Gary and the Serfs

Watch Gary Sredzienski and the Serfs at the Press Room 2007:

 
 

The Serfs! "Just Plain Folks" 2006 Music Awards Song Nominees! (jpfolks.com)

Thirteen years ago, Gary was strolling from table to table, playing traditional music for a Polish Wedding. Also at that wedding was a surf/rockabilly band.

Since then, Gary and the band have joined forces to become the world's first accordion surf band.

The popular Portsmouth NH Surf band, called "The Serfs," has been delighting audiences in the Seacoast NH/Maine area with its unique blend of instruments. Band members are Jim DeCato on drums, Jamie DeCato on guitar (the latest musician to join the band), Jim Taylor on bass guitar, and Gary Sredzienski on accordion.

Surf Rock, What is it?

Praise for Gary and the Serfs ...

Michael Keating, Portsmouth Herald:

"A musical innovator, Sredzienski has also helped create a truly new and original sound, along with his bandmates The Serfs, fusing old world musical traditions with a modern rock twist."

The style of music might be called... ethnic- , baltic- , '60s-style surf-rock with a twist. We call it Global Groove. Global, but it rocks.

As one local writer put it:

"Sure it's folk music! If your folks happen to be Romanian goat herders who love to surf and watch spy flicks." -- Chris Elliot, Showcase Magazine

Jeanne McCartin, Contributing Writer, The Spotlight:

"Moving into musical territory few would dare to go makes the band's sound hard to explain... it draws on a large array of ethnic music he's [Gary] been exposed to over the years and blends it with surf-rock" ... Jim Taylor is quoted in this article: "Gary always had this idea of mixing us up... He'd say the music we played was musically just like Eastern European folk music - a lot of minor key chords and a lot of fun dance beats. He'd say the two fit together real well... It was kind of like he wanted to do it like a joke originally, but the joke was -- it sounded great!"

from NORTHEAST SURF MUSIC ALLIANCE:

"OK, if anyone had told me a couple years ago that I would be hearing an accordion-fronted surf band, I probably would have thought they were crazy. Turns out, I'm the nut!!! HOLY SH*T!!!!!

"Gary absolutely blew me away!! Being of an Italian background, I have always had a fond appreciation for the accordion,...... hell, I even own one! But, never, I mean NEVER have I seen in my lifetime anyone who could even come close to the level of expertise and sheer passion exhibited by Gary Sredzienski. I later told my wife Lynn, 'there is a man who truly loves his instrument....it's like his own kid'

"I couldn't tell you the names of many of the songs they played, aside from "Flight of the Serfer Bee", "The Wedge", "Hava Nagilah" and "Misirlou", because I was so totally submerged in the music and the sheer talent, not only of Gary, but, of the group as a whole, Jim Taylor on bass, Chris Decato on guitar and Jamie Decato on drums. They ARE truly a "Surf Band" and I'd unleash the dogs of hell on anyone who would say otherwise! After their set, I suggested to Gary that he should try to plug the accordion into a reverb tank and see what happens. Wouldn't that be cool?!!

"THE SERFS are definitely right at the top of my must-see list, and I will make it a point to see them again and again and again and again..."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Serfs!