Our January Concert started with Colin Ensor playing Please, The Maigret Theme, Island Of Dreams and Charmaine. Sara Daly then took to the stage and played Fathers Waltz, Drunken Sailor and Santiagno. It was now time for our guest artist David Vernon to start his first half, his opening number was Romagnola Bella.  David continued with some Scottish pieces:- John McDonalds Farewell To Oban, The Breakdown and The Athol Highlanders. The music continued with Reproche which was followed by a Quick Short Story which contained 96 Beatles Titles! Back to playing the accordion David continued with The Godfather Theme and then a self written piece called Terminal 3 (It was given this title because he wrote it in Terminal 3 waiting for a plane). The accordion standard Bourrasque led us to  Voi Che Sapete.  We returned to Scottish music with The F Set, Wally Wilsons Waltz, John Stephen O Chance Inn, The Wind That Shakes The Piggery, Donald Ian Rankine, Jeans Reel and to take us to the break Jaqueline Waltz. David was chatting with many people in the break and selling his CD's. After the break I started the second half by playing Oslo Waltz, Barcarole and Sailors Hornpipe. I then left the stage and Bernard Bamber took over playing The Green Hills Of Antrim, Old Flames, Morningtown Ride, Do Ye Ken John Peel, Galway Shawl and Waltzing Matilda. Our next player was Ann Parker playing Chopsticks, Finger Polka and Spanish Eyes. There was just time for Graham Driver to entertain us, Graham played Weasel's Revenge, Jaqueline Waltz, Upton On Severn Stick Dance and Three Jolly Sheepskins. It was now time for our guest artist David Vernon to finish the night. David started his second half with Jerusalem, he then went in to a Scottish section which included Balmoral Highlanders. David continued with  Greenbank Hornpipe (which he wrote himself), Old Cambridge Hornpipe and a Polish Medley. After Farwell To The Fatherland we returned to Scotland with The Dark Island (David informed us that the proper title is Dr McKays Farewell To Craigory). It was now nearing the end of the night and time for some audience favourites to finish.  David played Roulette Wheel then the accordion favourites Dancing Fingers, Happy Hour Polka, Bel Viso and to finish the night he played The Flying Scotsman.  We enjoyed a great night of entertainment from David who had travelled down from Edinburgh and who travelled back the same night!  I have to thank him for making the journey even though we were going through a cold spell that put a few people off coming to the club. We have put  two videos on Youtube that were filmed on the night, visit www.youtube.com/accordiontv to see what you missed if you were not there.

David Batty

The next meeting of the Wyre Club is on Wednesday 27th February 2013 at The North Euston Hotel on the Esplanade at Fleetwood, FY7 6BN. Further details are on tel. 01772 864887.

This club is on every Tuesday at The Place In The Park, 109 Liscard Road, Wallasey CH44 9AE. The night starts at 7pm. The format of this club is a playaround circle where people sit in a circle and play in order round the circle.

This Wednesday is a local players night featuring our home grown talent.  Make sure  you bring your accordion and make sure you say hello to someone you have not spoken to before. Its great seeing the friendships happen as people chat at the breaks.  Remember to bring any friends or family  who might like a night out.  Doors open at 7.30 for an 8pm start. Make sure you get there early for a good seat and a good chat before the concert starts. See you there.

We have recently created a website for The Black Country Accordion Club at www.theblackcountryaccordionclub.co.uk and although not finished yet I am currently showing them how to add information to it themselves such as their newsletters. This will let you read another clubs newsletters and maybe get ideas for tunes?

The NAAFC Annual Festival is held on Saturday 2nd March 2013 starting at 9.00 am. This is held at the Inchyra Grange Hotel, Polmont, FK2 0YB. For Further Details and Entry Forms Contact Lorna Mair, 7 Lathro Lane, Kinross, KY13 8RX. Telephone: 01577 862337, E-mail: lorna.mair@ymail.com.

Composer for Open Accordion Championship - Marie Fielding, Composer for Open Fiddle Championship - Ian Powrie, New Section - Accordion Showband. Band competition includes Trophy for Junior Band.

Adjudicators: Accordion - Liam Stewart, Alexander Lindsay,    Gary Donaldson. Fiddle - Claire Telford, Tom Lapsley, Douglas Lawrence. Classical - Wayne Robertson, Djordje Gajic. Rhythm - Scott Gordon. You can enter online at www.boxandfiddle.com Evening Concert commencing at the conclusion of the Band Competition. Dance to Tom Orr and his Scottish Dance Band Starting at 9pm.

Irish folk musician and accordion player Sharon Shannon will be on Womans Hour on Friday 22nd February 2013 on BBC Radio 4 (Sky channel 0104) from 10:00 to 10:45

Rob Beecroft has a new website now at www.accordioncentre.com where he lists models for sale and his other services.  As many of you know we have plenty of club members who go down to see Rob to get their accordions tuned or fixed.  If you do contact Rob then please tell him you found out about him from Leyland Accordion Club newsletter.

For those who don't know what these are on the forthcoming dates they are nights where we don't have performers/audience, we all sit around the room and chat, play, drink coffee, learn from others or just have a relaxing time for a few hours. Why not join us?

