victoria, BC, Canada – http://www.raghumusic.com/
Los Gringos Salvajes – Trust In Me – Murder of Crows (2008) – Smithers, British Columbia, Canada – http://www.myspace.com/gringossalvajes
Ana Bon-Bon & Amelia Rose Slobogean – Sleepy Eyed Tom – Bon-Bon & Rose, ep. (2005) – Vancouver, BC, Canada – “The Fiddler” Amelia Rose Slobogean of Ukrainian band Zeellia, and RedBoot Quartet, and cofounder of Yukon’s crazy band Fishhead Stew. – http://www.myspace.com/anabonbon
DIRTY WORD FOLLOWS, REPEATEDLY!
The Creaking Planks – Closer – The Creaking Planks (2008) – Vancouver, BC, Canada – http://creakingplanks.com/
Creaking Planks – Interlude – TBA: VIVO Sessions (2008) – Vancouver, BC, Canada – Unreleased track? – http://creakingplanks.com/
Joey Only Outlaw Band – Naptime – Fire On Anarchist Mountain (2008) – Vancouver, BC, Canada – http://www.joeyonly.com/
Blackberry Wood – Ramblin’ – AccNoir-2008-05-02, with Blackberry Wood! (2008) Vancouver, BC, Canada – http://www.myspace.com/blackberrywood
Jeff Andrews – Dirt Alley Rose – Vagabonds & Wastrels (2008) – British Columbia, Canada – http://www.myspace.com/crowsatmidnight
Jeremy Stewart – Evening Song – Jeremy Stewart (2007) – Prince George, BC, Canada – http://www.myspace.com/jeremystewartmusic
Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra – Maria – Victoria, BC, Canada – http://www.myspace.com/tequilamockOh, and of course, the ArtsWells Festival is at: http://www.artswells.com/
This episode’s cover is: well…it should be Geoff Berner, who I forgot to play, but we used him for the Vancouver Folk Fest so, let’s grab Mr. Scott Dunbar for providing us with a way to join the “empty calorie McNews” bandwagon of the year and comment (musically) on that famous guy who died (did he play accordion?)
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Again, our new “One Less Guitar” sticker is available for $2 (or $8 for five) as a fund-raiser for Co-op Radio and Accordion Noir! Email: accordion.noir@gmail.com
——-
This is where we love to say: Please support ethical and fabulous media by becoming a member of Co-op Radio, because we love our little radio-station, and it loves us all back.
CFRO Co-op Radio in Vancouver, BC, Canada
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. Cheers & squeeze on!
Only three weeks ago Randy Schultz and Mizz Lisa visited us with Ana Bonbon on the weekly Accordion Noir radio broadcast to promote their upcoming concert August 5th with Sunpie Barnes from New Orleans at the Princeton Pub. That was a fun time, but Randy and Mizz Lisa decided to come back last night to tell more stories and share some canned tunes this time to complement the live ones they squeezed out last time around! You can hear it courtesy of the Internet Archive. Now, here’s its playlist!
- Ana Bon-Bon – Let’s Make A Deal
- Creaking Planks (after Andy Fielding) – Accordion Noir theme song
- Postmodern Jukebox (after billie eilish) – bad guy
- Sunpie Barnes – Bunny Bread
- Sunpie Barnes – Malheureuse (Unhappy one)
- Mojo Zydeco – Zydeco ne sont pas salees
- Mojo Zydeco – The Real Thing
- Sunpie Barnes – Sunstroke
- Sunpie Barnes – Lick A Hot Skillet
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 (which is on tonight!) Cheers & squeeze on!
