I’ve curated a large playlist on Spotify of mainly Centre France music, but a lot from around the movement as well. Enjoy!
Bal Folk Playlist on Spotify
The Horrible Snail (L’horrible Shleck!)
Welcome back to the Free Reed Liberation Orchestra, playing an Alsatian branle brought to us by Steve Gruverman and Marie Wendt!
Artwork by David Hamilton
FRLO July 2022 is directed by Gary Chapin. Players are:
Anahata, Matthew Bampton, John Barber, David Barnert, Gary Chapin, Margaret Cox, Martin Dumas, Eric Johnson, Gren Penn, Janneke Slagter
All parts are copyright 2022.
New Le Bon Truc Website
We’ve just designed a new Le Bon Truc website to take us into the next phase of human existence. If you need French dance and folk music to get through the night. Go check us out.
Basking Lilly
Accordions and Comedy, Part 2
Another comedy vid of me accompanying my own essay, which is hilarious, Subscribe and like and all that. Check out MuddyUm!
Accordions and Comedy!
I’ve been working with a comedy rag called MuddyUm. We’ve begun creating videos of comedy writers reading their stuff. I, on accordion, have supplied the incidental music and written the theme tune. Here’s the first at 3 minutes, enjoy!
Accordeonaire Shop Sale
Just to let you know tee shirts at the Accordeonaire Shop are $15 this week, while everything else is ten percent off. Go crazy!
A Noir Accordion Murder Mystery
Detective Weltmeister came onto the scene, a ratty one bedroom apartment with a dead mendicant and a silent, broken accordion.
I stood at the door. A first year uniformed flatfoot. I’d knocked on the old guy’s door to offer him some date nut bread from my wife. Looked in. Saw the mayhem, and called the precinct and detective.
The accordion was in a distended, immodest state, bellows stretched. The detective, with grace, picked up the shambles, set it aside, and covered it with a small towel. It let out one last wheeze. An F sharp, I think. Like a death rattle.
“Toi et Moi,” by Trevor Upham
“Toi et Moi” is #24 in the Bal Folk Tune Book. Played on the Lilly, it has that quality inherent to many scottishes of being delightful. This is the third of Trevor Upham’s tunes that I’ve recorded for the Bal Folk Tune Book Project.
A Bal Folk Scottish
When I think back to when I first heard Bal Folk accordion, one of the things that I loved was that there was nothing ironic or world weary about. It was anti-misanthropic. This tune is exactly the kind of tune that gave me that feeling. It’s number 23 in the Bal Folk Tune Book.
L'Accordeonaire 