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Squeezebox Circle: Musicians, Bands & Lessons

- All things accordion for Vancouver, BC (Canada)

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Monthly Squeezebox Circle get-together  -  the next session will be   Wednesday Apr 3, 7-9 pm (Pacific Time), Longhouse Church, 2595 Franklin (corner of Penticton), East Vancouver - lots of free parking! (new location!)

Contact: To add your event, band, or other resource to this website - or for more information, email us!
Musicians and bands in and around Vancouver:



Geoff Berner - live at Accordion Noir Fest





Barbara Adler & Fang - Live at Accordion Noir Fest





The Creaking Planks






  • Barbara Adler: pairs her stomach Steinway with her rapidly-expanding collection of traveling tales with The Fugitives, Ten Thousand Wolves, Proud Animal (and probably many more!) - now living on the Sunshine Coast: http://www.badler.ca/ 
  • Alpen Plattlers - Oktoberfest all year round w. Jim Favaro on accordion
  • Anna B and the Heartbones: Western Jazz - swing'n party and jazzy intrigue - "Bawdy, fun, soulful and intimate " - w. Simon Kendall on accordion & piano
  • Argyle Embargo describe themselves as "a multi-genre indie group. Taking from multiple musical backgrounds including Classical, Jazz, Musical Theatre, Rock, Pop, Electronic and Folk traditions, they blend elements with an intimate knowledge of tonal harmonics and a deep love for making great music.
  • Sue Baines is squeezing with Double Rainbow and Nuvo Zydeco
  • Banda Forró do Cana - music from north-east Brazil (forro, frevo, chorinho and more) w. Steve Charles on accordion
  • The Beer Barrels - 'oompa music' from "a 3 piece Oompa-pa dance band who have been performing professionally for approximately the last 30 years."
  • Geoff BernerThe Whiskey Rabbi - watch Geoff's solo performance at the Vancouver World Peace Forum, Nov 11 2010: part 1 & part 2
  • Saul Berson Quartet: Great modern jazz. Saul plays sax - look for Kim Darwin on accordion now and again.... 
  • Ana Bon-Bon: swooning cabaret chanteuse back after a long stay in London.
  • Konstantin Bozinov plays lute, guitar, and accordion with Bulgarian folk dance group Kitka. He specializes in East European folk music and has spent many years touring, playing at traditional weddings, and recording. He is also a professional lute player, specializing in renaissance and baroque music. 
  • Rick Buckman Coe soul-funkster switch-hits between ukulele, guitar, and (sometimes) accordion
  • Carnival Band - street parades and more, sometimes with accordion
  • Celtic Traditions - Michael Pratt and Lynn McGown: Fiddle, concertina, voice, and more.
  • Gary Comeau and the Voodoo Allstars - high energy, New Orleans-style rockin' roots and blues, w. Gary on accordion and keyboards. Gary also plays with Cannery Row -
  • The Creaking Planks: "The Jugband of the Damned" w. Squeezebox Circle's own Rowan Lipkovits on accordion - https://www.facebook.com/theCreakingPlanks or http://creakingplanks.com/
  • Crooked Road Band - promise 'Celtic music for all occasions', playing traditional dance tunes and folk songs from Ireland, England, Scotland, and elsewhere on button accordion, celtic harp, Irish bagpipes, and more.
  • Reinier deSmit 
  • Dirty Bellows - Rockin' the bayan - 4-piece Latin band playing mashups of popular hits and old-time classics. Youtube
  • Double Rainbow - accordion/banjo ensemble playing all sorts from Jazz to Gypsy, Klezmer to Country, Latin to light orchestral, Celtic to Calypso, Zydeco to Funk to Total Fun!! Sue Baines squeezing and Steve Cottrill twanging
  • Don Embree - available for your function at reasonable rates. Lots of experience in different styles of music. Solo or with a band. Call Don at 604-721-8809.
  • Flying Folk Army - back after a 7 year sleep. Lively political folk with Alison Jenkins on accordion
  • Jack Garton - accordion, trumpet, and lots of fun, from Maria in the Shower to Demon Squadron. Moved to Galiano Island, but in Vancouver lots.
  • Glittering Kingdom - "the vocal harmonies sparkle with gospel berries and the instruments purr like woolen cats rolling on a warm sidewalk" w. Katheryn Petersen on accordion. See 'em cover the future...
  • The Gram Partisans: alt-folk/political w. Alan Zisman on accordion
  • Green Penny Folks - flute/piano/accordion w. Katheryn Petersen on accordion
  • Heart & Soul Accordion Duet - Lynda and Jim - an acoustic accordion duo;  music includes old-time waltzes, polkas and schottisches, as well as sing-a-long favorites, and melodies from around the world: YouTube Channel
