jdms

No doubt you’ll hear some more knowledgeable voices than mine on this shortly, but my impression was that chamois is not only ok, it’s the standard (or at least traditional) material.

I know the Beaumont had two buttons linked together on the version they were showing in their booth at NEFFA when it first came out, though I don’t know which ones they were—there was a wire linkage between the two and they had it open to demonstrate it.

@Jacokotze, the Wheatstone ledger on the Horniman Museum website says (assuming I'm reading it correctly) that this instrument is a Model 53, 30 keys, nickel ends, constructed on 23 July 1937 and sold on 7 October 1937. That's as much as I can tell you, but no doubt there will be better-informed responses soon.

When I had this problem, I got a replacement from The Button Box, which is not particularly useful information. However, it might be worth contacting Bob Snope, who was their chief technician, at the Squeezebox Garage (www.squeezeboxgarage.com) to see if he has one he's willing to sell you.

Judging by my email correspondence with the Concertina Connection while getting moving with the Hayden, he's using William nowadays, at least in a professional context.

Latest addition to the stable: a Peacock. I got an Elise to try out the Hayden system, liked it and upgraded. Now to improve my playing to the point that I'm willing to play it where others might hear me...

He also did a duet harmony to a TikTok post by a woman singing part of it (also posted to Instagram, which is how I saw it): https://www.instagram.com/p/CKhML2BBOnI/

I don't have a helpful response, but I remember singing this song in elementary school music in Virginia 45 or so years ago. Haven't heard it since.

Bertram Levy, author of The Anglo Concertina Demystified and American Fiddle Styles for the Anglo Concertina, owned and played (when I met him a decade or so back, and presumably still does) a Stagi concertina very similar to your Hohner. It's by no means his only instrument, but he said he likes its sound and prefers it for a number of tunes. If it's good enough for him, there's no reason for anyone to feel any shame for having a perfectly serviceable instrument that doesn't break the bank to purchase--nor for anyone else to scorn them.

I have a 40-button Wheatstone C/G from 1954.

I know an American Alastair, but he doesn't play concertina...I suppose I could be misremembering the accent, but I'd think an Englishman (or a Scot) in a small town in Virginia would have stood out more in my memory. I haven't yet tried David's suggestion of contacting the school, but it's worth a try if I can figure out a good starting point. In any case, thanks for all the responses.

Turn my back for a week and look what happens...I had no idea that John Roberts and Tony Barrand, with or without Nowell Sing We Clear, had ever performed in Berryville. I'm certain that the man who performed for us spoke with an American accent, in which case he couldn't have been John (also, the Deep Purple/Darth Vader bit seems out of character for him). The Bluemont Concert Series hadn't occurred to me, but I do remember (for example) Madeleine MacNeil playing hammered dulcimer for us in elementary school in Boyce I think under their auspices, and there's no reason they couldn't have sent a concertina player along. I might manage to follow up on some of those names--pictures of Howard Bass from the period fit pretty well with what I remember of the man's appearance and he was teaching in Winchester at the time as well as being involved with Bluemont, but does he play concertina? I haven't found any mention of it so far. At any rate, thanks for the suggestions and so on. Jim, was it a roller rink that Bluemont used for practice? I don't remember an ice rink (and a roller rink seems more practical for the purpose anyway), but I was never interested in skating, so it might have escaped my notice.

Some time between the fall of 1981 and the spring of 1983 a man came to Johnson-Williams Intermediate School in Berryville, Virginia, to demonstrate the concertina for the assembled student body. It's possible he played a duet, but I expect it was an Anglo. My memory is vague, but I believe he was young and bearded--at somewhere between the ages of 12 and 14, my perception may have been a trifle skewed. All I really remember of his presentation is this: "The concertina is a great instrument. You can play rock music on it." (plays keyboard riff from Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water") "You can even be....Darth Vader." (holds down the air button and produces an appropriate heavy breathing sound with a few draws and presses) I don't remember his name or where he came from, but have thought for a while that he might have come out from DC. It also occurred to me that Bluemont Morris was extant at the time and quite a lot closer, so if they had a concertina player, he might have been the one. At any rate, it was he who planted the seed of interest in the concertina in my impressionable little mind and I'm curious as to who he might have been. Does any of this ring any bells?

Maybe he was taking the long route for a little extra sightseeing?

Easily solved: don't wear boots.