The Superior - Saturday, April 28, 2012

Photos by Darren Stone via his iPhone

Button, button, who's got the button?

Ooh! Saucy buttons! Available now! Meow!

Go ahead... send me an email letting me know you need one, or two, or three of these. I won't mind ;-)

xoN

Today...

I think I do this every year. I feel the need to... Today I remember my Grandmother, who we all called "Mutti". The full life she had continues to inspire me, and the unconditional love and support she showed me, as I grew up, keeps me full inside.

She was at every piano recital, drove me to my dance or music lessons when my parents couldn't, and always reminded me of how beautiful or smart I was - even when I was too shy to hear it. She was a third parent to me, could command a room like no one else in my entire family, lived through communism - losing every possession, was married 3 times - with both of her first two husbands killed, lost children, and immigrated to Canada with a young daughter and new husband - who she had two children with, and began a new life for all of us here.

As my family sat around her during her last moments we all agreed the best word to describe her was "strong".

If I write too much, I become a mess about what she meant to me. I know it's more and more becoming that time in the lives of the friend's I have in my age range, that time where our Grandparents age rapidly, and pass away. It's hard.

"Mutti" never fully met the Accordion Girl, but she's in my thoughts when I perform. We had one of those "visits in my dreams-I can sometimes smell her perfume-hear her voice in my ear" kind of relationships.

Celebrate and forget!

In case you didn't already know, I do private events, parties, receptions, functions of all kinds - pretty much all the ways you can celebrate life.

I come around and entertain you, but the reality is: you're the one entertaining me. Getting to walk into a realm of people and their colleagues, acquaintances, friends, family and be the visitor of their world for a few hours is a *very* fun aspect about what I do. I meet all walks of life through performing. I get to live out loud, by meeting and having a great time with strangers who quickly become new friends.

Through performing you are opening yourself up to the public, you become public domain.  They see you as someone they can share with, no boundaries, no worries, as the arts are truly therapeutic. I know your deep dark secrets. Why? Because you're having a good time, and you don't know me so why not tell the accordionist what you've been hiding from everyone else? Hmm? :) You can lose yourself in a song, in a dance, in a joke, in a story, be transported by the mighty accordion, and forget about life for awhile.

Many years back I had a brief stint as a box office clerk. One customer interaction made a lot of sense to me. She was buying a ticket to see a show at the theater because someone close to her had recently passed away. She said that going to a performance was a nice distraction, because sometimes you need a break from your world.

I'm here to help ease your mind, and transport you. I love what I do, and this is one of the reasons why :)

All the way from Japan!

 I received a fun package in the mail today, all the way from Japan!

I have blogged about Kinkong Watanabe's "Go Go Accordion Girls" website before, and how she created an image in my honor, but it turns out she is also a jewelry designer! Now I have my very own "Saving the world with the accordion" necklace!! Wahoo!

I received an additional pendant, which is slightly smaller than the one above, and I think I will use it to hang from my nose stud ;-)

 

Domo arigato (どうもありがとう) Kinkong!!

xoN

Hoppy Easter! xo Accordion Girl

I have to say, we all miss it.... You know, when you were a little kid, and your parents hid those little chocolate eggs around the house, and about 6 months later you're playing hide and seek and you would discover a chocolate egg that went unnoticed, until that very moment when you were hiding behind the couch! You would unwrap the 6 month old chocolate egg, and you most definitely ate it, and it's was not the best it had tasted, but who cares! You're a little kid that just found a chocolate egg!

Did you know that a female bunny could reproduce a litter (of up to 14 bunnies) every single month? Did you also know that a female bunny can play the accordion?

xo Accordion Girl

All photos by Darren Stone

An impromptu accordion lesson

Hee hee hee hee hee.... I was tired of practicing one day, and so was my boyfriend - from an exhausting day of work, so what better thing to do then to make him learn how to play the accordion!

He has asked me in the past to show him how it's done, and for some reason I never got around to it. He's a talented photographer and photojournalist, and has shown and taught me so much about photography, it was about time I returned the favour.

He was like, "I don't really want to do this right now" and I said "Sit down!". I showed him how to wear the thing, where to put your hands, and how to sit with it, and yes - I'm still talking about the accordion. I tried to show him what all those buttons are there for, that you have to pump and squeeze the box, and keep it in some kind of timely rhythm, and it's best to do this sitting down at first. Walking comes later. Breathing and chewing gum are for the uber-ambitious.

I've had handfuls of people ask for a quick rundown from me about the accordion, and when I'd ask them, "Now, can you feel how the C button has a dimple (rhinestone, jewel, some kind of marking) they usually say "No", and they're usually pissed off that they can't see neither their left hand or the buttons. Then there's having to inform them that they need to cram their fingers closer together to be able to play those buttons. "A 'V' formation! Ring finger - middle finger - pointer finger, back to the middle finger - ring finger!".

"I'm too tired right now" he said again. I handed him my 12 bass baby Titan, meant for students, and of course he understood the chords a bit better then. There's more space for you to cram your fingers together on your left hand, it's lighter, and it's less overwhelming quality gives the accordion student a new-found sense of confidence.

Then there's the bellows... Hello bellows! Ya, you need to have some kind of control over them. They're the lungs of the instrument, and you're acting as the diaphragm, and like singers, the accordion needs enough air to finish the bar of music. Okay, now for the keyboard on the right side... Nah, maybe later, when you're not so tired and freaked out.

"HOW ARE YOU ABLE TO DO THIS!?" Mr. Stone demanded to know, as he realized this instrument is a completely twisted, puzzling, flustering, mystifying mind-game. I answered "It's magic!".