Music & Performance
Music
I’ve played solo accordion gigs all over Chicago. Currently, I play outdoors at the Andersonville Farmers Market. Pre-pandemic, I had regular gigs at Gene's in Lincoln Square, Kopi Cafe and Pizzeria Antica in Andersonville, and Chez Moi in Lincoln Park.
I also play with the band The Crooked Mouth, a uniquely eccentric group of musicians. We’re hard to describe. Just come see us play!
Want to hire me for a private event? I’ll happily entertain guests at your wedding or private party. I play an eclectic mix of French musette, tango, klezmer, gypsy jazz, Eastern European, and barely recognizable renditions of rock songs.
I don’t use amplification, so I don't need access to power or a sound system. I take up a small footprint at venues, and, weather permitting, I can play outside. Drop me a line at accordionheather@gmail.com!
Photo: Me and chef Dominique Tougne of Chez Moi at a Bastille Day promo on Fox Chicago!
“The instrumentation is tasteful—bringing banjo and bluegrass sounds to folky show tune-y (almost) rock numbers. There's a nod to the blues in there, too. Fun, serious, sad and furious. Actually, quite transcendent.”
– Jon Hain on The Crooked Mouth’s album Yes Face
Performance
I was an ensemble member of the Neo-Futurists from 1990–2012, performing pretty much constantly in their flagship late-night show Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind (now The Infinite Wrench).
I also appeared in a number of the Neo-Futurists’ prime-time shows, including Daredevils’ Hamlet (2010), Picked Up (2008), H20 (2001), Jokes and their Relation to the Unconscious (2000), and K. (1996).
Outside of the Neo-Futurists, I’ve worked with a number of fringe and storefront theaters across Chicago. Most recently (and before the world shut down), I appeared in Mickle Maher’s It Is Magic with Theater Oobleck (2019) and Prince Max’s Trewly Awful Trip to the Desolat Interior with Red Theater (2017).
Other shows I’ve had the pleasure of being in are Theater Oobleck’s Letter Purloined (as Queen Diri) and Spukt (in the band), and a staged reading of Pericles with The Shakespeare Project of Chicago.
I’ve also appeared onscreen in Logan Kibens’ Operator and Todd Alcott’s short film The Grasshopper with James Urbaniak and Thomas Jay Ryan.
Photo: Me in It Is Magic with Theater Oobleck (credit: Joe Mazza, Brave Lux)
“In “Heather Gets Classy” (my personal favorite), performer Heather Riordan sings while doing a handstand and manipulating shark-slipper puppets with her feet.”
– F NewsMagazine on Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind
“Riordan brings a foppish yet genuinely curious and adventurous spirit to Prince Max”
–Picture This Post on Prince Max’s Trewly Awful Trip to the Desolat Interior
“[A] tasty stew, studded with moments of hilarity; especially rewarding [is] Heather Riordan’s queen”
–The Chicago Reader on Letter Purloined