Patrick Brown

Flogging Molly is a really fun band. They do very Irish-y influenced stuff a la the Pogues. I feel like they're one of the few bands around now that do that well. very glad to hear that they've integrated a concertina into their sound. Pb

I'm pretty sure that's the layout used by the whole Tedrow family. Mr. Tedrow, his wife, and daughter. It works beautifully for them. Pb

from IMDB ~pb

I'd say more likely that it is tiding from a water stain, caused either from iron in the water or acid in the paper.

Do you make tee shirts? That would be amazing! Needless to say I like your work. Some of your stuff in the painting section reminds me of the Russian painter Pavel Filonov.

Someone early wrote that theywere thinking about lining their case with velvet. A word of warning against that. The dyeing process for many velvets uses a sulfur based agent. The off-gas from velvet causes metal to tarnish faster, which wouldn't be good for your concertina (especially for one with metal ends).

It could also be a German with a Polish/Hungarian/Czech name. cze- seems quite Polish to me. Could it not be a Pole or someone with a Polish name makingconcertinas in Germany? Also I don't know if someone would respell their name and if so, that way. Is there a German construction for a "che" sound? Historically (according to a professor I had while in the CR), the name "Czechoslovakia" has a Polish deriviation. The name was concieved at the last minute during whichever treaty created the nation out of Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovakia.

Reading this prompted some questions I have about people who collect concertinas. Do most, if not all, concertina collectors play the concertina? And in these collections, are they generally treated to get them into playing condition or are they maintained close to there original? I know the that the Horniman has concertinas and I think the V&A has some also. Does anyone know their approach to them? Are there any other museums that collect? I think this dichotomy of thought between usage and maintaince of the original workmanship is really interesting. patrick

For writing in cyrillic, I don't think your keyboard being danish matters. Pretty much all computers are able to type in different scripts. On mine I can choose to type in cyrillic either in the russian typewriter arrangement or a transliterated version. I find the transliterated keyboard проще. An american keyboard doesn't make it easier, but for things like typing in different scripts, we're all in the same boat. p

[i think the only thing that lets these instruments down is the ugly fastenings. Shiny nickel (or brass) end bolts and handstrap screws in a less clumpy design would finish these instruments off beautifully.] personally I like these type of fastenings on my tedrow. There are quite secure and efficient. I also like the look. I don't know if I understand the difference between fastenings and handstrap bolts/screws? What exactly are you describing? patrick

Thank y'all for the info. I just thought it was a gorgeous concertina. I like the idea of glass keys. very sophisticated. was that common with 'concert models?' Are the keys opaque or translucent? patrick

There is a very nice looking english concertina in the featured objects section of the Horniman Museum website. The little article about the concertina doesn't say when its from, but I think the museum acquired it in 1996. thought y'all might want to have a look at it. Wheatstone 48-keyed English Concertina patrick

Hi All, I am just settling in here in London for about a week, but I hadn't internet access until now. Thanks so much for the tips. I'm going to go walk up to the Cecil Sharp House today and hopefully go to that session Alan mentions in a week or so. Thanks so much for the info. Howard, I'm not studying at UCL, but my campus is right next to Gower Street. I'm at SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies). It seems to be a great area. I've loved it so far.

I've always had to open my concertina box, but normally the people working the security desk seem to get a kick out of it. I'm still waiting for the time I'll to play it for them. ~patrick

Wow, all this is getting me really excited about coming to London. Concertinas AND Amazing Grace! ~patrick

many thanks, this is exactly what I was looking for! it looks quite helpful maybe I'll see y'all later this year! patrick Al, where is the George Session? I am interested in experiencing as much as possible.

Hey y'all, I'm going to be studying in London for the fall semester. I'll be living in Bloomsbury. I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions of what a beginner anglo player should be on the lookout for. Also is there some sort of guidebook or something to folk music around England? thanks, patrick atlanta, ga

Thanks y'all for the responses, I'll check into getting a humidity gauge strip for my case. When it first rained here after it got warm, a couple of the buttons on my concertina started to buzz. It went away though the next day and hasn't happened since (and its rained to bit more since then.) The concertina is quite new (I bought it in March from Bob Tedrow, who had only finished it a few weeks earlier) and its been behaving beautifully. Could the buzzing incident been the concertina settling or something? thanks Patrick

With the coming of summer, issues of humidity loom over my head and my pretty concertina. Any suggestions for keeping a concertina in top condition in a humid environment? Patrick Atlanta, GA

There are a couple of Quiznos comercials with the spider monkeys from the "we love the moon!"

Malcolm Dalglish taught me this song called "shawneetown" (I think its a shanty) Some rows up, but we floats down, Way down the Ohio to Shawnee Town. CHORUS And it's hard on the beach ore, She moves too slow, Way down to Shawnee Town On the Ohio. Now the current's got her, And we'll take up the slack; We'll float her down to Shawnee Town And bushwhack her back. CHORUS Whiskey's in the jug boys, Wheat is in the sack, We'll trade 'em down to Shawnee Town And bring the rock salt back. CHORUS Got a gal in Louisville, One in New Orleans, When I get down to Shawnee Town Gonna see my Indian queen. CHORUS Water's mighty warm boys, The air is cold and dank, And the cursed fog it gets so thick You cannot see the bank.

Last year Dave Brubeck and co. came to my College and did a joint concert with our chorus. We sang some of his choral works (which are really interesting.) Needless to say it was an amazing experience. Brubeck is still such great musician. Anyway, when the quartet did some songs on their own, one of the things they performed was "Blue Rondo a la Turk." It was really cool. Another cool thing was that when they did "Blue.." during the dress rehearsal, it was completely different from what they did in concert. soo cool. Patrick

In Annie Proulx's "Accordion Crimes," there is a concertina playing Irish ranch hand. The focuses mainly on the various owners of a small green button accordion. The book is very interesting, it seems quite well researched, but Proulx's characters are really the stars of the book. Proulx's voice has a nice immediacy.

no worries. The song isn't that old. The lyrics are by the poet Matusovsky, whom I hadn't heard of before. He died in 1990. The song itself is from a 1960 movie called "Girl (Девчата)." As for what I know about the difference between a garmonika and a bayan, I only know what one of my Russian professors said. The way she worded it, it seemed pretty definitive. If I'm wrong, sorry. But the text does say, garmon'. I just looked up bayan on a online russian-russian dictionary. It said that bayan is 1) a large "garmonika" with a complex system, 2) a Poet, bard, storyteller the second version isn't very common, the word for narrator is more common, rasskazchik or рассказчик. by the way, I think its awesome that this forum system lets people write in cyrillic so easily. I still haven't figured out how to do it in my email program.

The original text to "Why my Concertina Sings (the Old Maple Tree)" can be found at Пахмутова. The site also has serveral realplayer files of the song. They are quite pretty. Patrick ps just for reference, the song is not about a Bayan player. In the text, the word гармонь (garmon') is the colloquial form of гармоника (garmonika or harmonika) meaning accordion. So the original song is about a piano accordionist, not a Bayan player (a Bayan is a CBA.) edited to change the message from a request for the original text, to what I found when looking it.