Howard Goodall's Story of Music is on BBC 2 North West (Sky channel 102) on Saturday 23rd February at 21:30 to 22:30 In this programme composer Howard Goodall looks at the period when modernism in music arrived and when the birth of recorded sound changed the way music was heard, played, and sold, forever.

Sharon Shannon is celebrating 21 Years of her solo career and the first dates outside of Ireland as part of the celebration are in the UK, here is a list of the nearest concerts. After touring the UK Sharon moves on to the US. A full list of date can be found on her website at www.sharonshannon.com

February

20th - Bromsgrove Artrix, Slideslow Drive Bromsgrove, Worcestershire B61 1AX 01527 572730 www.artrix.co.uk

21st - Sheffield Memorial Hall, Barkers Pool , Sheffield S1 2JA telephone 01142 789 789 www.sheffieldcityhall.co.uk www.thegigcartel.com

22nd - Bury Met, Market Street, Bury, Lancashire BL9 0BW 0161 761 2216  www.themet.biz/timetable

27th - Durham Gala, Millennium Place, Durham, DH1 1WA 0191 332 4041 www.galadurham.co.uk

March

1st - Leeds City Varieties, Swan Street, Leeds LS1 6LW.
Telephone 0113 243 0808 www.cityvarieties.co.uk/Online

2nd - Kendal Brewery Arts Centre, Highgate, Kendal, Cumbria LA9 4HE 01539 725 133 www.breweryarts.co.uk

The Chester Accordion Club's next meeting is on Tuesday, 26th February 2013. The venue is The Groves Club, Chester Road (A5032), Whitby, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire. For further details, telephone Lynn McCallum on 0151 339 9850.

I know it's a little south of Leyland but The Black Country Accordion Club have new website where you can read their past newsletters and see what they get up to, you can find the website at www.theblackcountryaccordionclub.com. You might find some ideas for new tunes or something else on there, why not take a look.

The 41st Fylde Folk Festival takes place from Friday 30th August until Sunday 1st September 2013 at various venues Fleetwood, Fylde, Lancashire and promises to be a celebration of Folk Music Song and Dance. The Fylde Folk Festival attracts around 3000 people every year including festival & club organisers, agents, concert promoters, arts organisations etc who go to enjoy the music and the friendly atmosphere in the various hotels, pubs and outdoor events. The dates for 2013 are the 30th and 31st of August and the 1st of September.

If you book your tickets between now and the 31st of March you get a discount  and only have to pay £65.

If you book up to 30th of June tickets are £70 from the 1st July onwards tickets are £75. 

Camp Permits OR Caravan Permits are still only £10 per person for the full weekend. Telephone the Box Office on 01253 887693.

The NAO UK Championships & Festival 2013 is to be held at The Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool from the 26th to the 28th of April 2013. You can find more information about the festival and download an entry form if you want to enter a competition by visiting www.accordions.com/nao  You don't need to be a player to visit the competition, you can just turn up and watch the competitors.

The Blackpool Accordion Festival is to be held from the  12th to the 17th of May 2013. To book or for further details ring Sceptre Promotions on 01780 782093

The Fleetwood festival  of Transport (otherwise known as Tram Sunday) is to be held on July 21st 2013.  You can put this date in your diary if you like a good day out with music, old vehicles, fairground rides and other forms of entertainment.  Fleetwood Festival of Transport is one of the oldest and biggest free family days out in the North West of England. The event regularly attracts well over two hundred different vehicles - from stream trucks and fire engines to vintage cars and bicycles.  The event is held in the streets of Fleetwood so no walking round fields. I will post further details nearer the time but for now you can mark it on your calendar so you don't miss it.

Thanks to all those who paid your club membership for 2013, as you know the membership runs from January to December.  Being a member gets you in to concert nights cheaper than non members and helps support the cost of guest artists, room hire, paper, stamps, email newsletter posting service subscription and any other costs associated with running the club.   I hope we can gain a few new members this year then we can afford more guest artists etc. If you know of anyone who might like to attend the club then please bring them down. I often get told by people who have heard of us that it was assumed that  you have to be an accordion player to attend the club. By bringing people along we can dispel that myth and hopefully get a few new members in the process.

On the Internet you can listen to accordion music by visiting www.accordionradio.co.uk which is broadcasting 24 hours a day. If you have two browser windows open or two tabs in one browser then you can listen to the music while you browse the internet, you don't need to stop the music to look at other pages on the Internet.

We have stickers (available for free on any club night) for accordion cases and also ones that go in the back windows of cars that publicise the club and the fact that you are an accordionist. Just ask for one.

Leyland Accordion Club is a club based in Leyland Lancashire England.

We have our concerts at

The Priory Club
Broadfield Drive
Leyland
Lancashire
England
PR25 1QN

Our postal address is  

39 Wray Crescent
Ulnes Walton
Leyland
Lancashire
England
PR26 8NH

You can find our website at www.accordionclub.co.uk  

Buy CD's from our shop at www.accordionshop.com  

Find out about UK festivals at www.accordionfestival.co.uk

Join out Accordionist Forum www.accordionworld.co.uk

Listen to accordion music at www.accordionradio.co.uk  

Follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/accordionclub

Join us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/accordionclub

All the best...

  David Batty

Leyland Accordion Club