Renee de la Prade of Oakland, Calif., Miss May 2011 and founder of the annual Accordion Babes calendar, will bring her mix of classical, Celtic, rock and punk styles to the National Accordion Symposium in Cedar Rapids from Sept. 23 to 25, 2011. (Larry Utley photo)

By Diana Nollen/ SourceMedia Group

A convergence of accordions is nothing new for Cedar Rapids, thanks to the area’s Czech and German roots. But the sounds coming out of these age-old instruments will be totally new when the National Accordion Symposium comes to town Friday through Sunday.

The event was planned, in part, to honor the memory of Cedar Rapids accordion icons Arlene Boddicker, Leonard Reyman and Leo Greco, all of whom died in the past year. Saturday’s workshop wrap-up from 3 to 4 p.m. at Gatherings restaurant will feature tributes to them.

“All of those people really made a difference here in terms of our local music,” says Jim Jacobmeyer, 59, of Cedar Rapids, one of the event organizers. “Leo was scheduled to do a presentation at the symposium. … It just seemed timely to put this together.”

The idea also spun out of ways to get the younger generation involved with the annual Czech Fall Fest in Czech Village.

“We were looking at something we could do to connect with Czech culture and tradition,” Jacobmeyer says, “and accordion music just seemed like a natural to us. … The idea was to take a look at what was happening with accordion music.”

Skeptics are coming around, as they see the overwhelming response to the event, he says.

It seems plenty of hip young musicians are packing plenty of oomph into the oompah-pah nowadays.

“That’s true for every generation — the instruments don’t change much, just the application and how it reflects on a contemporary society,” Jacobmeyer says.

This new generation players will bring their expertise to a series of symposium workshops open to anyone, not just musicians. They will show off their music form indoors at Gatherings in New Bohemia and at various bars and eateries in New Bo and Czech Village during a Saturday pub-crawl. They’ll also spice up Friday’s BrewNost! fundraiser at Veterans Memorial Stadium and add some jammin’ jazz to Saturday and Sunday concerts.

Their Saturday workshops will look at Celtic, rock, improv, Cajun and button box techniques as well as writing music for accordion.

One performer/presenter embodies all those topics.

Maggie Martin of Petaluma, Calif., Miss July for the 2011 Accordion Babes calendar, will perform with The Mad Maggies during BrewNost!, a fundraiser for the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library on Sept. 23, 2011, during the National Accordion Symposium in Cedar Rapids. (John Clayton photo)

Squeezebox goddess Renee de la Prade brings years of classical training to her amalgam of Irish, Cajun, French, rock, punk and hip-hop vibes. She’s played in the subways of Boston and the street corners of San Francisco. Sometimes she moves her music inside. This time, she’s moving it around Cedar Rapids.

She’ll be easy to spot in the crowd. She’s the one sporting pink hair.

And she’s a babe. An official Accordion Babe, with four years of calendars and a musical tour to prove it.

The project was her brainchild and she’s been thrilled to watch it grow. The 2012 calendar will soon debut, featuring accordions artfully draped over their scantily clad, profusely talented players.

“It started off as a fantasy in my head,” de la Prade, 31, says by phone from her home in Oakland, Calif. First came a sexy photo shot in San Francisco’s Mission District, then a pitch for more to other female players entering the accordion shop where she works.

“When I had enough interest, I decided to make it happen,” she says. “The first year (2009), I had 15 Accordion Babes. Now I’m turning them away every year.”

She and her pinup girls hit the road this summer to show off their sexy virtuosity. Two of those pinups, Roxanne Oliva and Maggy Martin, also are coming to the Cedar Rapids symposium.

A California native, soprano de la Prade studied voice and composition in Boston, sang in a progressive rock band during those years, then picked up an accordion at age 20. Irish and zydeco music fueled her fascination with button accordion.

“I fell in love with Irish music and that was the motivator,” she says.

Accordion Babes 2011 calendar cover girl Roxanne Oliva of Sonoma County, Calif., will present a workshop on "€œCheap Tricks for Simple Celtic Tunes" during the National Accordion Symposium from Sept. 23 to 25, 2011, in Cedar Rapids. (Ron Wood photo)

“When I changed over from being a rock ’n’ roll to folk musician, it just made sense to use that (instrument), since it’s used in those styles,” she says. “It’s because of the rhythms. (Button accordion) gives really neat rhythms. I think more like a rhythm player than anyone else in a band except maybe the drummer.”

Even then, she adds her own percussion through stomps and travels with her own little stage to amplify those stomps.

“I’m like a one-man band, trying to create a groove that will carry a tune,” she says. “I’ve been adding a stomp since I started playing, but a friend convinced me to bring a stage along so the stomp is a musical instrument instead of just a sound. Plus, it’s better on the knee and heel. …

“I’m doing it for the rhythm,” she says. “If the rhythm is really hard, I just start jumping the rhythm. Some songs, you’ll just see me jumping in the air halfway through.”

She learned button accordion techniques after a week of hard-core lessons at a music camp, then spent three months learning by listening to CDs and embarked on playing Boston train stations.

