“A GREAT AMBASSADOR FOR THE ACCORDION”

It all started when I was about 4 years old listening to my grandfather playing songs on his violin. He immigrated to the United States as a child with a violin that his grandfather gave him. I loved listening to music. He would take me as a child to
Mountain Park on Sunday afternoon and we would listen to the band playing in the
pavilion.

Almost every week there would be an accordion player in the band and I
would always watch him play and loved the sound the accordion generated. My
grandfather wanted to teach me the violin but I insisted I wanted to learn the
accordion. Eventually I got an accordion on my birthday and when school ended
for the summer I went to the Falcetti Accordion Studio in Indian Orchard and
started lessons with Don McMahon.

I practiced about 4 hours every day. Sometimes my grandmother got tired of my practicing scales and told me to practice out in the barn. The horses seemed to enjoy my playing for they would run into the barn and stay until I was done practicing. I enjoyed playing along with my grandfather on his violin whenever I could.

At age twelve I entered the ATAM accordion competition in Boston and took home
a second place trophy. It was a fairly new event with hundreds of accordionists
entered in various age groups. I also played in a band at such venues as the
Northampton Three County Fair and many weddings during my High School days.

I even played the accordion with Ludlow High School Stage Band for a couple of
shows they did. During my college days, to help subsidize my tuition, I played
almost every weekend with a band named Phoenix. I bought a Cordovox accordion
and did solo work at many restaurants performing ethnic Italian, French, and German music.

After college I joined the MELHA Shriners in Springfield, Massachusetts and played in their German Band and the MELHA ORIENTAL BAND. That is where I got the nickname SQUEEZEBOX, for I was always playing it on the bus to parades, ceremonials, or parties at the Shrine center. I would even put my head on a pillow on the floor and play the accordion upside down while I was doing a head stand to amuse the crowd. My tips were donated to a special fund for the “LADDER OF SMILES”, a special fund for Shriner ‘s Hospitals for children.

Wherever I went with the Shriners the accordion traveled with me all over the USA,
Canada, and Mexico. I still recall playing the accordion about 3 hours on a flight from Calgary to Dallas with the whole plane singing along. I wrote a song called “BODY OF THE SEA”, which is what MELHA means in Arabic. Over 20 oriental bands played it in a competition in Las Vegas.

I played many years at a local German restaurant in Springfield called the Student Prince or The Fort as originally it was the site of a fort along the Connecticut River. One day I met the Aqua String Band, a Mummers Band from Philadelphia, and jammed with them while they were here in Massachusetts. They liked me so much that they invited me to play with them the following year in the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day Parade. I would get done playing accordion with them and return to the start of the parade to play with MELHA. I traveled to Philly many times over the past 15 + years to play with AQUA at various places such as the Little League World Series, NASCAR races, Atlantic City SHOW OF SHOWS and their big Mummers New Year’s Day Parade in Philadelphia.

When Sam Adams beer started I played for the events they had many times. Most
recently at a hoisting of the Stein event they held in Boston and other parts of the
country.

I have been invited to Germany to perform in the beer gardens and the famous
Hofbrauhaus in Munich. I currently play in a couple of German bands, the BMW
(Berkshire Mountain Wanderers) and the OPROB (Old Post Road Oktoberfest Band).

A few years ago Sam Falcetti started the NEW ENGLAND DIGITAL ACCORDION ORCHESTRA in which he invited me to join. I gladly accepted and play in the group of all various Roland digital accordions. Sam is one of my accordion idols. At the age of 80 plus years he brings so much enthusiasm to the group. He truly is one that loves the accordion as much as I do.

I still play at the Big E Beer Garden (Eastern States Exposition-7th largest fair in the US) and at some local restaurants and retirement homes.

Recently I played for an event at the Student Prince Restaurant in Spfld, Mass. for Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker (photo above) and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito after winning their re-election. In the photo I am playing along with my friend Brian Elliott and tuba player, Tom Greene.

For further information:peggyf1944@gmail.com