When Greg Speck’s son encouraged him to put together an accordian-based band, Speck was game. A long time musician, he figured he and his sons
could play a couple of gigs together before he moved on to another project.
Of course, a band needs a name. So Speck and his sons, Alek and Nick, tossed out possibilities.
It was a complete lark. We were joking, Speck said. `We said, ‘Let’s go with a superhero name.’`
And that’s how Captain Squeeze and the Zydeco Moshers came to be. That was some 15 years ago, so Speck’s notion that the band would be around for just a couple of shows was, well, a bit off.
But the band is certainly different from those early days. Alek and Nick, who were 12 and 16, respectively, when the band was first formed, have grown up and moved on to musical pursuits of their own. They’ve been replaced by a rotating cast of characters who have played with Speck everywhere from Long Island to the St. Lawrence Seaway. Captain Squeeze and the Zydeco Moshers are regulars at festivals and town parks in the Capital District, and they’ll take part in the summer concert series at Freedom Park in Scotia on Saturday, June 26, at 7 p.m.
`Get ready to participate,` Speck advised people who plan on checking out that or any of the group’s other shows. `Get on your cell phone and invite 100 friends, because it’s going to be a good time.`
Having a good time is what performing is all about for Speck. An English teacher at Berne-Knox-Westerlo High School, he said that when he plays music, the emphasis is on `play.`
`I gotta play music,` he said. `I don’t have to think of anything when I’m on stage.`
Born into a musical family, Speck wanted to play an instrument as a kid, but there weren’t a lot his parents could afford. Piano was out of the question. Accordion, however, was a good fit.
`My uncle was an accordion player,` said Speck, who grew up in Auburn. `Lots of kids played.`
When he was 8, Speck became one of them. He also plays keyboard, but takes a special satisfaction in accordion.
`There’s something about accordion,` he said. `When people hear it, they turn their heads and start smiling.`
It’s not simply the accordion’s sound that makes Captain Squeeze and the Zydeco Moshers shows fun, he said. It’s the type of music they play: lots of familiar pop songs mixed with the some original numbers.
`Make sure you put your dancing shoes on,` he said, noting that the crowd at his band’s shows spends much of the time on its feet.
That’s typical at Freedom Park, where bands play in the amphitheater alongside the Mohawk River and audience members watch from blankets and lawn chairs, often eating dinner from nearby Jumpin’ Jacks. Nell Burrows, president of the Freedom Park Foundation, said the group puts an emphasis on local musicians when planning the summer schedule, although it also tries to bring in one `bigger artist` each year.
This year, the headliner is singer and guitarist Grant Austin Taylor, who will play on Saturday, July 17. Just 13, Taylor appeared last year at Art Bike festival in Schenectady, where Burrows had a chance to see him play.
`I just thought he was phenomenal,` she said. `I think he has great, great potential.`
Still to come in June at Freedom Park are the Music Company Orchestra, a classical group playing on Sunday, June 27, and the New York Players, who will perform `party rock` on Wednesday, June 30. Acts are scheduled every Sunday, Wednesday and Friday throughout the summer, and sometimes on other days, too. All shows start at 7 p.m.
Donations help keep the shows free.
`We couldn’t do this without individual support and concert sponsors,` Burrows said.
She noted that this was not an easy year for fundraising ` some longtime sponsors bowed out and others had to scale back. But other businesses and people gave for the first time.
`We get lots of feedback,` Burrows said. `People send notes with their membership dues saying they enjoy the concerts. Or they’ll go up to the announcer at the show and say thank you.`
For a full schedule of Freedom Park shows, visit www.freedomparkscotia.org.
“