Hi Everyone. I hope, like me, you are enjoying the warm weather.

June Clubnite Having 'test driven' a possible new venue last month (more on this

later), the June clubnite, 18th June, will take place back in the

Goldenhill Workingmen’s Club.

After our usual playing circle we will be hosting Julie Best as our guest and can

expect some wonderful accordion music entertainment. Many of us heard Julie as a

guest player at the 'Time to Sing' event at Knutsford last year where she excelled. She

comes from Carlisle, and plays in many different styles of music. During her years on

the competition circuits she gained 3rd place twice in the advanced UK championship

and won the UK Premier Duets three times with her colleague, Jean Corrigan. We can

look forward to something special.

April Clubnite - Steve Roxton & Jean Dauvin

Tuesday 16th

April

Our guest artists, Steve Roxton from Middlesbrough

and Jean Dauvin from Normandy, brought their lovely

wives, Maggie and Therese, to our concert in April at

Goldenhill club. Steve and Jean’s last duet

performance at our club was in July 2012 and our

account of that event included ‘anyone who could not

make it missed a treat’. This time, in my view, their

performance was even better.

Our entertainment began at 7.30 pm with a playing

circle. About 20 of our playing members gathered

together and they thoroughly enjoyed themselves entertaining the audience with music from our ‘circle

book’. This set the scene for the whole evening and after this performance Steve Roxton took the stage.

Steve’s first solo spot included The Wild Rover, some lively bierkeller songs, a Russian medley and Luce

e Ombre. Then he was joined by Jean for the Cuckoo Waltz and Marches des Accordeonistes Lyonais.

Jeans’ first solo spot included La Marche des Mineurs, Brise Napolitaine, La Paloma and Tico Tico.

Then he was joined by his wife, Therese (she prefers Te Te), when she came on stage to sing Padam

Padam, La Vie En Rose and Kiss Me Honey Honey Kiss Me.

During the interval we had our raffle, with an abundance of prizes, and our attendant members’ award,

which wasn’t won and rolled over to May.

In the second half we enjoyed a superb performance by Steve and Jean and Te Te provided ‘the icing on

the cake’ when she sang Cherry Pink, Perhaps, Perhaps Perhaps and No Regrets.

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We planned to finish our concert evening at 10.00 pm but the audience was enjoying the music so much

that I hadn’t the heart to bring our concert to a conclusion. At about 10.30 pm Steve and Jean played Now

Is the Hour and Auld Lang Syne, and we all sang along. What a great way to conclude a fabulous

evening!

Best wishes, Mike.

Players' Theme Night Tuesday 21st May

This month our players’ night was different from our norm in many respects. Your committee had decided

to hold it as a trial in a different venue, the Bistro at ‘Belong’ in Newcastle, so, prior to the event, we were

all hoping for a very successful trial. At this juncture, we had looked at several possible venues and we

felt that ‘Belong’ was the best we’d seen so far.

Although we anticipated a few teething problems, when Barbara and I arrived at about 6.30 with Tony

and Steve to prepare for the evening, we were surprised by the number of residents who were present in

the bistro. Furthermore, there were no available tables for our club members – we had plenty of chairs but

there was a dearth of tables. In spite of this, in my view we

had a great night and we learnt some very useful lessons.

I have been encouraging our playing members to provide

some variety in their entertainment and I was delighted when

Helen and Bruno turned up with two of their friends – Phil

on the guitar and Kerry on the tambourine. After the interval

this newly formed quartet played and sang Wooden Heart,

The Leaving of Liverpool and The Wanderer. I thoroughly

enjoyed their performance and at one point, when they were

playing The Wanderer, Barbara and I were able to rock and

roll. They have promised to perform for us again and (wait for it), Phil is joining our Monday group for

accordion lessons – brilliant!

Vivienne and Peter’s performance (pictured

above) was another success story and that’s an

understatement – they were excellent. A few

weeks ago I’d asked Viv if she’d encourage

Pete to do some singing at one of our club

nights, so I was pleasantly surprised when

they turned up on the night ‘raring to go’.

They took to the floor at about 9.45 (Viv on

the accordion and Pete on vocals) and they performed Banks of the Ohio, The Water Is Wide and

Singing the Blues. The audience

thoroughly enjoyed singing the choruses

and this proved to be a superb way of

finishing the night’s entertainment.

