I really enjoyed reading Accordion Dreams! I can’t be as objective as most readers because I know Blair; I’m in her band, Sauce Piquante. However, I also know good writing when I read it, and Blair is a good writer. I have known that before from reading the small bits she’s written for newsletters, CD liners, etc. She is so good at taking a feeling or a situation and encapsulating it with JUST the right words. Blair’s ability to give meaning to these situations is what I think was best about Acc

I really enjoyed reading Accordion Dreams! I can’t be as objective as most readers because I know Blair; I’m in her band, Sauce Piquante. However, I also know good writing when I read it, and Blair is a good writer. I have known that before from reading the small bits she’s written for newsletters, CD liners, etc. She is so good at taking a feeling or a situation and encapsulating it with JUST the right words. Blair’s ability to give meaning to these situations is what I think was best about Accordion Dreams.



One good example of this ability is in the chapter where she is playing accordion on the porch in West Virginia and her mentor, Danny, senses something new and wonderful in her playing, but he can’t put words to it and thinks about it and revisits it for several weeks. She has the special ability to be able to put words to even what he wants to say! Her analysis of how, “the fundamental fear (had been) not that I would look incompetent”… but “from what happens… when you open yourself fully to music…. It takes trust and courage… (It) is an intimate act. ” And she goes on to say, “But I had allowed it to happen on the porch in West Virginia that night. Instead of fear, I felt freedom and exhilaration. Danny knew it, even if he couldn’t find the right words to describe it.” Blair did find the words. They reminded me of one of my favorite quotes, “Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us.”



Another of these times was her description of the death of her father. I found that extremely touching, and it reminded me of my own father. She was better able than I to put words, again, to all those feelings.



Another part I really liked was the simple way she used… well, I don’t know what to call it. Reversal? It might be some figure of speech, but I don’t know what. It’s when she played accordion in public at a dance for the first time. After she had finished playing, she said, “I could hear the first notes of the next song beginning to sound, but I didn’t feel like dancing just yet. I felt like flying.” I loved that part!



I learned many new things about Blair and her family that I found interesting, too. The book was a really intimate look into her life. So, even though I’m in Blair’s band, it was really fun to get to know her a little better through reading her book.



Thanks, Blair, for finding the right words to not only tell about your musical journey but to give a deeper meaning to it that is truly interesting.





