By Dan Abbott
Skyler Fell, who performed at the SF Accordion Club's September gathering.
In an age of accelerating cultural fusion and mutation, it should come as no surprise that the accordion has undergone something of a renaissance. A staple of musical traditions from as far afield as Eastern Europe, Mexico, and Italy, the various permutations of the squeezebox has resurfaced with renewed vigor. The San Francisco Bay Area has become something of a hub for this rebirth, aided by both its location at the hub of cultural ley lines and its rich history as – believe it or not – an accordion exporting powerhouse.
Frank Montoro, president of the, San Francisco Accordion Club has watched accordion culture wax and wane with the times. Until the middle of the 20th century, there were at least five accordion factories churning out instruments in North Beach alone, Montoro says, mostly by Italians who’d brought generations of craft knowledge over from the Old Country.
“I watched my accordion being built, back in the ‘40s,” he remembers fondly. The advent of rock’n’roll and mass culture swept much of the accordion’s prestige (and visibility) away, Montoro says, until it seemed an ethnic relic, the obscure province of nerds, wedding music and Weird Al Yankovic. “Times have changed,” the octogenarian Montoro says. “If you like Swedish music, where are you going to go?”
From left: Melody Guzman, Bar-B Rader, and Skyler Fell, performing September 9 at the SF Accordion Club's monthly gathering .
In recent years, times have changed for the better, at least if you like accordions. With the success of accordion-driven crossover acts like Gogol Bordello, and the increasing popularity of neotraditional acts, the formerly maligned instrument now has a measure of subversive appeal. A 2009 “Accordion Babes” calendar featuring some of the Bay Area’s favorite accordionistas sold like wildfire through Smythe’s Accordion shop in Oakland, and proprietor Kimric Smythe says he has ordered extra copies of the 2010 edition in anticipation of similar sales.
Last month the Accordion Club voted in its newest board member; 28-year-old Skyler Fell, proprietor of the Accordion Apocalypse repair shop in Bayview. Fell (who, in the interest of full disclosure, is my friend and bandmate) is credited with helping carry the accordion banner to youth culture in San Francisco, and breathing new life into the instrument. The Accordion Apocalypse holds lessons and free punk rock and klezmer accordion workshops, as well as the occasional underground show.
“It’s the young people who have to carry it forward,” Montoro says. He’s hoping more young people will flock to the club’s monthly musical gatherings each third Sunday at the Oyster Point Yacht Club, which feature performances by club members and visiting accordion dignitaries. This month’s gathering, beginning at 2 pm on October 18, will host local accordion quintet AbsolutAccord, as well as Steve Balich, ringleader of the Steve Balich Band, and former SFAC president Bob Berta.
Accordion Club Meeting
Sunday, Oct 18, 2pm
Oyster Point Yacht Club
911 Marina Blvd, SF
www.sfaccordionclub.com
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