For the Braves who are in Quebec, Atlantic provinces or nearby states, this new Accodion festival was a great venue, and is something you should put on your calendar for next year (first weekend of June). This was in Memramcook, New Brunswick, about 20 minutes east of Moncton (south east).
About 60 accordion players from all over Quebec (mostly from there), New Brunswick and Nova Scotia showed up to the Rendez-vous. The concept was very simple: You put your name on the list, and each player got to play 3 tunes at a time. There were gigs in the afternoon and evening every day from June 1-3. I got to do 4 public gigs plus some jam sessions on the side. I was the only player who does Cajun music. All others were doing Quebec/French Cdn style. Some of them were top calibre. There were also several builders who brought their wares. I saw some nice craftmanship. Prices for a Cdn box can range from $2K to $3K Cdn for nice qualify with Binci reeds. All players I spoke with were very impressed with my Acadian and Bon Cajun boxes. I got to try my new pickup that I got from Larry Miller last month. It's the type that uses a regular microphone that has been dismantled and remonted on a plate that attaches to the accordion with a bracket (old fashion type). It worked pretty well, but you still need a microphone on the left to capture the base action.
Maz