2004 NEA National Heritage Fellowships

JOE DERRANE
Irish-American button accordionist, Randolph, MA

While a senior at Roxbury Mission High School in Massachusetts, Joe Derrane recorded the first of what eventually became sixteen 78-rpm records that changed the course of Irish-American accordion music. These recordings, made in the late 1940s, featured Derrane on the button accordion performing with a combination of ornamentation, rhythm, power, and polish that became legendary in the Irish-American community, as well as abroad. Joe went on to play piano accordion in ballroom dance bands eventually performing a more eclectic repertoire.

Due to a long absence from playing the button accordion, most aficionados of Irish music assumed that he had passed away or was too old to play, especially considering the skill and maturity exhibited on those 1940s recordings. In 1994, however, Derrane made a triumphant return to performing the button accordion at the Irish Folk Festival at Wolf Trap Farm Park in Virginia. At that event his children, now in their thirties, heard him play button accordion for the first time. Master accordionist Billy McComiskey said of the performance, "It's really great just to see him. I didn't realize he was still alive. I knew he was really, really good, but I didn't know he was that good." Since then, Derrane has toured internationally, made numerous recordings, and was named the "Best Male Musician of the Decade (1990-2000)" by the Irish American News. Even with these accolades, he makes an extra effort to teach young accordion students and to conduct instructional workshops in all parts of the country.

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