Leonard "Skeets" Langley started taking accordion lessons when he was 6 years old. ¶ His parents, who never played any musical instruments, guessed right that Langley "had rhythm." ¶ Family vacations centered on accordion contests that took him all over the country. Langley excelled, as did his two siblings. It wasn't long before the accordion turned into an "avocation as opposed to a vocation," he said. ¶ As a nod to that, Langley, 70, who lives in Champlin with his wife, Rosemary, was inducted into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame on Nov. 2.Other 2012 inductees include Koerner, Ray & Glover, a blues band; Leroy Glazier, the late country guitarist; Jerry Minar, a concertina maker and a musician; the Chord-Ayres, a male chorus; and Canoise, a rock band.
Dodie Wendinger, who heads the New Ulm-based Hall of Fame that originated in 1989, said musicians are chosen for the honor based on "their effect on the Minnesota music industry."
Of Langley, she said, "If you look at his history, you see the importance of what he accomplished."
He's won all kinds of awards through the years, shared his love of music with thousands of elementary schoolchildren throughout a 33-year teaching career in Robbinsdale Area Schools, and he's still performing.
"Longevity makes a big difference, too," she said.
For Langley, who wasn't able to collect his trophy in person until last week, it was a pleasant surprise. "I've had a lot of different honors during my time in music, but this was unique," he said, noting the company of such big names as Prince, Judy Garland and Bob Dylan in the Hall of Fame.
Though he started playing professionally at 12, becoming a member of the local chapter of the American Federation of Musicians at that age, he never would have imagined the direction the instrument would take him.
"I was backed into it. One thing led to another," he said. "It was one of those star-crossed, serendipitous roads."