February 8, 2017
Today was my 4th time attending an accordion club meeting. Like the previous ones, this time I decided that I would perform and have fun. Without a doubt that my mother was there.
The small things that were different this time was that where usually the president Jean-Pierre Attore would start off the evening, playing most of the night off and on and have a sprinkling of other people playing, this time I ordered my supper a little earlier, ate quickly and was the one that started off the evening’s music. I had prepared 20 pieces, thinking that it was great overkill. Though I did have that many pieces available to me, there were a few new things.
This time I would be using my “medium” setup, the FR-8X with the Roland JC-160 amplifier… and for the first time, I used the BK-7m. It all went fairly well. I played several songs that I did not prepare for at all, the BK challenged me because the few times I did practice with it, I wore socks and at the restaurant, I wore leather shoes, which totally threw off my feel of using the buttons for the various functions. The best part was that this time, I felt absolutely zero pressure or nerves when performing and this was something quite unusual for me.
Traditionally, I am “Mr. Stone Face” and decided to work on this a little and try to smile and be relaxed a little more, and it worked only “OK”. I could have been much more facially expressive and more interactive with the group and I feel that if I do this more often, it will come in time. With the help of one of the wives of a fellow accordionist, I have a small video of me playing and so I have a chance to see how my facial expressions looked. Here is a clip of that video:
In short, the challenges were unfamiliar pieces, the new BK rhythm unit, throwing myself off a bit by trying to smile and be a little more engaging, but I had a nice evening, and even met a man who said that he also played a Hohner VI N and was also taught Free-Bass by Joseph Macerollo (he referred to himself as George the Greek… lol).
Basically, it was a nice evening and we ate and drank well and had a nice time.
The one in March looks particularly interesting and yet far out of my comfort zone as again, the accordion club has chosen a special location as well as a specific theme. The theme is Movie Music and the location is to be at a sugar shack somewhere near Joliette! I have NO idea if I am going to be able to make that one thanks to me starting work this coming Monday and I have no idea what my schedule is going to be like, but I am going to try to do my best to be there!