 
RANDOM ENCOUNTER is a fun 5 piece rock act, put together by Travis “Careless” Vengroff consisting of Accordion, Glockenspiel, Piano, Violin, Vocals, Bass, Drums, and Guitar instruments. Folks, this is a very unusual recording of some interesting ROCK MUSIC which includes a whole lot of real accordion! If you like rock and you like the accordion, well, you are going to enjoy this particular CD. It is fun! It is fun even before you begin listening to the music. The photos, the words to the songs, all the descriptions included with the CD…they’re all just one big load of fun.  The accordion is used throughout; you will notice it sometimes but not always. It contributes to the overall sound, however, and may inspire some young musicians to experiment just as this group obviously has done. The accordion player is Travis “Careless” Vengroff and he has used 4 different accordions on this recording: a Titano Tiger for the lighter reed work; a modified Carlo Robelli for the richer lead work, a Scanelli 120 for all bass-side chords; and a custom 1940’s Lo Duca for the more “worn” accordion leads and chords. (I wasn’t told what outrageous color the Titano Tiger was! HA! I do remember those Tigers, however!) Travis plays accordion on every single track as the lead instrument and he also sings on 4 of the tracks. Members of Random Encounter convinced 70 of their closest fans to join them at a group recording session to sing “choir” parts for 4 of the songs. You will hear them raising up their voices in dedication to this enthusiastic and enticing group of numbers. RANDOM ENCOUNTER is a group telling stories of Russian Folklore, playing cover songs from video games as well as original songs inspired by games and nerd culture. (I definitely do not think you need to be a nerd to enjoy this CD, however!) I am told the group is an energetic bunch from Orlando, Florida, fairly popular in the geek music culture, and about to go on their first EU tour with a symphony orchestra known as Video Games Live. Let Me Tell You A Story is the group’s latest album of 17 pieces and I believe it will lead to many more such enjoyable ones in the future. It is fun! And, indeed, it is fairly different from most other accordion music I’ve listened to. Contact Travis Vengroff for information at dossingerpublishing@gmail.com about the group RANDOM ENCOUNTER and the CD Let Me Tell You A Story. * Reviewed by Joan C.Sommers – November 2014 |
by Prof. Joan Sommers