* En anglais uniquement
There are bands such as the Phoenix blues duo Doo Rag that actually play a cardboard box, but in Irish music when someone is called a box player, it means he or she plays the button accordion, also known as the box accordion. This Dublin recording artist's playing represents a major step in the development of the Irish box style. If he is a much less remembered name than some Irish performers, such as Michael Coleman, it is no doubt because he never went to America, where the Irish music scene really took off. All the same, Grogan broadcasted regularly and made a series of 78 recordings in the '30s. It was a good thing he was as fine a player as he was, because as far as commercial solo recordings on this instrument, the ones made in Ireland were limited to one man, and that was him. He was a technically advanced player but always kept his music precisely on the spot rhythmically. In addition, he was never one to clutter things up, either. He was not one of the Irish players who was more popular abroad than at home. In fact, unlike many Irish musicians who relied on the overseas market, particularly America, Grogan's material was at its most popular, and most widely distributed within Ireland itself. Many older Irish fiddlers, such as John Clifford, still play the version of "The Green Fields of America" learned off Grogan's first 78 recording. His work is well-represented on re-releases, including collections such as Irish Dance Music or Past Masters of Irish Dance, both on the Topic label. There is also Grogan material on collections issued by Folkways and Rounder as well.
A major influence on Grogan was Scottish accordion player and instrument salesman Peter Wyper, whom Grogan encountered during his stay in Glasgow as a young man. From Wyper, the younger player learned a special fingering method involving playing across the rows. Grogan was so impressed with this technique and his own mastery of it that in several of his carefully posed studio portraits he went to great lengths to demonstrate same. ~ Eugene Chadbourne