The old instrument is helping young players carry on tradition. "My mom was like, 'You're going to learn this because you're Russian,'" 14-year old Alex French of The Colony said. He made it to the finals playing a Russian World War II-era accordion that was handed down by a family friend. "So it made it through World War II, which is pretty cool." "I was actually born and adopted from... Russia," 18-year old Nick Heatly of Dallas said. Heatly has been a finalist in the past and said his accordion is a connection to his past. "Breaking out an accordion at a party is always something really fun to do," Heatly said. "I just fell in love with the instrument."