Whether your Cinco de Mayo plans involve joining the crowds at a local festival or simply enjoying a Corona at home, you’ll need a suitable soundtrack. Might I suggest something from the catalog of norteño accordion legend, Ramón Ayala?
Known as “El Rey del Acordeon”, Ayala is a superstar on both sides of the border and through his distinctive accordion playing and songwriting, has set the standard for norteño music. In his forty year career, he has led two of norteño’s most successful conjuntos: first, Los Relampagos Del Norte (“Lightning Bolts of the North”) with singer Cornelio Reyna, and his current group, Los Bravos del Norte.
Here’s a classic track off his greatest hits collection, Antologia de un Rey:
I like to think of The Big Joe Polka Show as polka’s answer to American Bandstand. Just replace the TV studio with a large plywood dance floor in an Elk’s Lodge, the awkward teens with polka dancing seniors, and Dick Clark with the charming “Big Joe” Siedlik and his loud, accordion-patterned vests.
For more than 25 years, Big Joe was a polka radio king, spinning a popular mix of Polish, Czech and German polka records for listeners in the Midwest. After retiring from radio, he moved to television and now showcases live polka bands and dancers on his program which airs nationwide on RFD-TV, “Rural America’s Most Important Network.”
Later this month, Big Joe will film a series of shows at the RFD-TV Theater in Branson, Missouri. It’s a big deal for the bands chosen to perform and they’re coming from all over the country — the Polka Chips from Alaska, Smilin’ Scandinavians from Washington, Phocus from Buffalo, and many more.
One of polka’s biggest promoters, Big Joe likes to say that “polka tots make polka teens, and polka teens make adult human beings.” This clip is proof of that, as Big Joe welcomes (and teases) the younger members of Colorado’s Polka Nuts:
Here’s a feel-good story for your weekend: a Monroe Times piece on Del Heins, a Wisconsin accordionist who’s been entertaining local audiences for more than 60 years. In the mid-1950s, he formed a polka band, the Heins Brothers Combo, with his two older brothers. After they passed away, he mostly played small gatherings and family celebrations but in the past few years, business has been booming. He plays the monthly fish fry at Turner Hall, a steady stream of gigs at senior centers in the Monroe area, and an assortment of polka masses and Cheese Days (this is Wisconsin, after all).
“I’ve never played somewhere where someone wasn’t tapping their toe or swaying to the music… I play these songs over and over and over, and people still enjoy them… It’s happy music… It makes me feel good, and it makes other people feed good.”
Orange County may not sound like a klezmer hotspot, but the Orange County Klezmers are bringing the sounds of Eastern Europe to sunny Southern California. This week, the Orange County Weekly has a brief interview with their founder/accordionist, Barry Friedland, who gives an overview of klezmer and its history, along with a testimonial to the accordion’s power to impress:
“Accordion has never been the cool instrument to play. But I stayed with it and remember playing at the school talent show in high school… I blew everybody away. It was really exciting… People had never heard an instrument do what an accordion can do. It’s a very versatile machine.”
The Orange County Klezmers’ album, Echoes of Vilna: Songs of Remembrance from the Ghettos, is a collection of klezmer music written in World War II-era ghettos. Even when played as instrumentals (Friedland worried that most people would be unable to handle the emotional lyrics), the music is moving, haunting, and captivating. The Orange County Klezmers do an excellent job of keeping this music alive.
Headed to Frankenmuth, Michigan this summer? If you want to stay somewhere steeped in polka lore, check out the Marv Herzog Hotel opening next month. Each room at the hotel will highlight a different year in the life of Little Bavaria’s polka legend. There will also be a Marv Herzog Museum of Memorabilia showcasing Marv’s accordions, music stand and songbook, and vast collection of beer steins from Germany and Austria.
Inducted into the International Polka Music Hall of Fame in 1979, Marv Herzog was a popular accordionist and polka band leader. Herzog started the Frankenmuth Summer Music Fest which attracts tens of thousands of visitors annually. He passed away in 2002 after a 58-year music career, but it sounds like the Marv Herzog Hotel will be a fitting tribute to this polka king.
