Best Polka Album, 2000 Grammy Awards
BRAVE COMBO DELIVERS AN ELECTRIC JOLT OF POLKA POWER
1. Down At The Friendly Tavern
2. Red Wing
3. Why, Oh Why
4. Polka Dancer
5. Only For Love
6. Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie
7. Conchita, The Waitress
8. Skytrain
9. Glamorous Gal
10. Down In the Valley
11. Crumbling Heart
12. Purple Haze- The Jimi Hendrix Polka – Bonus Track
Polkas have had an enormous impact on my life. Brave Combo was created around the idea of polka. Not from a cultural or a nationalistic perspective, but strictly musical point of view. There is something about the power of a polka that sets it apart from all other styles. And it’s really exciting to examine how the music has grown and mutated in recent years. From South Texas Tejano to the Polish scene in Buffalo, New York, the groove is funkier and more rockin’ than ever. I hereby declare that polka is no longer considered a symbol of squareness. Actually, it was never as square as its popular image suggested. It probably just seemed to be a good idea to market it that way rather than try to compete with bad boy rock and roll. But there are innovators in every movement and I really appreciate the polka visionaries that have forced the music to evolve the way it has. Considering how thoroughly polka has been ignored by the mainstream, it’s amazing that there is still so much life in it. But then again, maybe there’s nothing amazing about it. All of the serious polka musicians and fans that I know would be doing what they’re doing anyway, obviously. But most of us are conditioned to think that if something is not popular enough to be covered by big-time media,, it’s not very important or doesn’t have much substance. Well, I saw Scrubby and the Dynatones play “Zosia” recently and it blew my mind again. Everything about the experience was overflowing with substance. Scrubby’s been doing this for decades now and I’m sure that life as a polka musician has an occasional downside, but for me , at that moment it was as fresh and sparkling as anything ever was. So, Brave Combo loves to play polkas – to feel that electric jolt of energy and wallow in the hedonistic pleasure of tension and release. Sock it to me, baby. Every time you kiss me, feels like a punch! With that in mind, here is a collection of polkas in various styles, performed by us, Brave Combo. We hope you feel it, too. And if you do, and you’re the curious type, contact us and we’ll turn you on to cool polka sources that pay off. –CARL FINCH Produced by Carl Finch and Brave Combo
Brave Combo:
Jeffrey Barnes – vocals, woodwinds, harmonica electronic horn
Alan Emert – drums
Carl Finch – vocals, accordion, guitar, keyboards
Bubba Hernandez – vocals, bass, tuba
Danny O’Brien: trumpet
Photo: Angilee Wilkerson
Percussion and additional vocals by Joe Cripps
Recorded in the spring of 1999 at Reeltime Audio in Denton, Texas
Engineered by Eric Delagard
“Purple Haze” recorded at the Chameleon Club, Lancaster PA.
on 7/21/98 and Engineered by Adam Clark
Mastered by Frank Vale at Metrosync Studio,Cleveland
Project Coordinator: Sunana Batra
Publishing: Katharine Neubauer
Accounting: Cliff Drobnick