Ken Mahler grew up in the West Endattending Jefferson Elementary, St. Stanislaus and Cretin High School. Hisfamily had been West End residents for over 50 years. The ethnic sounds ofCzech, Slovakian, German, Italian, Irish and Bavarian music were playedeverywhere. He had an interest in playing guitar as a young boy, but there wereno guitar classes in the West End, so his father signed him up at TerlindeMusic Center at Seven Corners to learn how to play accordion.

So at the age of eleven he wentreligiously to Terlinde every Saturday for his lessons. His father made himpractice for 45 minutes every day. He had to learn “Spanish Eyes” for his auntbecause it was her favorite song, and he would go to play it frequently for heron Sunday afternoons.

Because of his talent, Mr. Terlindetook Ken under his wing and taught him how to fix and repair accordions. Kenalso kept up his playing, having the starring bill at Joe and Stan’s on WestSeventh and Hafner’s on White Bear Avenue, besides playing for lots of weddingsand anniversary parties.

Soon he was recruited by Nick and PatMancini and formed the Mancini Players, which played for 25 years in the thennew Mancini’s Las Vegas Lounge.

Ken soon was also doing lead and backupfor commercials and recording at Paisley Park and other studios.

As Mr. Terlinde passed away and theaccordion shops on West Seventh were gone, Ken took a risk and bought an oldshoe store at 907 Randolph Avenue and started business with four accordions anda hope and a prayer. He suffered through the good times and bad but built asolid customer base who respected him for his knowledge of accordions and hishonest dealings.

Twenty-six years later Mahler MusicCenter and accordionheaven.com is one of the primary and most popular accordionsites in the world. Ken has over 200 accordions in stock, his ownhow-to-learn-accordion DVDs and trademarked Planet Squeezebox accordions,lesson books and his superior accordion repair service. And he gives lessons toa new generation of accordion players with one simple goal: to keep theaccordion industry viable. His sister Kathy Ripley works on accordion repairson the detailing side and acts as an all-round “Girl Friday.”

We hear accordions in all genres andcultures of music and we all still remember the fine music, oompah-pahs and funtimes provided by the accordion, that thanks to guys like Ken, still livestoday!

Mahler Music Center, 907 Randolph,651-224-6943, accordionheaven.com.