During the evening Betty and Ken (above

right) played a duet. They played Swiss

Miss and following on from their debut,

they’re now practising other duets. Paul

on the accordion and Lee on the saxophone played Try A Little Tenderness, All of Me and Georgia.

What a treat! - and yet again another excellent injection of musical variety.

Over the course of the evening lots of other people played solos,

including the following (the theme for the evening was ‘water’):

Geoff Burndrett - Scotland the Brave and Chase Me Charlie, Betty

Nixon – Cruising Down the River, Ken Hall – Banks Of the Ohio,

Ann Millward (above left) – Captain Pugwash, The Banks and

Braes of Bonny Doon, Portsmouth and Hebridian Water, Moira

Hague (left) – Marie Elena and Pokarekara Ana, Tony Britton

(above right) – Handel’s Water Music, Somewhere over the

Rainbow and My Heart Will Go On, Steve Hughes – Onedin Line

and Sleepy Lagoon.

We had about 35 club members present at our clubnite and due to the lack of space/tables, we were very

cosy, the ambience was excellent and some of our soloists were less nervous about performing in this

‘close knit’ environment. Everyone I’ve spoken to noticed the difference but in several other respects

Belong doesn’t satisfy our requirements. Let’s keep looking!

Mike Richards

THE NAO UNITED KINGDOM ACCORDION CHAMPIONSHIPS 70th Anniversary

26-28 April 2019. Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool

As we prepared for our entry into the Newcastle Music Festival early in 2019 our MD Steve Houghton

enthused about the forthcoming NAO Accordion Championships to be held in Liverpool and expressed

interest in entering our band for an event that caters solely for accordion players, at some future time.

Three of us, ‘recent recruits’, were intrigued and

decided to attend the event at the Adelphi Hotel from

Friday 26 to Monday 29 April with our respective

spouses.

What a great decision! The Adelphi is a magnificent

building situated in the centre of the city It is the perfect

location for partners for whom a full weekend’s

accordion experience requires diluting with a little light

sight-seeing and a perfect treat for the rest of us who

chose to steep ourselves in the wonderful skills of

accordion players of all ages. The huge sparkling

chandeliers lit up the trade stands in the lounge and time

was spent enviously browsing new instruments. Steve

Houghton joined us and was thrilled to find mention of

his old teacher in the magazines on the memorabilia

table.

Competition classes ranged from those for under 7’s to

seniors, with solos, ensembles, bands and entertainers

from many countries. Even late starters and returners

were catered for. It was difficult to choose which

classes to watch. We gazed in awe at the lightning

speed of fingers as they flashed up and down the

mystery keyboards of button accordions in virtuoso

performances of a great variety of music.

We were enthralled watching the Masterclass presented

by Frederic Deschamps. He improved what appeared to

be perfect performances by correcting seating positions

and bellows techniques. He fastened one small boy’s legs together with his father’s belt to show how

button accordions with their ‘cut off’ corners need to be held and several players had the bass straps of

their bellows fastened up to prevent opening from the bottom and consequent loss of air. Fascinating!

Saturday evening saw the cutting of the 70th

Anniversary Celebration Cake, with the youngest (3yrs) and

oldest members doing the honours, followed by a lively ceilidh. It was good to see the young people

letting their hair down!

On Sunday following some wonderful entertainment classes I was pleased to represent the North Staffs

Accordion Club in the Vintage Orchestra, all playing elderly instruments and performing a selection of

music including an Al Jolson sing-along. This was followed by the Prize Presentation of a huge number

of trophies and certificates. Qualifying Classes had been held for entry into competitions in China and

Portugal.

It was hard to choose a favourite performance but some of my highlights included the performances of the

Scottish Shand family children (no relation to Jimmy Shand) - three children who performed in the under

12, 13 and 14 classes; the wonderful Irish Royal Meath Ensemble; in the Entertainment Section the

‘RonniElaine Entertainers’ who played, sang and danced a selection from Oliver and the magical Israeli

‘Friends of Emil’. And of course the sensational Junior Virtuoso Annalize Bodell.

We had a wonderful time and are already planning next year’s trip. We hope you will join us!

Viv Cowie

The Magic of Musicality by Steve Houghton (aged 60 and a quarter)

My musical experience began at St Thomas’s Primary School in my home town

of Kendal in 1968, where I passed a musical aptitude test at the age of 10 and

began to learn the violin. I was upholding a family tradition as my dad played at

school and my granny played in a chamber orchestra. My first violin teacher

was Christine Price, who went on to give birth to sextuplets in 1976.

