Benjamin Bernthal is a poet and an obsessive song writer. As the front man for the band Accordions, Bernthal indulges his love for verbal imagery and combines it with melodies that get into your head and make themselves at home. You will whistle and hum Accordions music for days after hearing it. This band works a strange sort of magic that is both beautiful and haunting.

The band Accordions emerged in 2008 as Bernthal began to acquire intriguing musical instruments: his great grandmother's ukulele, an autoharp that belonged to an uncle long dead. These musical relics started to direct his songwriting. Melodies and chord progressions evolved in a manner inherent to those undeservingly neglected instruments and formed new music that is oddly familiar, yet entirely new. Bernthal began to collaborate with other musicians as the new songs developed. All of the musicians who make up Accordions layer their own thoughts over Bernthal's ideas and build music that is multifaceted, detailed and strong.

The first to join Bernthal in Accordions was guitarist, Joseph Kilbourn. Through his work with Accordions, Kilbourn has used his training as a classical guitarist to explore new styles and instruments. His playing is inventive and playful, yet he knows how to subtly fit into the framework, listening as much as playing. The addition of trumpet player Ben Leslie brought a peaceful stability to the band. Leslie has the heart of a stoic philosopher and plays with deliberation and luster. His trumpet and piano playing bring flourishes of triumph and mellow tranquility. In 2009, after some changes in band membership Bernthal found Kipp Normand among the dusty and broken musical instruments at a junk sale. Normand adds a crusty lyricism that is both human and transcendent with his musical saw and fiddle. In addition he brings a visual element to the band with his unending collection of discarded antiques and odd items, each with its own rare beauty. This group comprises the core of the band. All of them are multi-instrumentalists who pass around the accordion from song to song, always singing along when appropriate.

Collaboration is at the heart of Accordions method. Friends from other bands often join in, making no two performances the same and making each recording into a celebration with a completely original sound. Frequently joining Accordions for shows and recording projects are Steve Trowbridge and Adam Gross, who lend their skills on several instruments, ranging from drums and guitar to banjo and clarinet.

Accordions believe their music comes from many places: discovering a way of playing an old forgotten instrument, passionately expressing age-old truths through these newly discovered means, and most of all a sort of gritty sincerity that permeates the songs. And so the resulting music is like a seductive ghost that disappears as soon as you realize it exists, but always returns in an altered form. Accordions can be charmingly dark with their songs of loss and confusion but they have a bright side. Just remember, once they get in your head they will stick around for awhile.

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