After graduating in 2004, she headed back to the streets of San Francisco.

She still plays on street corners there, produces the Accordion Babes album and calendar, fixes and sells accordions, teaches and tours. She recently quit playing with Irish zydeco roots rockers Culann’s Hounds, but still gigs with Whiskey and Women.

For now, she makes the most money doing street shows. That may change thanks to her Accordion Babes projects.

“I have a special little leprechaun pot for my lucky tip jar,” she says. On her best days, she can make $250 from passers-by. A typical day brings in $40 to $80.

“Most people try to ignore you as a street performer,” she says. “If they’ve got children, children cannot ignore street performers. That will get me lots of tips. They’re just more aware.”

Her supportive family isn’t worried about her musical directions.

“My grandfather was a famous songwriter, so they know I can make money,” she says. “They get worried because I don’t have health insurance and I’m living in a leaky warehouse.”

That famous grandpa is Nacio Herb Brown, who wrote the music for “Singin’ in the Rain,” the 1952 film starring Gene Kelly, as well as “dozens and dozens” of hit tunes spanning the 1920s to ’50s.

“The best part of making the accordion scene is networking with the Accordion Babes,” she says. “Meeting other women in the music industry is rare and treasured. It’s so male dominated. Oddly, a lot of people think the calendar is being exploitative, but what it’s really done is brought a collaboration of great artists who never would have met each other. It empowered me to leave a band I wasn’t having much fun with, because I’m having fun with the Accordion Babes.”

FAST TAKE

• What: Think Outside the Squeezebox! National Accordion Symposium
• When: Friday through Sunday, Sept. 23 to 25, 2011
• Where: Various Cedar Rapids venues
• Events: BrewNost! 6 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, Veterans Memorial Stadium, 950 Rockford Rd. SW, $60 advance, $70 at door, www.ncsml.org/Events/20101015/46/BREWNOST-An-international-beer-tasting.aspx
• Workshops: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, various sites; registration, 9 to 10 a.m., wrap-up, 3 to 4 p.m., Gatherings Restaurant, 905 Third St. SE; topics: Celtic, rock, improv, Cajun, button box, writing for accordion; adults $55 half day, $75 full day; students $30 half day, $45 full day; discounts today at www.thinkingoutsidethesqueezebox.com/registration.asp
• Pub-Crawl, Trolley Tour, Roving Minstrel Revelry: 4 to 6 p.m., Saturday, New Bohemia and Czech Village; drink specials at Gatherings, Parlor City, Capone’s, Tornado’s, Little Bohemia, Red Baron, CJ’s, Ernie’s, Blue Toad, Red Frog, Smuggler’s Wharf
•  All Accordion Jam: 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Gatherings, 905 Third St. SE; $5, free with symposium badge
• Czech Fall Fest: 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Czech Village, 16th Ave. SW; www.czechvillagecedarrapids.com
• Accordion Dance Party Finale: 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Red Baron Bar and Dance Club, 62 16th Ave. SW; $5, free with symposium badge
• Information: www.thinkingoutsidethesqueezebox.com or email new.bohemia@gmail.com

BrewNost!

Friday, Sept. 23, 2011

Good beer — check. Good food — check. Good cause — Czech. Here’s your chance to lightly tip a few for good. This annual fundraiser for the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library is on the move, just like the museum, and has landed in the concourse and pavilion at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Beer seems a natural pairing for the ballpark, but wine is on the menu, too, along with hors d’oeuvres created by Corridor chefs, a silent auction, an Old World Market and the chance to win the Golden Prague Getaway raffle. Speaking of golden opportunities, straight from the Golden Gate comes the rowdy folk fusion of The Mad Maggies. It’s a party, so everybody cut loose, footloose, to the sounds of accordion, saxes, whistle, tuba and more from this San Francisco beat treat.

BrewNost! 6 to 9:30 p.m. Friday (9/23), Veterans Memorial Stadium, 950 Rockford Rd. SW, Cedar Rapids, $60 advance, $70 at door, www.ncsml.org/Events/20101015/46/BREWNOST-An-international-beer-tasting.aspx

Czech Fall Fest

Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 24 and 25, 2011

Pancakes, pumpkins, polkas and pub crawls will team up with tubas, trolleys, chalk and Czechs for this year’s fall festival in Czech Village. Music will provide the surround sound for the annual event, with concerts indoors and out and a seminar on the changing face of polka music. Need proof? Check out the national accordion symposium in the village and New Bohemia sites across the river. You’ll hear everything from rock and blues to Jewish klezmer music squeezing out of keyboard and button boxes that may look old-school, but sound totally new. St. Wenceslaus Church will be holding a folk Mass and dishing up goulash Sunday with ethnic flair. Kids can get in on the action, too, making chalk murals and playing at their own fair on Sunday. Pumpkins will be plentiful, too, for carving, eating and chucking, not necessarily in that order. Vitame Vas!

Czech Fall Fest: 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday (9/24) and 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sunday (9/25), Czech Village, 16th Avenue SW, Cedar Rapids; http://czechvillagecedarrapids.com