A clear plastic toy accordion was first espied in 2005 and subsequently purchased by "zee artiste", after which a real adult version was acquired.

There is the feeling of strapping it on and holding it to one's chest, the breathing of the accordion upon squeezing, the movement of the bellows. There are the sounds that resonate, the richness of the tones, the deep bass notes, the high sighs, the fullness of sound, and sometimes even a whisper.

Then there were the years spent in France seeing accordion players in the streets that undoubtably played a part in the love of the accordion.

Mrs. Hobbs plays a Hohner Panther 3-row button accordion in black. The 3 rows on the right are in the keys of G, C, and F. There are 12 bass chord buttons on the left. This is not a piano accordion. This kind of accordion is popular with Latino music (Tejano, Conjunto, etc.), but that music tends to use only the right side, often removing the bass reeds to make the instrument lighter. Mrs. Hobbs uses both the bass and treble sides; sometimes one side or the other, sometimes both sides together, depending on the song. And, of course, Mrs. Hobbs plays in her own unique style.

In early 2008, Mrs. Hobbs was GIVEN a piano accordion (a Barcarole Studiosus 48-button bass/chord), which she has started to play and write songs with. She even purchased a 120-bass piano accordion, but has not begun to seriously work with that one yet.

ACCORDION INFO

• June is National Accordion Awareness Month
• The accordion is the official musical instrument of San Francisco and SF has an accordion festival in June
• Les Negresses Vertes are a fave modern/gypsy/French band that I've loved for years and The Pogues (Irish-folk-punk) were from that same era -- both used a lot of accordion
• Astor Piazzola, playing the bandoneon - a variation of the accordion - is a tango maestro
• Gotan Project and Bajofondo Tango mixes tango with bandoneon and dance/electronica
• Arcade Fire, The Decemberists, and Beirut are all contemporary alternative bands that use some accordion
• Buckwheat Zydeco really got the joint jumping at the Santa Monica Pier Twilight Concerts summer 2005 (and I'm sure in many other places too, of course!)
• Nouvelle Vague have a song or two with the accordion
• Tom Waites and Nick Cave have used the accordion from time to time
• Nortec Collective samples Mexican-style accordion
• Los Lobos does the mexican-punk thing with accordion and melodica (a blown piano accordion)
• Vagabond Opera & The Tiger Lilies do cabaret theater
• Jessica Fichot plays a toy accordion while singing in French, Spanish, Chinese & English
• Fishtank Ensemble offer contempory gypsy style music featuring Duckmandu on accordion
• Mrs. Brown's Lovely Daughter are accordion-infused pop
• Alec K Redfearn and the Eyesores create experimental accordion-centric music
• Jason Webley does an accordion-heavy Tom Waites/Nick Cave thing
• Stars of Aviation are British, but sound like French pop; not only do they have a woman accordionist, but they also have a song called "Marie et l'accordeon"
• Squeeze-bot are a jazz-oriented accordion-led band, playing Thelonious Monk tunes and more
• Cat Hair Ensemble and El Radio Fantastique do jazzy, cabaret stuff
• Melodia do a folky thing with accordion, banjo, and more
• Jeffrey Butzer plays accordion, toy accordion, melodica, toy piano, glockenspiel, and more, and does nice instrumentals
• Those Darn Accordions are a funny amped accordion band
• Dan Zane's band for kids includes a woman accordionist
• Alarm Will Sound is a 20-member group/orchestra, including the accordeon - they play works by composers, such as Steve Reich
• Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and John Cage have written work that included the accordion
• Accordions are used in tejano, conjunto, cajun, tango, zydeco, klezmer, French & Italian cafe music, in addition to Irish, German and other European folk music, and American country and folk music
• The accordion is a free reed instrument, as is the harmonica

Move over Lawrence Welk -- the accordion isn't just for polkas anymore!