GORMAN ACCORDIONIST IS A JACK OF ALL TRADES
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9/9/2009:
Costa Mesa, CA--Talk about wearing multiple hats: Bryan J. Olgin of Gorman, and soon to be a strolling accordion player at the 1st Annual Orange County Accordion Festival, has played the instrument for much of his 60 years. But he also found time to run a dry cleaning business for 40 years that specialized in cleaning the fancy, beaded costumes of entertainers like Tony Orlando and Stevie Nicks. He also does his best to live green, down to creating his own electricity on his Gorman property. And somehow, he even finds time to run his own popcorn-making company, Hawaiian Bryan, using a family recipe that has been passed down over several generations. He also makes perfume.
Olgin has played accordion since he was 8-years-old, but he admits that he’s not the world’s most technically proficient player.
“I’m not a classical accordionist by any means,” he says. “Most of the people who play are a million times better than me. I basically learned to play by ear, which is good and bad. It’s good because I can duplicate just about anything, but it’s bad technically, since I don’t really read music or understand theory as well as some. But as long as I can bring smiles to people’s faces, I think I'm doing fine.”
Olgin bills his act as “The Strollin’ Old-Time Rock ‘n’ Rollin’ Accordionist” and the accordion he uses, a smallish piano accordion called a muzette sounds “wetter” than larger accordions, enables him to entertain people with audience-friendly material.
“It's got a funkier, more Zydeco-sound than the big button accordions that a lot of people play,” he said. “The first time I heard someone playing that way was in a country-western bar, and I just fell in love with it. And it works great with the type of music I like to play, which is basically anything you might hear on K-EARTH 101. I grew up in the ‘60s and that’s the music I like: The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Grass Roots, things like that.”
The fact Olgin’s accordion is not as bulky or complicated to play as most standard instruments, and that he plays familiar classic rock songs, adds spontaneity to his performances that he thoroughly enjoys.
“Whether I’m playing with other musicians or just on my own I always like to walk through the audience, and it just blows people away when they have a musician looking them right in the eyes as they’re playing. It’s a lot different than watching someone on a stage. And that’s one great thing about an instrument that doesn’t need to amplification to be heard. It brings people that much closer to the music.”
Olgin will have the opportunity to bring people closer to his music during “The Big Squeeze”, the 1st Orange County Accordion Festival on Sunday, October 11, 2009 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. held in conjunction with the Orange County Market Place, the weekend swap meet at the O.C. Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa. Olgin will stroll and play throughout the grounds from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and then perform on stage at 3:15 p.m.
More than 30 other accordionists and musicians will come together for this event to showcase a variety of traditional and contemporary according music in several music genres.
All activities including entrance to the swap meet are included in the price of Market Place admission, which is $2 or FREE with a canned food item to help the Orange County Food Bank. Children 12 and under are free. A complete schedule for "The Big Squeeze" is available at the website www.ocmarketplace.com.
In addition there will be free dance lessons, a special section for accordion related vendors, restaurants and caterers offering food samplings of international cuisine paralleling the popular accordion countries will be featured in the Main Squeeze Stage area. Along with the Festival is the regular base of Market Place vendors which includes nearly 1,000 merchants offering a variety of products and services. fresh produce, gourmet foods to go, artisans and crafters, manufactured homes, kid’s play area, inflatable attractions, hair salon, food concessions and more.
In its 40th year the Orange County Market Place is held every weekend (except during the Orange County Fair) at the O.C. Fair and Event Center in Costa Mesa. Hours are 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. More information on these events may be obtained by visiting www.ocmarketplace.com. or calling 949-723-6660.
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