Hello!


I’m Richard Krizan. I live in Paw Paw, Michigan, with my lovely wife Christina, and three children Rachel, Leanne, and Isaac. Christina and I have lived in Paw Paw for more than 29 years now. It has been a great place to live, and raise our kids.
Loving Accordion Music
I started playing the accordion over 40 years ago, after purchasing one at an auction sale. That same day, I had a crowd of people gather to listen, while I learned to play it. It is amazing to me how much people love that great free reed sound! I have seen this appreciation grow through the years, and I love to see the smiling faces of people at my shows.
I first heard Polka music being played by Casey Wiacek (Now Deceased), with The Polka Trio, in Bangor Michigan. Somehow, it was imperative for me to be able to do this, after hearing it. This started my relentless drive to master this instrument.
Accordion music is a necessity in my life, as much as food, water, and air. I don’t know any other way to describe it. Some of the best times in my life have been during times when I played music, either by myself, with my children (who all play instruments, by the way), or with my brother Fred Krizan
Why I play the Button Chromatic
For more than 30 years, I played piano accordion, with a standard piano keyboard on the right hand side. I purchased a button chromatic instrument at an antique show, and could see the amazing potential in this playing system. Learning the C system chromatic on my own, I developed a style of playing with uniform fingering, and a very comfortable hand position. The playing patterns are very different from a piano keyboard, yet they give me the same result without as much finger movement. The button keyboard also has another advantage in the ease of transposition. This instrument has been a catalyst for my playing ability, allowing me to completely surpass the ability that I had with the piano accordion. The white one in the picture is my 3rd chromatic button accordion!