| Commentary On Polka
The roots
of my musical life exist in polka music. I have been involved in
some facet of polka music all of my life. I was first exposed to
polka music as a 7 year old learning to play the accordion. Polka
was my father's favorite music and since he was the one who really
encouraged me into taking up an instrument, his drive was toward polka.
Since then I have played and been
involved in rock and roll bands, wedding bands, night club acts and my
current solo and duo act playing everything from the Rolling Stones to
Frank Sinatra and various genres of music such as country, swing, rock,
funk, r & b, Motown, pop and, yes, Polka. Most good polka musicians that I
know are more than capable of playing various styles of music and
playing them very well. The reverse, however, cannot be said to be
true. I know of few (if any) rock and roll musicians that can play
a polka correctly (not that they would even want to). Have you ever heard a
"rock and roll" or "pop" band at a wedding reception
trying to play a polka. It's generally a train wreck. The
reason for this is because the average person, including many musicians,
think that polkas are easy to play and for the most part they simply
don't care. They basically just want to get it over with.
The fact is, just like with all other forms of music, polkas are not
easy to play well and they are more complicated than most people
think.
My partner, David Stirk, in the Silver
Sky Duo, is a prime case in point. I met Dave circa
1993. Dave is a converted keyboard player who now plays guitar and
banjo. Dave never played a banjo before 1993 because he had never
played a polka before 1993. At least he didn't play one the right
way. Dave has developed a great respect for polka music and the
many polka musicians he has met since then. He has found that
polka musicians know the music they play and know it very well. He
also will admit that at one time he fell into the category of the person
who thought all polkas sounded the same. He no longer thinks
that. When you have made assumptions all your life regarding polka
music, as most people do, and then become a part of the polka industry
you realize how different reality is from your preconceptions.
Polkas are much more complicated that people think.
I am very proud of my involvement
in polka since it not only has been a big part of my life but also my
heritage. The melting pot of the USA has as its backbone the
ethnic music of the various cultures of which it is made.
Unfortunately, among the "status quo" there is a negative
stigma attached to polka music even though today's music and dance has a
link to polka. We cannot fail to recognize that who we are is
directly related to our culture and ethnic heritage. We should
never be ashamed of the music of our ancestors. Yet, we have
allowed our children to forsake their heritage. We haven't taught
them the importance of the music of their fathers, and this to our
shame.
As with many things, polka music
has certainly evolved over the years and today's polka music is slightly
different than polkas of years gone by. But the essence is still
the same. The absence of polka music in the main stream today is a
shameful commentary of the failure of our generation to teach our
children to love their ethnicity. Along with the absence in
teaching our children is the pressure from TV, radio and entertainment
marketing. Marketing ploys in the entertainment industry have
brainwashed our children not only into an attraction to current music
genres but also to disassociate themselves from (even to the point of
being ashamed of) the music of their fathers.
Some of the best musicians I know
are polka musicians. I suppose that statement can be said of any
genre of music. However, because their is such a negative
connotation given to polka the notion that many people get is that
you don't have to be a good musician to play polka music or that polka
musicians are not as good as other musicians. The fact is, there are good and bad musicians and vocalists in every genre of
music. Yet, it's polka that continues to get a bad rap.
The "all polkas sound the
same" mantra that I hear from the general public I also occasionally
hear from musicians. This has always amazed and frustrated me. I dislike
rap music with a passion yet I never say that it all sounds the same
(although, I'm sometimes tempted to). For some reason the general
population dislikes polka music
to such a degree that this mantra has permeated public opinion.
The fact is, all polkas don't sound the same. Any musician who
says such things has no clue about music and is either arrogant, misguided
or ignorant (uneducated). Music compositions that have different notes,
different melodies, different chord progressions, different tempos, and
such cannot "all sound the same". This is simply a
statement of ignorance or prejudice (or both) and should have no place in the
language of a musician.
We need to revive our ethnicity
and polka music. I am not so naive to assume everyone will love
polka music however, I would love to see polka music revived among those
whose ethnicity of which it is a part. At the present rate polka music
will be all but dead with the death of this present generation. I
know there are a few younger polka musicians but for whom will they play
when this present generation is gone? Perhaps, the death of polka
music will be what revives it in the following generations. When our children's children ask about their ethnicity
and there's no one to tell them about it, that may be the time when a revival
of the culture of our ancestors begins. I hope it doesn't come to
that but I fear that it is inevitable if our generation doesn't step up
and do something about it, soon.
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