Thanks Glenn. What part of Italy are you in? I will probably go next October (mostly Venetto region with perhaps a few days in Roma). If you're on the way, I might drop in to say hello..:-)
Although I would love to, my wife will definitely NOT let me bring a box with me.. ha ha!

I'm in a town of 25,000 .. dairy farming community.. rice nearby.. in the Padana plains, not far from the Appenines, between Milan and Bologna (closest city is PARMA ). Famous for Parmiggiano Reggiano Cheese and Parma Ham ( don't call it Parmesan here ! ). Hogs and hot weather in the summer, fog in the winter.

The dialect is heavily French influenced ( most people .. generations later.. maintain a French R still ) from the French occupation under Napoleon..

So.. you have a little Louisiana right here.. There are plenty of accordionists.. most all Piano or Chromatic button.. very talented. Many of the more noted French Musette players in the 30's were immigrants from this area.

All Cajun-files welcome.. Why not come out for the Saulieu festival in France in August.. that is a blast.

G.

Points noted. But I don't think August is in the cards. Ciao.

Forgot to add yesterday that if you (or anyone) are considering getting an Italian organetto (one and a half row, two bass) the air button is usually in a very awkward position and takes quite a lot of getting used to. (My theory is that the this box developed so that the bellows movements were smoothed out so much by the extra half row the air button is only used to open or close the bellows to start or end a tune - the smallest versions might not even have an air button )

An example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODvZea-iyVY

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=search_videos&search_query=organetto&search_sort=video_date_uploaded&search_category=0