Passenger Profile: Gary Sredzienski

Gary Sredzienski

You began studying piano at the age of three. Were you forced into a life of music? Did you want to play?
Both my mother and father played and taught music, and I'm an only child, so it came naturally. I loved playing piano and drums, and starting composing my own songs when I was 5.

When did you first start playing accordion?
My first day was at age 8 in October, 1970. Playing 40 years, 20 years professionally full time.

What made you choose an accordion of all instruments?
It was so hip in the cultural microclimate of the Connecticut River Valley when I was a kid in the 60s. These accordion gods played at the Eastern States Exposition... New England's largest fair. I recall the crowds going nuts for these guys. Looking back I realize that I was raised on a different planet, but in a region where there were lots of the old world immigrants.... especially my grandparents generation.... it was real hip for those who were born at the turn of the century.

For some reason, the Italian American accordion schools made you wait till you were 8 years old. My older brother was playing, but I couldn't because I wasn't old enough. I was begging to learn, but had to wait. It was all about passion from an early age. It sounds so crazy, but I was smelling the accordion cases.... I longed for it.

Do you come from a musical family? Are you self-taught or schooled?
Musically family.... not! When there is a family funeral I feel like a complete alien. All of my relatives have no idea what to say or ask of me. "So you play accordion for a living, and....??" I feel like the outcast. I took just a couple of years of accordion lessons when I was 8 to 10, but my mom enrolled me in a vaudeville act called the 'Hog Hollow Hooters' when I was 10. The other members were in their 70s. I learned so much about being on stage and performing with vaudeville performers from a past generation.

Other than that, musically I am self-taught. Musically I think it was important to acknowledge my roots, record the style of my grandparents. From there and over the years I immersed myself into so many styles and genres of musicians and music. I learn the languages of other musicians and incorporate that into the stuff I write. I devour music.... either sheet music or recordings … and still learn to this day. It's a lifelong process.

According to your bio, you are into a variety of musical genres from surfing music to ethnic styled music. Who inspired you as you were growing up? Why such a varied style?
Throughout my life I have been inspired by so many killer traditional musicians of different genres. I've always been inspired by fiddlers and violinists. Every other instrument inspires me and I try to learn their licks. I love 78 recordings. Those guys were real musicians. Just one microphone.... one take... that's it. No going back to fix your mistakes. Lots of virtuosity in that music. Fiery fiddling of Ukrainian Pawel Humeniuk to Django Reinhardt.

Why all over the place musically? When I stroll at restaurants no two tables ask for the same type of music. I could never be a musician who just plays one type of music because the world is too big and colorful. Playing various styles goes with the art form of the performing accordionist. The instrument is a product of the 1800s and was designed to be a one-man band.

Accordion was huge in the U.S. in the '30s and '40s. There were accordion concerts and accordion radio performers. All had huge and diverse repertoires with the instrument. They were walking musical libraries. This is one reason why I've been self-employed as a musician for 20 years. I could not have done it just playing one genre of music. I get called upon to do a wide variety of ethnic festivals, functions and get hired by a wide array of musicians to lay accordion tracks on their recordings. (It is so cool to get asked to lay a track for a punk band and then find out that the tune is being used as the fight song for the Dusseldorf soccer team in Germany!)

When did you first feel that music could actually be a career for you?
That's the very first thing I ever wanted as a child, but being raised in a working class family you didn't play music for a living. I was a forester for the U.S. Forest Service and enjoyed working for them, but funding on certain projects ran out and I was confined to a laboratory reading tree rings. I recall laying in bed in the morning convicting myself.... "is this what my life has come to? Is this it?" After 5 years I gave them my notice and told everyone that I will be doing music and accordion full time. Everyone laughed at me because it sounded impossible. I do admit I was very hungry the first few years... living basically on sardines and popcorn, but over time the gigs increased in number. So many cool things happened along the way. Great things never would have happened if I didn't commit full-time to music. This year is my 20th year as a full-time accordionist.

