Accordion player hire in Australia: the complete guide

Most live music bookings are about atmosphere in general. An accordion booking is usually about somewhere in particular. A French themed street party, an Italian family celebration, an Oktoberfest event, a Greek or Balkan wedding, a Melbourne laneway launch that wants to feel like a bar in Europe. The instrument carries a place with it, and that is precisely what people are hiring.

Prices below come live from the accordion players listed on this site. The practical appeal is the same as a sax or a trumpet. No power needed, walks anywhere, and one person makes a surprisingly full sound.

The city table below shows the live figures. A couple of roaming sets through a lunch or an opening sits at the lower end. The higher figures usually mean a longer event, a costumed themed booking with a brief to follow, or a player travelling out of the capitals where there are fewer of them.

Fewer is the operative word. This is a smaller field than the guitar and singer categories, particularly outside the big cities, so a specific date in a busy season is worth asking about well ahead rather than at the last minute.

This is the core of the category and it deserves to be taken seriously rather than as a novelty. Community celebrations, national day events, migrant family milestones and religious festivals all use the accordion because it is the sound the older generation in the room grew up with, and getting it right matters to them.

Be specific about the tradition when you enquire. Musette, tarantella, polka, klezmer, tango and Balkan repertoire are related instruments but genuinely different playing traditions, and a player who works in one may not work in another. Naming it plainly gets you the right musician and saves an awkward conversation later.

Away from cultural occasions the accordion does a lot of quiet commercial work. A player moving between tables at a long lunch, a European themed corporate function, a wine bar opening, a market day, a film or television wrap party that wants a particular period feel. No stage, no cables, no sound check.

Roaming suits it because the instrument is worn, not set up. The player can stop at a table, play to six people, then move on. Tell them whether you want that or a fixed spot, because the two call for a different approach and sometimes a different instrument.

An accordion is heavy and it is carried on the shoulders for the whole set. That is genuine physical work, which is why players break more often than a seated guitarist does and why a four hour roaming booking should have real gaps in it. Ask how they like to structure the time.

A chair and somewhere to put the instrument down between sets is a small kindness that makes a difference. And if the event is outdoors in the heat, shade again, because the bellows and reeds inside are not fond of a hot car boot followed by direct sun.

Which traditions do you actually play? Are you roaming or in one spot for this price? How long are the sets and how many breaks do you need? Do you dress to a theme, and is that included? And can you take requests from guests on the night, given older crowds often have one?

That last point is worth planning for. At a family celebration somebody will ask for a song from home, and a player who expects it and can handle it is worth choosing over one who cannot.