Starting Kendal Grammar School in 1969, I began private violin lessons and

entered for the Westmorland Mary Wakefield festival in 1971. I placed well

down the field in my first and only entry into a solo section of a music festival

to date! After I progressed to a second teacher, who played in the local chamber

orchestra, he suggested that I enter for my first music exam at grade 4.

However, I got cold feet and, overwhelmed by the prospect of a scary exam, I

stopped playing at age 14 after 4 years. However, Mum and Dad encouraged me

to continue with music if I found interest in a different instrument.

My Eureka moment came whilst watching Yorkshire TV’s Junior Showtime series. I was intrigued by

several young accordion players and thought I’d like to try the accordion as it looked easier than the

violin (but then, what isn’t?). I’d love to know who my inspirational players were; 45 years on, they’re

probably now amongst the accordion elite. My dad tracked down a well-used gold-sparkled Settimio

Soprani 80 bass with a single wrist coupler, and set about finding a teacher.

After trying a few disappointing leads, a tip-off led him to contact Peter Barcock who played in a local

dance band, the Hi-Lites, and coincidentally worked in the office block next to my dad’s work. A deal was

struck, and Peter graciously came to my house, free of charge, for a Tuesday night lesson every week for

the next 4 years until I left for university in 1976. Armed with the

Sedlon Accordion Method tutor books, from Mamelok’s in

Manchester, Peter taught me the basics plus his own preferences

for fancy bass runs, a light bass touch, and of course the classic 3, 2

fingered bass (not the trendy 4, 3, 2 fingers used today). Together

we visited NAO festivals at Perth (1973) and Brighton (1974), plus

several visits to the local Carlisle festival, where Peter himself

entered the Entertainment section and was subsequently featured

on Border TV local news.

Having an enthusiastic teacher listening, we now felt the Settimio Soprani sounded rather rough, so Dad

set about learning how to improve it; replacing, tuning and sealing reeds with hot wax, plugging bellows

leaks etc. Fortuitously a better quality Hohner Verdi V 120 bass came up for sale around that time, which

we eagerly snapped up for £80 and which I still own. Dad then took over the Settimio and taught himself

to play along with me.

My grammar school celebrated its 450th

anniversary in 1975 during my lower sixth year,

and a student teacher who danced with the

Kendal Morris Men hatched a plan to form a

celebratory school Morris team of 6th

form boys.

I was roped in to learn a few tunes ranging from

Bean Setting (Bampton) to Constant Billy

(Adderbury). Our team duly performed at the

school’s summer fete, the chairman of governors’

garden party (not as posh as it sounds!) and the 450th

celebration Medieval Banquet in the school hall,

complete with jesters, jugglers and serving maids.

I moved to work in Cheshire in 1983 and joined NSAC in 1989, after seeing an advert in Newcastle

library. George Karklins invited me to join the recently formed band, where I played 3rds alongside Ron

Slack, and later Roy Degg and Joan Bamford, still using my Hohner. If you were around in the 90’s, you

may have heard Peter Barcock playing as an NSAC guest artist in 1991 and again in 1995. As the band

developed I moved to 1sts, took over the MC role after Dennis Wakefield retired from the band, and

became band MD in 2012 when Geoff Millward took a well-earned rest after 19 years at the baton.

My family had an interest in folk music and had taken me to

ceilidh dances, which steered me towards dabbling with folk

tunes and eventually forming a ceilidh band of musicians

from my local church, in 1990. We were an 8-piece band

called Fiddlestix, with ages from teens to middle aged,

including my future wife Cathryn playing guitar. I trained up

a couple of callers and we performed around 6 – 8 gigs per

year, ranging from church events, to weddings, birthdays and

WI meetings. The group slowly disbanded around 2001 as the

younger members left for University or work elsewhere, and

two older members moved to South Wales, where they formed their own ceilidh band. Cathryn, now my

lovely wife, learnt to call a few dances to teach to her school pupils, which led on to the two of us

forming a calling duo for more recent ceilidhs, but using recorded music only. I’m glad we have been able

to pass on our English folk dance knowledge to several new players and callers, in true folk tradition.

