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Hometown:

Stockport, England

Relationship Status:

Married

About Me:

I play accordion and piano, occasionally solo but more often in a ceilidh band called Fiddlesticks. I also play as a duo with an accordion player called John Jones, and we do 'French Nights' and wartime singalongs down in the Stockport Air Raid Shelters. I also play in the Stockport Accordion Band.

For the last 3 years (since 2004) I have been the News Editor for Accordions Worldwide (www.accordions.com). Writing has rather taken over my life as I have now written three reference books under the title: 'An A to Z of the Accordion'. Volume 3 of this series comes out this tomorrow (August 10th). In the pipeline is yet another book, which is a history of Stockport Accordion Club. The first incarnation of the club began in 1937, so there is quite a long tradition of organised accordion playing in my area to investigate.

What else about me? I used to be an English teacher, working in High Schools in the Manchester area for 33 years. I am married to Marj, who is a research chemist at Manchester University School of Medicine. Marj is also a musician, playing trumpet in a swing band, cornet in a brass band, accordion in Stockport Accordion Band, and the piano as a solo instrument. We have two daughters, Jane and Helen, who both play accordion and piano, but are currently otherwise engaged pursuing careers (and their love lives!).

In what now seems like a previous life, I was an amateur boxer and wrestler for a combinec total of 28 years. This made me fairly elderly in athletic terms by the time I finally called it a day on the wrestling mat in 1991. In boxing I was reasonably successful, and met some of the best men around at my weight (middleweight, 160 lbs) such as John Conteh and Chris Finnegan (the 1968 Olympic Champion). I also worked as a sparring partner with Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, who was then (1966) no 1 contender for the world title. He later did time for murder, and was the subject of a 'miscarriage of justice' campaign. Bob Dylan wrote a song about him. But I digress - the boxing gave way to wrestling by the 1970s, and here I am in 2007, metamorphosed in stages from boxer to squeezeboxer!

Website:

http://www.robhoward.org.uk

Favorite Music:

folk, jazz, Tamla Mowtown, 1960s pop, classical, Irish, Scottish, French musette, big band swing, and bits of all sorts...

Favorite TV Shows:

Coronation Street, Heartbeat, The Royal, The Bill, Dad's Army, Minder