THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2002
MUSIC
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 5
Photo contributed by Those Darn Accordions
Those Darn Accordians have a darn unique sound. The band played last week at the Jazzhaus.
Frisco band brings polka flavor to rock songs
By Janette Yost
Jayplay writer
Those Darn Accordions, a San Francisco polka-rock band that played last week at the Jazzhaus, asks in one of its songs, "What do you do for laughs in a serious world?"
The band's stage show gives its answer to this question.
With three shiny accordions fronting a rhythm section, the band puts on a fullout polka-rock concert, complete with leg flailing, head banging, deliberate amp feedback and even synchronized hand motions.
"We're trying to push the envelope of what an accordion is supposed to sound like," accordionist Patty Brady said.
The accordions were all plugged-in and played with effects, with front man Paul Rogers and vocalist Suzanne Garramore using wah pedals on solos.
In the meantime, Garramore and Brady added 1960s-style background vocals to Rogers' baritone voice.
Bill Schwartz and Lewis Wallace added solos on drums and bass, respectively.
Johnny Robinson, a Lawrence resident, said he had been catching live acts in town since 1985,and he dug Those Darn Accordions.
"Screw Jimi Hendrix, these guys rock," he said. "I've seen a lot of bands, but these guys were like an epiphany."
For many, hearing "plugged-in" accordions is itself a revelation.
"People ask us why we run through
"People ask us why we run through effects.It's because we're a rock band.Rock bands,in general,use electric guitars,not acoustic and we're using accordions in the same way."
Suzanne Garramore Those Darn Accordians vocalist
effects. It's because we're a rock band," Garramore said. "Rock bands, in general, use electric guitars, not acoustic, and we're using accordions in the same way."
Those Darn Accordions — a name spoofed from the 1965 flick That Darn Cat— plays catchy originals and polka-rockes several classic rock songs.
The band, which started in San Francisco in 1992, got its first exposure busting out sounds in restaurants that usually kicked the band out.
"This seemed to be the perfect place for me to express my weird take on life," Rogers said.
Rogers joined later, after the band gained some publicity.
While his take may never catch hold like, say, Jimi Hendrix's, Those Darn Accordions are finding plenty of laughs in this serious world.
Contact Yost at jyost@kansan.com. This story was edited by Lauren Beatty.