Rhode Island Man Wins Accordion World Championship

Normally I wouldn't write two Rhody posts in a row, but these are extraordinary circumstances involving alligators and accordions.

If anyone can confer sex appeal upon the stodgy old squeezebox, though, it just might be 23-year-old Rhode Island native and jazz accordion wunderkind Cory Pesaturo. Last month Pesaturo won the World Digital Accordion Championship in New Zealand, dazzling judges with his rapid-fire playing style and showmanship. It marked the first world accordion title won by an American in 25 years, earning Pesaturo, who’s been playing professionally since age 11, $1,500 in prize money and a priceless measure of coolness.

(via Boston Barstool)