I used the Hohner for many years while I saved for my first brand new instrument and bought a double

cassotto Paolo Soprani Super Paolo 120 bass from Gina’s Accordion World in 1993. Although being a

fine instrument it was straight tuned and didn’t sound right for ceilidhs, so another trip to Gina’s in 1995

added a double cassotto Guerrini Classic 96 bass with a sweet musette to my collection. I still play both

instruments, depending on the style of music.

After taking the baton for the band I don’t find time to play very much at the moment, although I always

have a burst of activity after being inspired by the young players at the annual NAO festival, currently

held in Liverpool each spring; if you’ve never been, I thoroughly recommend a visit. Cathryn and I

continue to call for occasional ceilidhs, and sometimes convene an ad-hoc ceilidh band from talented

musicians at our current church.

I am deeply indebted to Peter, without whom I would never have developed my current skills and

understanding of accordion technique and the magic of musicality that have made all of this possible.

Thanks Peter!

Photos : 1 With Roy Degg in 1990

2 Band at Queen’s Gardens 1990

3 Peter Barcock as guest at our club pictured with Mike Richards, 1991

An evening with the North Staffs Accordion Band – an extract from the church magazine with kind permission from author, Pat Nutt.

St. Werburgh’s Church held their first fundraising event of the year on 6th

April, when North Staffs

Accordion Band visited us. At the same event we were entertained by local talented guitarist Barry

Mosley. We had a great evening. We were entertained by 16 very accomplished and friendly musicians,

including someone well known to us all, Viv Cowie. The orchestra also received excellent support from a

Mr Cowie, who provided necessary sound effects in the rendition of ‘Magnificent Men in Their Flying

Machines’. The orchestra leader chatted to us between items, introducing the songs and telling us a few

jokes, and we had song sheets

provided so we could sing along with

the band. Plenty of singing and foot

tapping to a wide variety of songs.

A break for refreshments offered our

three ‘Trolley Dollies’, (or should I

say Trolley Grannies), an opportunity

to hand around the wine and biscuits.

I would like to say we had to

‘squeeze’ people in church to join us,

but, unfortunately, we had plenty of

empty seats. However we who went

along had a memorable evening and if you were unable to go you missed a treat. £183 was raised for our

Church Funds.

Community Music this Month by Tony Britton

Playing at local care homes currently tends to be towards the

northern end of The Potteries. Our latest visit, however, saw us

venturing a little further south to the ‘The Chimes’ Care Home in

Penkull.

The smaller homes can only accommodate 3 or 4 players, so it’s

good to draw on local players. Pictured are regulars Tony, Ann,

Betty, and on this occasion, Mike representing our southern players.

As well as providing community music, our charity funds benefit

from a small donation from the homes.

Diary

Accordion Tuition

Pauline Hardwick Tel 01782 397298 accordion and/piano

Stefan Andrusyschyn Tel 07958261024 accordion and piano

John Romero Tel 01606 270148 accordion and keyboard

Club Management President Steve Houghton 01270 768178

Committee

Chairman Mike Richards 01782 642101

Secretary Steve Hughes 01782 787935

Treasurer Mike Richards (acting) 01782 642101

Safeguarding Mike Richards 01782 642101

Tony Britton, Helen Brown, Ken Hall,

Paul Hobbs, Margaret and Lee Slater.

Newsletter Editor Lily Lynch - accordions@northstaffsaccordionclub.co.uk

Band Bookings Betty Nixon - betty.nixon@tiscali.co.uk

Web address - www.northstaffsaccordionclub.co.uk

REGISTERED CHARTITY No 1180528

Holditch Working Men’s Club

Mondays except day before

Clubnite

6.00 - 7.00pm Band music practice

7.15 – 8.30pm Beginners’ class

Bradwell Workingmen’s Club:

Tuesdays other than 3rd

7.00pm 'Fun' music with use of bass

7.30pm Pre-rehearsal session and

8.00-10.00 Band rehearsal

2nd Thursday 12.30 –3.30p.m. Solo and group session

Goldenhill Workingmen’s Club

3rd Tuesday of month 7.30pm Club night

June 18th Julie Best

July 17th Players' Night

August 20th Players' Night (theme)

September 17th AGM and Players' Night

October 15th Players' Night (theme)

November 19th Helen Rich and Walter Perrie

December 17th Celtic Fettlers

Band Appearances

Saturday 22nd

June 1.00 pm Medical Institute, Hartshill

Sunday 21st July 11.00 am Hanley Park Bandstand