Dear Accordion-Lovers,
Well, the 2018 Accordion Babes Calendar production was a roller-coaster ride, and also a great success. We produced one of the most beautiful calendars we’ve ever made, raised over $8,000 for the project via Kickstarter at the last minute, and once again created a CD which proves that our beloved accordions are fun, beautiful, valid voices in a world which needs all the love and inspiration it can get. Then we sold out in about 5 weeks… lordy… who else sells 1,000 accordion compilation CDs in a few weeks? The Accordion Babes (and our talented photographers) are the only folks in the world who’ve managed to do this for nine years running as far as I know. But that last-minute fundraiser and printing ride is scary and that’s NOT the plan for 2019!
It’s Valentine’s Day, a day which is fun for so many, and depressing for the folks who have to deal with loneliness in the face of the massive billion-dollar ad campaigns celebrating couples. Today I’m celebrating the fact that accordion and music-making are my first loves, they are my passions which will never fade or die. The Accordion Babes project is my third love… it has brought so many beautiful, intelligent, talented and passionate female artists into my life. We’ve managed to convey sexiness without exploitation, by celebrating many different kinds of bodies, by always producing a top-quality CD to prove that talent really matters, that brains and attitude and high-level production contribute to sexiness way more than surgery and fad diets ever will. We see the sexiness in older, confident women, also young vagabonds, we see the beauty of bigger and smaller women, tall and short, curvy, muscular, pale or dark or in-between… we think women with accordions are hot and our mission is to share this idea with the world.
Do you know a woman who loves the accordion with all her heart? Does she record her own songs, is she brave enough to put her body in front of the camera in a sexy way? Does she have a music career she wants to promote with our help? If yes, (or if that’s YOU), please save the date:
May 29th 2018: ART SUBMISSION DEADLINE FOR THE 2019 ACCORDION BABES CALENDAR
This year we want to do the fundraiser and pre-sales during June which is Accordion Awareness Month in the USA. This way we can go to print with the 2019 edition no later than July and have a shot at distributing properly in bookstores and festivals. I’ll be on the net over the next 3 months, sending reminders and information to all the sexy accordionists I can think of. Will you help me spread the word? We need 12 artists with photos and songs for next year’s edition. Please let them know about this website, or have them send an email to editor@accordionpinupcalendar.com
Yours truly, Miss February 2018 (and calendar editor),
Renée de la Prade
Renée de la Prade, based in Hamburg, Germany and Oakland, California, USA. squeezeboxgoddess.com