The Machine’s Pump Volume 20 – #4 – April 2017

Once a month I write a newsletter (you’re reading it now), to sorta connect a little with anyone who’s interested and share some thoughts. It’s mainly a one-way street. My newsletter. My point of view.
Certainly, there are many events in my life I don’t mention, but I might be frank and outspoken on occasion. We (Brave Combo) have been playing a series of shows, called IMMIGRANT SONGS, where we focus, primarily, on selections from our repertoire we feel most clearly represent the special nature of music which comes from cultures blending. These are pretty much just regular ol’ Brave Combo performances, except we’re trying to make a point; there is extreme value to our country being a melting pot. We’re trying to highlight how much our lives might eventually be enhanced, for instance, by a Polish trumpet player, just off the boat in New York City, getting to know both the Yiddish violinist and the jazz clarinetist in his new neighborhood. And most folks down here in Texas who give a hoot about our state’s roots music scene, are acutely aware of the impact of all things “Tex-Mex.” I know the border with our friends to the south gets a lot of bad press, but I have a feeling that ol’ “Don’t Mess With Texas” pride thing just might wind up being a bigger obstacle than the wall builders ever imagined. I am absolutely not in favor of, nor encouraging, illegal immigration. I’m just saying the free movement of ideas and concepts is a positive thing and we should, for a variety of reasons, accept it and embrace it rather than spending a lot of energy trying to stifle it. That’s all. If certain high-profile public figures choose to concentrate on the negative side of such things, then, to be fair and balanced, I just figured we might as well do the opposite. Plus, Brave Combo has, in fact, been making a living for decades, looking for cool music to play Brave Combo-style and, guess what? The majority of it originated in other countries. We learned, right away, that there is a whole lot of mind-blowing music out there and most of it does not sound like the stuff we’re accustomed to hearing. I believe a big part of what people enjoy about Brave Combo is that we’re likely to play something they’ve never heard before. Whatever, a couple of years ago this would not have had any controversy attached to it at all. But this is 2017. Because we have been doing shows called, IMMIGRANT SONGS, and explaining the importance of such music to our existence, some fans have decided to become ex-fans; scolding us, asking to be removed from email lists, and some stating that they will attend no more shows. I guess to some of these people we’ve just always been a good-time party band with no purpose other than to party, party, party. I guess our whole thing about Brave Combo defending polka music and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the musical underdogs just slipped by them. From day one this has been a band AND a mission. We have always been trying to open eyes and ears, by exposing our audience to, as I said, new sounds and different points-of-view. We named ourselves Brave Combo because we chose to take certain styles of music into situations where those styles had not previously been accepted. Get it? Polkas in a rock and roll bar! It’s not just a joke. