Please call me anytime at 630-370-9072 or send an email to tim@reedaccordions.com .
Tim Reed, a one hundred percent Cajun, was born in Ville Platte, Louisiana. 
He would spend all of his childhood and much of his adult life in Ville Platte, Mamou, and Pine Prairie, Louisiana. Accordion music was always an integral part of his family life. As a small child he was attracted to the sound of the accordion and grew up listening to Cajun music like his parents and grandparents. From the time he can remember, and his family would tune in to the local radio station KVPI every weekday afternoon at 4:00 PM for the Rendezvous De Cajun radio show. As a young man, Tim surrounded himself with music whenever possible, teaching himself to play piano and, of course, the accordion. In the early 80’s, Tim purchased an Italian made Acadian Accordion from Marc Savoy. For the next decade he played jobs with musician Roy Chaffin and his band, bringing his accordion along and doing a couple of French tunes whenever he could. One night while working a dance in Mamou, Harrison Fontenot played a few tunes with the band. Harrison sparked Tim’s interest when he explained his hobby: building Imperial Accordions. This was a night Tim would never forget and even though life led him away from accordion music, Harrison had made a deep impression. The pressures of having his own family and the need to earn a living temporarily put Tim’s musical pursuits on the back burner. Although music never lost its importance, he devoted most of his time to professional carpentry, listening to accordion music and playing in his spare time. Around 1990 he was introduced to Donald Thibodeaux at Fred’s Lounge in Mamou, Louisiana. Thibodeaux, an accordion-builder, reignited Tim’s interest with his Bayou Accordions. At this point, Tim’s skills as a carpenter and a craftsman were in high demand and he continued to earn a living in construction while enjoying the music whenever he could.
We all have a little voice in the back of our minds that reminds us of what’s important. First with a whisper, then, if we don’t listen, a tap on the shoulder, finally, a thump on the head… Tim’s introduction to accordion builders Larry Miller and Junior Martin in 1993 was the final thump that got his attention and redirected his life. It was at the 1993 CFMA awards show and Le Cajun Festival in Lafayette, LA that Tim began to take the idea of his building accordions seriously. “Their tables were covered with these wonderful instruments,” he recalls and Tim became totally obsessed. “I knew I had the skill to build them. I knew I absolutely loved the sound. Accordions are in my blood. I was hooked,” he remembers.
Larry Miller was kind enough to offer some on-the-spot training which Tim readily accepted and took to heart. From that day forward Tim has dedicated his life to the construction of the Cajun accordion. With a lifelong passion of Cajun music, accordion music in particular, and with the help of musical greats such as Miller, Martin, Cecil Fontenot of Swallow Accordions, Ville Platte, LA and others, Tim has spent the past 23 years working at his craft: the construction of the ultimate Cajun accordion.
“For me, building the accordions is every bit as exciting as playing them. It is very satisfying to create an instrument that has been part of the Cajun culture for so many years,” says Tim. The Reed Accordion has a special sound. Every single one is expertly crafted with passion.