One-Man Show
Yorba Linda local Jim Gilman can put on a music show all on his own... and he does it with an accordion. Don't miss our video of one of his performances.
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Listening to Yorba Linda local Jim Gilman tell stories about his 53-year-long relationship with the accordion is something akin to curling up with a book written by a favorite author: The tales, despite the fact that you’ve never heard them before, are nonetheless the slightest bit familiar. They’re also funny, and definitely quirky.
There’s “Wedding on a Plane,” the story about a radio contest that found Gilman speeding to the nearest East L.A. freeway exit to audition over a gas station pay phone, only to lose out at the last minute to Myron Floren of “Lawrence Welk Show” fame. Years later, Gilman met Floren in Las Vegas, where he joked with him about “stealing” the contest. Then there’s “My First Professional Gig,” the one where Gilman’s father spotted an ad in a Long Beach newspaper in 1969 looking for an accordion player to replace an aging street performer at Knott’s Berry Farm. “Wanted: Accordion Player,” recalls Gilman. “Hadn’t seen an ad like that before, haven’t seen one since.”
If it was serendipity that called to Gilman to continue his practice of the accordion, he’s taken full advantage of it. That first job at Knott’s Berry Farm, at 40 hours a week while wearing a monk’s robe (“That first day nearly killed me,” says Gilman, “because, you know, that accordion was heavy”) was challenging, especially for a kid also trying to graduate from Cal State Long Beach. But if you ask Gilman, he’ll tell you he had hit the big time at $1.85 an hour, “plus the fact that I was in show biz,” he says enthusiastically.
That first full-time job led to an investment in a new electric accordion and the opportunity to walk on with bands that needed an extra player at the last minute (“One of the best lessons I’ve ever had,” says Gilman), and finally to a bulletin board looking for band members. “So we found ourselves a drummer, rehearsed for a week and auditioned for an agent,” he says. “He told us we open in Wisconsin in three weeks.” The band, Free and Easy, traveled the country for years, eventually dissolving when family obligations of the various members became a priority, and Gilman went solo, relying on his Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI)-equipped accordion to create the illusion of an entire band with only one man at the helm. “Technology has come a long way since my first $77 accordion,” says Gilman. “Now, all of a sudden, with MIDI, you have a full orchestra.”
Gilman’s talent these days lies in recreating anything from polka-style tunes to oldies and light rock – dance music that’s a hit at weddings and events across Orange County, including the Orange County Accordion Festival that takes place every October at the Market Place in Costa Mesa.
He’s spent a lifetime honing his skills, and a lifetime amassing the stories that are, ultimately, priceless.
