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Press Release: 2010 Cajun Squeezebox Shootout
The 5th Annual
Cajun Squeezebox Shootout Accordion Championship
Saturday, February 13, 2010 HIGH NOON
Strand Theatre 432 N. Main Street Jennings, Louisiana
For the past 18 years, Jennings, Louisiana has been the proud home of Cajun Country’s Mardi Gras “Kick Off” event: The Jennings Mardi Gras Parade and Festival. Each year, the parade and the Main Street after-party street dance has grown tremendously and the event is now recognized as a Mardi Gras season highlight.
In 2006 the Cajun Squeezebox Shootout Accordion Championship was born. The fifth annual Shootout is scheduled for Saturday, February 13th at the Historic Strand Theatre on Main Street in Jennings. Cajun diatonic accordion players will meet to shoot it out at High Noon. Doors to the Strand open at 11 a.m. and the competition begins at noon. Admission is $5 general admission, those 12 and under get in free.
The Shootout is a family event designed to expand and promote Cajun music and culture. The contest is open to diatonic nine-and-ten-button Cajun accordion players of all ages. A panel of five judges from the Cajun Music industry will evaluate each player. Judging is based on overall Cajun Music skill; command of accordion voicing; traditional song playing and style; hammering accuracy; knowledge of modern modes; and finally, on performance and presence.
There is no entry fee for the contest, but accordionists must register in order to compete. A registration form and details are available on the Shootout site: jeffdavis.org . Competition features three divisions. The Youth Division includes players age 13 and under, on or before Feb. 13, 2010. The Junior Division includes players age 14 – 20, on or before Feb.13, 2010. The last division is the Adult Division including players age 21 and older, on or before Feb.13, 2010. The deadline to register to compete is Thursday, February 11 at 3 p.m.
The prizes include recognition as the 2010 Cajun Accordion Champion, as well as trophies and a $500 Grand Prize in each division. $100 second prizes and $50 third prizes will also be awarded. To register for competition or learn more about the Shootout go to the website:
www.jeffdavis.org or call (337) 821-5532 or email polly@cityofjennings.com.
Proudly sponsored by the Jeff Davis Parish Tourist Commission, the City of Jennings and the Jennings Festival Association.
Squeezebox video
A lot of people like to record themselves playing the accordion. I’m like most of these people and I have an over flowing pile of mobile content and tapes. Mdistribute makes mobile content licensing easy . Mdistribute helped me do something with all those videos.
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Duration : 0:3:29
MIDI Accordion plays Mechanical Concert Organ
A WORLD EXCLUSIVE… Me playing the newly midi -ized concert (fairground/street) organ “De Arend” live in real time using my MIDI accordion… very cool indeed!
The world’s biggest accordion expander perhaps? This certainly beats any electronic sound generator boxes, as everything you hear is coming from real instruments, all still operated pneumatically (the MIDI system uses an electro-mechanical relay chest I made to interface to the organs pneumatics).
Not the easiest setup to play, but interesting none the less, with similarities here to a theatre organ. Sorry for the odd slip up here and there, but obviously these were deliberately put in to prove I’m playing live (!) and remind you this is the first time ever I’ve played a mechanical organ like this (a fun but strangely disconcerting experience as I’m so used to listening to these machines play by themselves!). I could really have done with a bigger keyboard as couldn’t fit all the counter melody notes on the top end of the treble, and had to transpose an octave up in order to access the register setting notes to change the ranks of pipes being played.
Anyway, hope you enjoy the video, and please post your comments below.
Don’t forget to take a look at my other videos for details of the MIDI interface system and videos of the organ playing from both this and traditional perforated cardboard.
Duration : 0:9:59
Danny Shuff doing what he does best.
World’s youngest cajun accordion player ??
Cute 2 year-old Rachael Hyndman plays accordion along with her Grandad Jim on banjo
Duration : 0:2:0
How similar is a mandolin to a guitar?
I want to play a unique instrument.
I have done 7+ years of piano, but quit in 5th grade because we couldn’t find a teacher. I’ve had a few guitar lessons before, but basically that’s the only music experience I’ve had.
I don’t necessarily want it to be very similar to a guitar, I enjoyed the few lessons that I had but it wasn’t very exciting for me.
I like mandolins because they are unique, and small, and I’m pretty petite. (That’s why guitars were really frustrating for me.)
I think they sound beautiful, too. I’ve also considered the accordion, because those are also unique and can be very beautiful as well.
If the mandolin "speaks" to you, then you should definitely try one out. They’re great fun! They are tuned like a violin though, not like a guitar: E-A-D-G high to low; 8 strings where two and two are tuned in unison.
Like most other instruments, you can get a basic feel for it and learn the basic chord structures etc. fairly quick. But it does take lots of practice to master … again just like any other instrument.
Regarding your trouble with guitars. This may be due to you having the wrong kind of guitar, or a guitar not properly set up (adjusted) for your type of playing.
Take a guitar with a large box, long scale, heavy strings, wide and fat neck and high action, and you’re looking at an instrument that is hard to get a grip on (literally). Shorter scale, narrower and slimmer neck, lower action (strings closer to the fingerboard), lighter strings and a smaller box – and you have an instrument that is far more easy to play.
The scale is the length of the vibrating part of the strings, by the way – it’s the distance between the nut and the saddle. When the scale is shorter, the distance between the frets are shorter too. So yes, a mandolin (properly set up), should definitely be easier to handle (narrow neck, very short scale).
Oh, and yes, the accordion can be way cool too! Our keyboard player uses one from time to time in one of our bands.
Best of luck with your playing!
Anyone like Cajun music?
I love Fue Follette and Anne Savoy. Who are your fav Cajun Musicians?
Joel Sonnier
Doug Kershaw
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Duration : 0:8:42
Shostakovich’ Second Waltz – Accordion Cover
Shostakovich’ Second Waltz on the accordion, as requested by someone (?).
Tutorial to follow soon.
This song sounds similar to the Godfather Waltz, so if you want to stay original, don’t play them back-to-back.
Andre Rieu does a great cover of this with people singing and dancing along. YouTube it.
Duration : 0:3:36