It’s Polka Time (and time to keep polka from dying)

I’m going to ask you to read this article by The Dreadnoughts, a folk-punk band from Vancouver, Canada. It’s about why they think polka might die (and why we need polka now more than ever). Click here to read it. Go on. I’ll wait.

…

Wasn’t that SPOT ON? After the last couple of years we’ve had, our communities are in deep need of finding each other again. Polka has always been music that bridges cultures and generations. Go see a polka band at a community festival, and you’ll see four-year-olds dancing next to octogenarian couples. It’s happy music.

I share the writers’ concerns that polka culture is dying. Polka dances are creeping back after the pandemic, but the polka calendar on WXPR used to take a long time to read. Now it’s four or five events. I have records with photos of polka bands from the 60s and 70s that show multiple generations in one band. Are the kids picking up the accordion these days?

I’m glad The Dreadnoughts ended with a call to action. I’m trying to do my part by playing old records in bars and at community events.

When I watched the film “It’s Happiness: A Polka Documentary” soon after I first moved to Wisconsin (the shotski scene is the inspiration for my name), I thought “I’d buy Art’s Concertina bar if I had the money.” What could I do to support polka? I chewed on the question for years. Every polka band I saw, every time tears streamed down my face when I watched old couples dancing, I thought I needed to do something to keep it going.

That’s why I play polka records. It’s a way to dust off old recordings and introduce them to a new audience. Come by and watch me play polka records some time. I promise it will be loud enough to make you want to dance, but quiet enough that you can still talk to your neighbor.

Sign up for e-newsletters on the djshotski.com homepage to be the first to know about upcoming events.