An accordionist of note

He has been named the best piano accordionist in America, but don’t ask him to do a polka.

Sammy Thomas, 17, prefers jazz.

“I know one waltz and two polkas,” he said Saturday between performances at the Spokane Scandinavian Heritage Festival.

Next month, Thomas will represent the United States at the Coupe Mondiale, the accordion world championship in Norway. He earned the right to compete there for his performance this summer at the national championships in Buffalo, N.Y.

But while preparing for the world stage, Thomas and his family were forced to deal with tragedy when his father, Stephen Thomas, died from injuries he sustained in a car accident.

Sammy and his mom, Pamela Thomas, were touring Oregon playing events and selling his CD to raise money for his trip, when his dad was in a rollover crash on Cheney-Spokane Road. He died a few days later on Aug. 23.

In tribute, Thomas played Saturday wearing his father’s wedding ring and will have it on when performing in Norway.

Thomas and his mom are going forward with the trip and are continuing to raise money. He has played the instrument since he was about 10.

“I’m just really proud of him and amazed that someone that age can have the focus to invest his childhood into a passion like this,” Pamela Thomas said.

Sammy Thomas hopes to make a living playing the instrument.

“That would be nice, but it’s pretty much impossible,” he said, after counting on one hand the number of people he knows of who have done it in the past 60 years.

Still, his performances (whether pass-the-hat or for a fee) and his CD sales have paid for his trips across the county to festivals and competitions. And he gets plenty of gigs. Last week, he played at two festivals, two retirement homes and a mobile home park.

Thomas wishes the accordion would get a bit more respect, and as much as he appreciates his audiences, he laments that there isn’t more diversity in the ages of folks who come to hear him play.

“We’re going to try to change that,” Thomas said.