{image1} A couple of years ago, Don Turner had a dream: He and a bunch of friends were sitting around his living room playing accordions. This wasn't far-fetched for Turner because he had experimented with the squeezebox before, but who were all of these friends? He didn't know anyone who played accordion, except his significant other, Sarah Kozar, and their friend, Tom Landre, who hadn't played in a while.
"In the '50s and '60s, everybody and their mother played accordion," says Kozar. "Today, it's a kitschy Milwaukee thing."
In the spirit of "if we build it, they will come," Turner and Kozar decided to start the Riverwest Accordion Club (RAC) and hopefully bring Turner's dream to fruition. Kozar wanted to have potlucks in their Riverwest flat anyway, so incorporating the two events seemed like a good idea.
"Our club gives a little 'oomph' and ingenuity to the city, but most importantly, it brings people together," says Kozar.
The RAC has members that range from seasoned musicians to novices, and word-of-mouth advertising has united accordionists from all walks of life. Over the past couple of years, the group has grown to a loyal eight accordion players, a tuba player and a drummer. Practices are held once or twice a month, but attendees vary -- Kozar, Turner and a couple of others are the club's anchors.
All potluck/practices are held in Kozar's dining room, among beautiful, moody oil paintings, felines and an accordion collection. The group sits in a small circle, drinking, eating and most of all, squeezing.
On this particular night, homemade pizza is the meal of choice, and a jug of brown ale sits on the counter in the kitchen. Al Bunde, the club's "Ambassador of Beer," former brewmaster at Stout Brothers, is also one of the few club members with perfect attendance. Although he claims to have "played a little accordion at beer camp," he didn't really start squeezing until last fall.
"I don't know what happened. I got possessed and bought an accordion," says Bunde.
Linda Mueller is one of the newer members of the club. "I saw them playing at Onopa, and I had to join," she says, while holding her small Lo Duca accordion in her lap like a child. She says her friends found the $50 accordion at a thrift shop just north of Cedarburg.
Pamela Scesniak, a teacher and Milwaukee artist best known for her sandblasted pictographs on Brady Street, has seven accordions and decided to join the club because she "wanted to do something creative in a different way." Tonight, she's playing her Wurlitzer, a beautiful white instrument with hand-painted flowers and rhinestones. It's the "mother" accordion to the one Kozar plays, a smaller version with the same adornments.
But RAC members agree, Kozar and Turner are the true musicians in their 'cordion clan and the glue that holds the group together. Kozar, the warm and spirited hostess, is also a singer in a honky-tonk Western swing band, The Western Starlanders. Turner is a member of The Nelsonics and used to play with the Jolly Jackpot Trio, featuring Landre on the accordion.
"I saw Tom playing his accordion, and he was having such a great time, and I said 'that's what I want to do!'" says Turner.
Other club members include Paul Setzer, Paul Anders, Michelle Pietzrak-Wegner and Mike Chaltry on tuba. Kozar, who has studied piano since she was a kid, plays the accordion with both hands, a technique coveted by amateurs. "Some play with one hand, some play with both, but it doesn't matter. We just put it all together, and it sounds great," she says.
Food is a big part of the Monday night jam sessions -- so much so that the group is thinking about creating an Accordion Club Recipe Book filled with what Kozar calls "the songs we play and the food we eat."
RAC has a tremendous repertoire of tunes -- some that include singing and some that are just instrumental -- including Johnny Cash, Elvis, Bob Marley, polkas, gospel, Irish, old standards like "Hava Negila," patriotic, the theme from "Pink Panther" and even The Carpenter's "Close to You." They also perform a rollicking medley of beer commercial jingles and an electrifying version of "La Bamba."
Best of all, at the end of every song, they each throw one arm above their head and shout, "Yay!"
RAC frequently roves around the city, playing impromptu shows. On St. Patrick's Day, they strolled from pub to pub playing Irish ditties, and at Christmas time, they caroled from door to door. They have also performed at weddings, private parties and bar gigs, including opening for Those Darn Accordions.
"The club satisfies everyone who joins," says Scesniak. "I'm not a musician, but there's no pressure. I just love the music."
The Riverwest Accordion Club will perform a free show on Friday, April 15 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at OMC's "Cuttin' the Cheese for Charity," 320 E. Buffalo St., above Moda3. They will also play Saturday, April 23 at The M&M Club from 8 to 11 p.m.
Riverwest Accordion Club's Web site is riverwestaccordionclub.com, e-mail Sarah Kozar info@riverwestaccordionclub.com or call (414) 265-0683.
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
