A hot night at the 21st Annual Accordion Kings & Queens and the Big Squeeze!

The tradition continues! More than 5,000 fans came out to the Miller Outdoor Theatre in Houston to enjoy a steamy night of squeezin’, thumpin’, stompin’ and jumpin’. The Texas Legacy Czech Band got the dancers up and onto the floor with their classic polkas and then our four 2010 Big Squeeze finalists came out to give the people a taste of the future.  Young zydeco player, Keyun Dickson, 18, of Humble, Texas was the Grand Prize winner and he took home a brand new, top of the line Hohner accordion, $1,000 cash and recording time at the legendary SugarHill Recording Studios.  The finalists were selected from among a pool of immensely talented young contestants from around the state. 

Next up, Leroy Thomas and the Zydeco Roadrunners kept us in the Louisiana/East Texas state of mind and then rounding out the evening, Eva Ybarra and Albert Zamora y Talento provided the Tejano Conjunto sounds.  Popular Texas journalist Joe Nick Patoski kept order as our tireless emcee.

Texas Folklife would like to thank all our partners and sponsors in producing Accordion Kings & Queens and the Big Squeeze: Gracias!  Mersi!  Dĕkuji!  Danke!  Dziękuję! to:
The Accordion Kings & Queens Festival and The Big Squeeze contest were funded in part by the City of Houston through the Miller Theatre Advisory Board, the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division and by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts and an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art, and the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs.  Our business and foundation supporters are Hohner Inc., the Houston Endowment, SugarHill Recording Studios, The Raven Grill, Flashbang, Embassy Suites Hotel Downtown Austin, Botticelli’s and Güero’s Taco Bar, the Still Water Foundation and Sign Effects.
Photo by David Dodd, 2010