  • Alison Jenkins: solo and withLittleFox on accordion + banjo, but also with Lone Crow Jubilee, Flying Folk Army, Something About Reptiles, Redboot Quartet, Old Yeller, Zeelia, Rogue Crows (and probably more). New (Oct 2021) band and website: LittleFox
  • Simon Kendall - piano, B3, accordion, production and more
  • Killarney - Irish rockers with John Cronin on accordion appeared at the Blarney Stone from 1984 - 2013 rumoured to be the longest-running house-band engagement in the world(!)
  • Kid Kordene (Ed Lasko) - from Beer Barrel Polka to Take Five, with stopovers in the Finland Woods: 604-521-8362
  • Francois Laberge - romantic French-Parisian Musette style; also playing with Tanguisette.
  • Lucy Lambert brings her swing/jazz accordion from Montreal - now in Vancouver!
  • Late Thaw - or https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1746266363 "a sound steeped in country, bluegrass and blues... new music with a traditional foundation rich in honkytonk, heartache and harmonies" - Simon Kendall on keyboards and accordion.
  • The Legion of Flying Monkeys - David Gowman on accordion, fu-horns and more....
  • Lone Crow Jubilee - formerly Old Yeller - Country/ folky/ rootsy kinda tunes from a somewhat elastic-grouping that can range from 4 to 8 members, depending on who shows up, but might include Alison Jenkins - http://www.lonecrowjubilee.com
  • Mezamazing: A drunken Balkan monster balancing itself on a tightrope over chaos - w. Nikolai Varda on accordion -   https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mezamazing/145901627224
  • Mimosa draws on Jazz, Brazilian Sambas, French 60ies pop and Cabaret music to concoct its own unique sound  - w. Anna Lumiere mostly on piano, but ask nicely and maybe you'll get some accordion.
  • Mizz Lisa is a Parisian Cafe to a New Orleans Riverboat, Singer-Songwriter, Sulty Harmonies, Originals, Zydeco, Soul, Jazz, Classics in English French Italian Spanish
  • Ronald Mytko - cajun-style diatonic accordionist (played with the Pinegrove Ramblers): 604-466-0663
  • Nuvo Zydeco - South Surrey's own taste of Louisian Sue Bainsa on accordion
  • The Oktoberators - Oom Pa in Vancouver. Ready to serve up Octoberfest around the region all year round!
  • Mr. Oktoberfest - Franzl and his Squeezebox - gerberfranz@yahoo.com
  • Ken Oszinski - plays with 'oompa band' The Beer Barrels, and solo on old style music - polkas, waltzes, tangos, and more.
  • Parno Dromis a group formed by accordionist Bob Kozak. The group performs Eastern European Romani (Gypsy) style music and their repertoire includes music from Russia; Poland; Hungary; and beyond.
  • Pastiche - Folk Noveau: original tunes plus music from France and Quebec from former members of Mad Pudding with two (!) accordionists - Boris Favre & Allen Dionne
  • Katheryn Petersen - aka Salmon Avalanche: accordion, video, spoken word, playing with  Something About Reptiles, Los Portenos del Norte, Glittering Kingdom, Tepot in the Tuba, Balkan Shmalkan and more. Also: http://www.myspace.com/katherynsalmon. Nice article about Katheryn from the Vernon Morning Star
  • The Plodes - w. Alexa Fraser squeezing - a band wanting to 'appeal to conscientious dorks ready for the world of the future.'
  • Los Portenos del Norte - tango group with Katheryn Petersen on accordion; listen to Garua
  • Polka Time - Dreadnoughts polka spin-off.
  • Rattlebone Band: English ceilidh, English country, American contra and French Canadian dance tunes played on melodeons, banjo, guitars, whistle/flute, fiddle, tuba and percussion. Contact: Graham Baldwin: gbaldwin.rattlebone@gmail.com; 604 720 2790
  • Redboot: A gypsy jazz quartet that took a left turn into Western swing? A Paris café band whose waltzes suddenly detour into wild Balkan dances? - w. Alison Jenkins on accordion. Back in 2015 after a while off.
  • The Rheinlander Oompa Band is a Polka and Oktoberfest German band who make schunkeling fun.
  • Rio Samaya: 'Pancho and Sal' (Francisco & Sally Pace) - a combination of Latin, Reggae, and Rumba
  • Rogue Crows - 'Original tunes with a folky beat - Music that's as fierce, fun, and raucous as a flock of crows.' Alison Jenkins on accordion
  • Roots Roundup - classic Vancouver ska band revived, with accordion and trombone
  • Royal Cajun Band - Vancouver-based cajun group; Gary White on piano accordion
  • .S-Bahn - Celtic, wedding shows, Oktoberfest shows ethnic dances, and appearances at accordion festivals w. Richard Theiss on accordion 
  • SAS Band - Sue Baines on accordion in a trio that promises 'Smoking hot strings dancing, hoppin' accordion licks, vocal harmonies that inspire'
  • Serbian Trio - featuring Milan Radovanovic - email: milan9_59@hotmail.com
