Leyland Accordion Club, Leyland, Lancashire, England.

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Leyland Accordion Club - 21st January 2004

Club Membership

Thanks to those of you who have already paid your annual membership, you will see printed on your address label the year '2004' to show that you are a member until December 2004. Having an annual membership not only helps towards the costs of stamps, envelopes etc. but it allows me to trim the database down each year. We get a lot of requests for copies of the newsletter from people who then don't ever come down to the club and who don't want to pay the £5 to receive it. Those of you who haven't yet paid, but who I know are regular attendees at the club are still on the list, I only deleted people who we have never seen or who we have not seen for months.

Radio Scotland

On Saturday 21st February at 19.05, BBC Radio Scotland are broadcasting a programme called Take The Floor. On this programme, which runs for 1 hour 25 minutes, Robbie Shepherd presents the James Coutts Scottish Dance Band in session. Plus a preview of the National Association of Accordion and Fiddle Clubs 2004 Musselburgh Festival. You can get BBC Radio Scotland on any Sky Digital TV

Our Website

Our internet website has had 64877 visitors as at the 16th of February 2004, that’s 752 visitors since last month. If you are looking to sell an accordion then send it through for the newsletter but don't forget to go and put an advert on the website. The noticeboard on the site allows you to write an advert that is seen instantly by visitors to the site. The site noticeboard is useful for getting an advert out quickly if you can't wait for the newsletter. I don't mind if other clubs advertise their events on the noticeboard as long as they are not on the same night as one of our events. So don't forget to post your adverts or forthcoming concerts AND send me a copy for the newsletter.

This Wednesday

This Wednesday we have a concert featuring our own local players. The doors open at 7.30pm, make sure you turn up early for a good seat. We normally get around ten to fifteen players during the three hours. With breaks and the time taken to get the next person on to the stage it gives each player about ten minutes or three tunes worth of fame, this gives the night a good variety feel. Players don't forget your accordions, your fans are looking forward to seeing you play.I look forward to seeing you all on Wednesday. David Batty

Accordion Radio Station

Our accordion radio station has been doing very well recently. Each time a person listens to the station a counter times the amount of time that they listen. This is done for each person who listens to the station and the results are added together to give a cumulative result. In the past 30 days our radio station has broadcast 750 hours of accordion music to people who were using the Internet. This could be750 people listening for an hour, 1500 people listening for 30 minutes, or 3000 people listening for 15 minutes. The average listening time is probably about 15 or 20 minutes while people read emails or do something else on the Internet so we probably have had 2000 to 3000 people listening to the radio station over the past 30 days. This is a very large listening figure which I am really happy about. I know that I can promote the station more and get better listening figures but nobody can complain about having around 3000 listeners worldwide. The radio station along with the website has given our club great publicity worldwide. It is amazing to know that people in all corners of the world know about Leyland Accordion Club. For those of you who haven't listened in, the station, at www.accordionradio.co.uk plays 100% accordion music broadcast over the Internet 24 hours per day.

Jazz and Swing Weekends

Alan Venn is organising more Jazz and Swing weekends at Llandudno and Blackpool. These feature the accordion talents of Harry Hussey and other players on keyboards. The Blackpool event is on between the 31st of March and the 4th of April. It is split in to three sections, Accordion, Keyboard and Organ. You can book for combinations of these events. There is also an Accordion, Keyboard and Organ event at the same venue between the 11th and the 13th of June. The final event this year at Blackpool is an Organ, Keyboard and Accordion event between the 12th and the 17th of November. The Llandudno events are between the 31st of July and the 2nd of August and the 8th to the 11th of October. Telephone Alan Venn on 01204 840279 for more details, he will send you a booking form detailing all the dates, combinations and prices

Our Reputation

I was surprised when I visited a website on the Internet called Accordions Worldwide. They have a weekly news section which is translated in to about five or six languages. One of the stories was about Leyland Accordion Club. The story read:-

"Leyland Accordion Club has successfully received support for its regular program of events, and knowing of this formula might be helpful for other club organizers to enjoy the same success. The club meets on the first, third and if there is one, the fifth Wednesday of each month. The first and fifth Wednesdays of the month are informal practice nights, the third Wednesday is always a concert night. All levels of player are welcome as well as listeners who just enjoy meeting a nice crowd and hearing some good music. Practice Nights are sitting around, talking about accordions and learning from each other. The practice nights are also a chance for people to get together in an informal atmosphere with no audience in sight. A concert night features a concert by the clubs own players, each player taking to the stage for five to fifteen minutes giving the night a good variety night feel. Even on guest artist nights, a part of the evening is dedicated to enthusiastic amateurs giving their best. No reasonable offer to play will be turned down. We hope greater knowledge of these successful concepts help other club organizers."

Some of the above details were taken from our website but I was pleased that we should be selected as the template by which other clubs could improve! The site also included a wrap around photograph of our club members taken from our website. A couple of weeks later, the same story appeared in Accordion Times and News magazine. This was not a surprise because many items in that magazine are taken from the Internet but it was nice to see us chosen to be in there as well. Following this article being published, I received a phone call from a chap who was planning to start an accordion club in Basingstoke and who had seen the article in print. I gave him some advice by phone and followed it up with details in print to help him along.

Invite to Army Musicians

Musicians who served in an Army Military Band are invited to join a new group. The North West now has it's own branch of the Old Comrades Association. The first meeting in Preston is on February the 29th at 12.30pm. For further details or a map of the venue, ring 01772 494363.

Accordion Stickers

The accordion stickers we have been distributing at the club have been well received. They fit nicely across a hard accordion case. Having these on your case will not only advertise the club, but will hopefully make you some new accordion contacts. People who see the stickers will know your interest and you might approach you with tales of an accordion in the attic or the back of a wardrobe looking for a good home. The stickers have the club name, telephone number and website address on them in red letters on a white background. Some of these stickers are currently doing the rounds on the back of lorries. I got a phone call a few days ago after a woman had seen one of our stickers on the back of a lorry on the road to Burscough. She didn't have her glasses on so had to drive close to the lorry to get the phone number but she managed it without incident! She told me about an event at Scarisbrick Hall on Monday the 12th of April. They are organising a fundraising event and wondered if we would like to have a couple of half hour spots on the stage to help them, but also to publicise our club as well. They are hoping for 4000 people to attend the one day event which is on Easter Monday.

More Stickers

Since the last newsletter we now have stickers for the inside of a car rear window, these are much smaller than the big stickers mentioned above and they are sticky on the front of them to allow them to stick to the insides of car windows. I did have both of these stickers at the last concert night, they were well received. Ask on the door at the club for either of the stickers, both are free to good homes. More promotional material is due out next month.

Eastbourne Accordion Festival

The new Eastbourne Accordion Festival starts on Friday, if you need a last minute booking form then you can pick one up from the club on Wednesday night. The organiser John Romero is happy to take last minute bookings or enquiries on 01323 733700.

Melodion Wanted

Roy Fisher is looking for a Melodion suitable for a beginner. If you have one or can help Roy in his quest, you can telephone him on 01772 600383.

Accordion For Sale

GUERRINI WATKINS 5 row chromatic 96 bass musette, double cassotto,in black, beautifully decorated, 11/3 couplers, with added Musictech “Q” link MIDI, plus case (with wheel). Excellent condition but just too heavy for me. £2000 bargain price.(new +plus MIDI about £4000) ring Martin (York area) 01759-371383

Bridlington Festival

Last month, I reported that the Bridlington Festival had changed it's date from a 14th of October 2004 start, to the 27th -31st of October 2004. That was last month, this month it's back to the 14th of October being the start date for the festival.