One night after an evening in a local drinking establishment, I went to Grayson Walker's house and drunk on the blood of our enemies we ended up feverishly playing accordion together in his kitchen. It felt pretty good and I thought we should do it again. As fate would have it, my old and dear friend Ana Bon Bon (an extraordinary chanteuse, entertainer and accordionist who currently resides in swinging London town) contacted to me say she would be back in Canada. Ha! I could see that the stars were aligning, started planning an all accordion show @ The Forbes Street Music Club, and got on the blower to Grayson. The first time we got together he started teaching me this song which he describes thus....
The song started as a technical study to teach myself accordion so I could go busking in the Montreal metros. During that time my longtime music partner Randy Peters and I became friends with "Heather" a former child star who could sing like an angel. She was apparently not happy with her life as she committed suicide. The song then got more elaborate and was named "Heather Leaves.".
This take was from our rehearsal on Friday afternoon. The mic is kind of hot and there's a bit of distortion as the accordion playing heats up. We are also working on Grayson's compostion Western Momma, Clay George's Stefan Ganis, and the standard All of Me. Playing accordions together is exhilirating - thanks Grayson!
And you may very well ask who is this Grayson Walker you speak of? Well from some press I have for the upcoming SEETHING ACCORDIONS show, I can tell you this....the accordion has saved Grayson Walker's life many times. Once, while waiting in a Canadian Tire parking lot, he was surrounded by Quebecois bikers. A quick polka later they were dancing and laughing instead of breaking his legs. For a while, he was the accordion player for drone darlings Godspeed You! Black Emperor. He and his accordion also co-founded the Church of Harvey Christ and Friends, a band/ fringe theatre/ drinking gang from which he has been ex- and re-communicated many times as per scripture. His tastes with the squeezebox run from old timey singsongs like "I Don't Love You Anymore" and "It's Great to be Poor" to quasi-Gypsy instrumentals in C minor and A minor.
Seems like a perfect moment to plug the show, so here's the details:
WHAT: SEETHING ACCORDIONS with ANA BON BON, GRAYSON WALKER, and DAVID P. SMITH
WHEN: Thursday January 26th. Door: 7:45 Show: 8:15
WHERE: The Forbes Street Music Club, 2614 Forbes Street, back door, basement, Victoria, BC
ADMISSION: Suggested donation of $10 to $15
BYOB or there will be some beer for sale.
And here's Ana's bio:
You can listen to Ana Bon Bon's recordings. They're damn fine. You can read all about her...the swell things the critics, tastemakers, and know-it-alls say about her. Check her out on youtube, yo. But until you're in the room with the vivacious, soulful, squeezebox squeezin' Ana Bon Bon you don't know nothin'. Feeding on the spirits of delta blues, cabaret and vaudeville, her sensuous vocals complemented by fat accordion rhythms, she evokes the great gospel and jazz singers of yesteryear. She taps into something deep and real, she an entertainer in the truest sense of the word, she's a ray of sunshine and a bolt of energy, she's a bon vivant......or should I say a Bon Bon vivant.
Born and raised in Vegreville, Alberta where she was introduced to the accordion at a young age, Ana spent 13 years as a mainstay of the vibrant Vancouver roots scene before jetting off to Europe to unleash the Bon Bon Revolution on the Old World. She's back! Ever so briefly! Catch her at the Forbes Street Music Club while you can.
You can listen to Ana Bon Bon's recordings. They're damn fine. You can read all about her...the swell things the critics, tastemakers, and know-it-alls say about her. Check her out on youtube, yo. But until you're in the room with the vivacious, soulful, squeezebox squeezin' Ana Bon Bon you don't know nothin'. Feeding on the spirits of delta blues, cabaret and vaudeville, her sensuous vocals complemented by fat accordion rhythms, she evokes the great gospel and jazz singers of yesteryear. She taps into something deep and real, she an entertainer in the truest sense of the word, she's a ray of sunshine and a bolt of energy, she's a bon vivant......or should I say a Bon Bon vivant.
Born and raised in Vegreville, Alberta where she was introduced to the accordion at a young age, Ana spent 13 years as a mainstay of the vibrant Vancouver roots scene before jetting off to Europe to unleash the Bon Bon Revolution on the Old World. She's back! Ever so briefly! Catch her at the Forbes Street Music Club while you can.
"Nodding to old blues, gospel, and tin-pan alley tunesmithing, Vancouver's Ana Bon-Bon and her full-bodied voice and accordion playing bring a vintage, bawdy-house, bon-temps vibe to life."
~Rupert Bottenberg, Montreal Mirror
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