For further proof that accordions and banjos can live together in harmony, check out The Scarring Party. This unique Milwaukee quintet plays 1920’s-style music with gothic, macabre lyrics delivered through vocals that sound like they should be coming out of an old Victor Victrola. The catchy “No More Room” — off their debut album A Concise Introduction — “fortells certain doom to the bouncing rhythm of tuba, bass, accordion, banjo, and tongue drum.” Certain doom never sounded so good.
In a genre (conjunto) dominated by men, Eva Ybarra has done more than hold her own — she has become a master. Born in San Antonio, Ybarra is a self-taught accordionist who began playing in clubs and restaurants at age six. Her fluid style and fast, melodic runs set her apart and earned her the nickname, “la reina de acordeón” (queen of the accordion). Today, after years of performing solo and with her own group, she teaches accordion and inspires the next generation of conjunto musicians.
A profile of Ybarra in today’s San Antonio Express-News covers her music, her teaching, and the challenges she has faced as a rare female accordionist in the conjunto world. If you’ve never heard her play, check out the title track from her 1994 album, A Mi San Antonio:
Apparently no one in America is blogging about Canadian folk singer/accordionist Maria Dunn, so we’ll just have to do it ourselves. Born in Scotland and raised in Ontario and Alberta, Dunn brings characters to life in original music that pays homage to her Celtic roots and Canadian upbringing.
Her most recent album, We Were Good People, is practically a Ken Burns documentary of turn-of-the-century Alberta, painting vivid pictures of farmers, soldiers, and day laborers struggling to get by. But it’s no dry history lesson; Dunn’s sharp, inspiring lyrics are backed by eclectic instrumentation that toes the line between Celtic and bluegrass beautifully.
This track, “Can You Blame the Poor Miner?”, pays tribute to beleaguered Crow’s Nest Pass miners during Prohibition:
A true accordion prodigy, Joey Miskulin first picked up an accordion at age four and made his first record at twelve. When he was thirteen, Miskulin’s career took off and he became a featured accordionist in his idol Frankie Yankovic’s band. It was a partnership that lasted for over thirty-five years, as Miskulin frequently joined Yankovic both in the studio and on the road, and even produced Yankovic’s Grammy-winning album, 70 Years of Hits.
In 1987, Miskulin moved to Nashville and hooked up with Western music and comedy group Riders in the Sky, known for paying homage (and poking fun) at the classic cowboy songs of yesteryear. Today, he still plays accordion, writes, and produces albums for the group, including their work for the Pixar movies Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., and Cars. Here’s a Riders in the Sky clip with Miskulin singing Webb Pierce’s “Texas Sand”:
Best known as a member of both DeVotchKa and the Denver Gentlemen, accordionist/violinist Tom Hagerman recently released his first solo album, The Breakfast Playground. Named for a children’s playground at a Denver mall, the album showcases Hagerman’s diverse talents through original instrumentals performed almost entirely on his own.
Like the music of DeVotchKa, Hagerman’s songs have a dramatic, cinematic quality, inviting listeners on a journey. The train noises that open “So Tired” lead into a Eastern European melody that makes you think you’ve just stepped off the train in Budapest. The swirling mix of accordion, violin, and piano on songs like “Twice Told Tale”, “Home Again”, and “Charlotte Mittnacht” (which DeVotchKa fans may recognize from their 2004 album, How It Ends) call to mind Yann Tiersen’s Amelie soundtrack.
The Breakfast Playground draws you into a world where toy pianos and children’s voices mingle with soaring violin figures and accordion rhythms. Definitely a world worth escaping (and listening) to.
Whether your Cinco de Mayo plans involve joining the crowds at a local festival or simply enjoying a Corona at home, you’ll need a suitable soundtrack. Might I suggest something from the catalog of norteño accordion legend, Ramón Ayala?
Here’s a feel-good story for your weekend: a 
In a genre (conjunto) dominated by men, Eva Ybarra has done more than hold her own — she has become a master. Born in San Antonio, Ybarra is a self-taught accordionist who began playing in clubs and restaurants at age six. Her fluid style and fast, melodic runs set her apart and earned her the nickname, “la reina de acordeón” (queen of the accordion). Today, after years of performing solo and with her own group, she teaches accordion and inspires the next generation of conjunto musicians.