  • Something About Reptiles -  tragic and empowered Turkish music with Alison Jenkins and Katheryn Petersen on accordion; listen to Her yerde kar var
  • Sostenuto - Brazilian choro, tango, French musette and more. Anna Lumiere on accordion
  • The Spillionaires - Swampy bluegrass, Barrel-aged Folk, Stringband - Melissa Elton squeezing. Hear 'em!. Website
  • Amy Stephen - formerly of Mad Pudding, now w. Jou Tou - " the richness of the music is brightened with her celtic inflections and honest emotion."
  • Sudanda:  African (Sudanese), where they have a wonderful accordion tradition w. Jane Kalmakoff on accordion 
  • Teapot in the Tuba - Katheryn Petersen and clarinet player Mike Allen
  • Tanguisette - musette infused tango nuevo - Astor Piazzolla-influenced trio with Francois Laberge on accordion
  • Glen Watts- glenmax@earthling.net
  • The Wayward Hearts - bluesy-folk rock & roll country band w. Jim Favaro on accordion
  • West My Friend - Cascadian third-wave indie prog chamber folk-roots music (FB here)
  • Wheat in the Barley: From a traditional Celtic tune to a Yiddish theatre gem, to a Blue Rodeo cover, to more-than-solid originals, w. Victor Smith on accordion
  • Wintermitts:  bilingual cabaret rock folk cabaret - http://wintermitts.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wintermitts/35952958864 
  • Wolfbrood ' is a 21st century interpretation of the folk music and traditions of the Norse and proto-Norse tribal societies since the collapse of the Roman Empire to the Viking Age and beyond'
  • Todd Wong: Classical, Celtic and popular music, featured on radio and tv. Creator of Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner. Performs solo and with Black Bear Rebels Celtic Ceilidh Band.
  • Zeellia:  Ukrainian soul now w. Alison Jenkins on accordion
  • Alan Zisman: plays with the Gram Partisans  (and co-hosts the monthly Squeezebox Circle drop-ins and manages this website)
Elsewhere in BC:
  • Bucan Bucan- (pronounced loudly as 'boo-CHAN boo-CHAN') Victoria's #1 Gypsy Marching Band: http://www.myspace.com/bucanbucan or http://bucanbucan.com/index.php?action=news
  • Cold Cut Combo is a Victoria gypsy jazz group with Aaron Watson squeezing button accordion.
  • Kim Darwin: Mayne Island-based jazz, classical, tango, and more 
  • Dr. D (Chaim David Mazoff), specializes in Argentine Tango, Musette and Latin Jazz.  Email: cdmazoff@hotmail.com
  • Elephant Island in Victoria plays music whose desperation is kind of warm and cozy, with an accordionist named Jamie Cummins.
  • Joey Only Outlaw Band: “An anarchist sort of Stomping Tom Connors,” (CBC) now moved to Wells
  • Jonathan Goldman sometimes takes a few moments away from the University of Victoria music faculty to squeeze out a tango on accordion or bandoneon.
  • Raghu Lokanathan:  singer song-slinger and a very nice guy (even if he lives far away in Valemount!)
  • Meatdraw - grunge-folk, with some good songwriting - (Victoria) had Megan Boddy on accordion, but no resident squeezer anymore... Grayson Walker sometimes sits in.
  • The McGillicuddys entertain Victoria with Psycho Ceilidh Rock and Jill Clayton squeezing: http://mcgillicuddys.ca/ and http://www.myspace.com/themcgillicuddys
  • Jelena Milojevic: classical, experience accordion played this well at least once in your life; Georgia Straight article (Nov 26 2009). Jelena has recently helped organize the 20-player BC Accordion Orchestra
  • Marian Rose - folk/square/old-time dancing and accordion too! In Quick BC (near Smithers)
  • David P. Smith - Hillbilly rhythm 'n' booze - (Victoria)
  • Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra:  Absolutely filthy, but impeccably dressed Victoria-based gypsy-ska-folk-grass mayhem; w. Ian Griffiths on accordion - http://www.thetequilamockingbirdorchestra.com/ or http://www.myspace.com/tequilamock
  • TerraZetto is a Vancouver Island trio for whom gypsy jazz meets bossa nova with a twist of tango, featuring Nanaimo's Len Imbery
  • TriMaestro is a Victoria-based Francophone virtuoso trio that celebrates musical multiculturalism and exquisite music art, from classical to world folk
  • Grayson Walker, formerly with Frog Eyes, squeezes in Victoria along with J Maclaughan, and can often be found at the Logan's Pub Sunday Hootenany.
  • West My Friend - Victoria ' indie-roots to chamber-folk'
  • Yiddish Columbia State Orchestra: Victoria 8-piece playing klezmer through bluegrass through New Orleans jazz; Marion Siegel squeezes.
Gone but not forgotten:
LessonsAccordion Lessons:
If you don't want to work with a teacher but prefer to learn on your own, here's a fabulous set of YouTube lessons offered by  Liberty Bellows