Rhomylly

The only thing I can think of, which is probably lame, is that maybe its popularity with sailors made it less-than-pristine ideal for genteel Victorian ladies?

I play an anglo. Let me rephrase that. I have played an anglo for less than 3 weeks. Like you, I liked the price. I've found myself drooling over two-row button accordions lately, too...must be that free-reed addiction thingy.

How good were the old Case concertinas and how good can they be if restored by someone who knows what they're doing (i.e. not me)? I've seen a couple listed for sale lately, and it's got me wondering. Rhomylly

Hi everyone, I thought it would be neat if folks here had a chance to tell stories about how, when, and why they decided to take up the concertina. I guess I should start I grew up in Berea, KY in the 1970's with a father on the music faculty. For those of you who don't know, Berea is a *hotbed* of English and Appalachian folk activity and tradition. Watching the Morris dancers (years before I was allowed to *be* one, but that's anohter story), there was always at least one concertina and one accordion around. I spent my high school and college years a huge fan of John Roberts and Tony Barrand, and always loved John's playing. I also spent my college summers at various Pinewoods dance weeks, again, lots of concertinas. Concertinas were all around me while I was growing up. Around me, that is, except at home. My dad being the band director and my mother with her own degree in music ed meant my parents could play anything -- except free reeds: concertinas, accordions, etc. I'm sure Freud would have a field day with my taking up the one instrument my parents DON'T play, lol, and there may be some forthought to that, yes. In spite of (or because of) this musical background, I never learned how to play any instrument, or learn how to sight-read. I tried to learn concertina about 10 years ago and gave it up in my pursuit of a more stable (employed) life. Wish I hadn't given up. Today, I am an addict! I hope that when new ph.d spouse gets a professor job somewhere, that there's a Morris team nearby! In the meantime, I'll work on Irish tunes and English and Irish folk song accompaniment.

Where can we find these CD's in the States? All the websites I found were in the UK...

I like the rope straps. What'd you whip them with? Re: Faires -- Even though I've worked far too many of them, I have to agree they're a lot of fun, if the anachronisms don't bother you.

A Renaissance Faire is when a bunch of artists, craftspeople, musicians and faux recreationists converge on some suburban spot for 4-10 weekends in a row and create a "village" complete with a visit from royalty, permanent booths, and lots of bad English accents. Rather silly, but the craftspeople are usually good, and the hard cider they serve in the pubs is usually cold

I just used the feature that lets forum users send email to other forum users. how do we know if/when we get email through this venue? Needing to expand my geekiness rhomylly

I can find one. The local saddlery wasn't very helpful

Help! I've posted to the forum before about the fact that my wrist straps are just too big. To recap: I have a husband with a new ph.d which means we're broke and my new concertina is a 20-button Hohner (it was either that or nothing, and nothing was unacceptable!). I also have very small hands (I can wear large children's mittens), so good fitted wrist straps are going to be critical in my quest to be able to reach all the keys! I tried punching more holes, but the leather is doubled and padded after the original hole part, and won't fit into the cheap-ass buckle. The nearest Renaissance Faire is 120 miles and a month away. Anyone know someone who knows how to make concertina wrist straps?