In January 2008 I was in Chicago performing with Ted Hearne, and after a day in the city, someone alluded to the fact that Chicago was an accordion town (much more than Charleston, SC), and as such, I should visit an accordion shop while I was there. My accordion was in need of a couple repairs, and the state of South Carolina has exactly zero accordion shops, and so I was pretty excited about the trip. Enter Anne Romagnoli at the Italo-Accordion Company, in Oak Lawn, IL. She was one of the more incredible people I’ve ever met, and without a doubt the most aggressive salesperson in any field I’ve ever encountered. Needless to say, I left Chicago with a new accordion, and while it didn’t last me as long as I would have liked before needing some repairs of its own, it certainly was a step-up from my previous box in many ways, and ended up teaching me much about home-made accordion repairs. I recently ran across an article in the Chicago Tribune about Anne and her shop. It captures the essence of this woman pretty much spot on, and is well worth the read. Also a page of great photos of her and the shop. Here’s to you Anne.