Tell us about the amazing charitable swim you performed in 2008.
I always loved swimming, but one cold rain in the fall here in New England would end a swimming season. I was tired of being cheated out by mother nature so I began experimenting with scuba and surfing gear. Through constant experimentation I developed a way to swim comfortably in frigid New England waters for 12 months of the year. People were so shocked to see me swimming in winter months and I earned the name 'Creekman.' I had to make my sport legitimate so I decided to do a charity swim for those who suffered brain injury and swim to a set of islands 6 miles off the coast of Maine/New Hampshire in the middle of winter.

Before the event, everyone thought I was nuts and no money came in for pledges. I was escorted by two boats, a TV camera crew, and the blessing of the coast guard (who held up a tanker for me!). Due to nasty currents, I managed to succeed in 4.5 hours and the donations came afterward. I made $17,000 for the Krempels Brain injury foundation. The next year I swam for Seacoast Hospice in the third fastest flowing navigable river in the world... the Piscataqua River in December. This past year I swam the York River in York, Maine, for Share Our Strength (hungry, malnourished kids)... 5.5 miles in an hour and a half with the swim ending at a hotel on the ocean where my band also played and contributed to the benefit. We made $16,000. This year could be Boon Island Lighthouse which is 9 miles off the coast of Maine or a December Connecticut River swim where I'll give a concert in one town either in New Hampshire or Vermont, swim 10 miles to another town... give a concert, etc. for Food banks in Vermont. Life is so short and I refuse to sit around and be bored!

With all of your successes in TV and movies, what made you join TAXI?
It was only because of TAXI that I had success in movies and TV. A close friend was a member of TAXI and showed me the listings. There was an inner voice telling me that this company was an opportunity for me and my music. I somehow knew there were great opportunities especially being diverse in what I write musically, and that inner voice was right on. It was because of TAXI that I had success in TV and movies. Before TAXI, I had very little opportunity in TV and film. TAXI is all about making the connection. The connection can be small or huge, but that's what it took to get my music into the right hands at the right time.

What was the professional accomplishment you are most proud of today?
I guess being a full-time accordionist for 20 years … not owing a dime to anyone. … that is an accomplishment in itself. And it's perhaps the most misunderstood and most maligned instrument in modern society. To look at three ratty beat up accordion cases and to say that I've made my living with these three boxes.

Being a full time musician you rely on wonderful things that occasionally come your way if you work hard and persist. It is bread or spiritual food for you to continue. Things that made me so happy were being chosen to represent New Hampshire at the Kennedy Center, being sent to Romania as a musical ambassador, and getting e-mails that your music has been placed in The Bad News Bears! And this past week, a song in the Fox release, The A Team! As a matter of fact after I'm done with this interview, I'm going to the theater to check it out ... listen for my tune and look for my name in the credits.

It was so cool and quite an honor that Michael Laskow flew all the way from LA to Maine just to congratulate me and [I went] to a TAXI Road Rally. Michael, (who has some Polish ancestry) said I had three strikes against me, "I'm Polish, I play accordion, and I live in Maine," yet it is still possible to succeed!

What have you learned from TAXI?
TAXI to me is like on online university or education. Cracks me up when I meet musicians who were TAXI members for just one year and get so offended by the comments when they make submissions. Musicians have such fragile egos. I try to explain to them that it's for your own good!! It's not about "me, me, me." It's an education on how to tailor your song writing, to meet the needs of someone else. It's not always about you, but what folks in the industry are looking for. TAXI members shouldn't take offense, but learn to appreciate the criticism which in the end will help you succeed. What I also learned from TAXI is that the industry is constantly looking for a WIDE variety of styles. It makes getting the listings real fun. Sure better than playing the lottery.

What's on your agenda for the remainder of 2010?
I am currently recording two more CDs of world music, off-the-wall music etc. Continuing with my radio show... a retro 1950s vinyl Polka Party. I've been told it's the number one downloaded polka show on iTunes. The Internet has opened up a whole new world for me, with listeners even in a bar in Transylvania! Writing a book about Creekman, The Accordion Paying Merman … Swimming the estuaries of Maine … and to just keep doing what I love. Thank you TAXI!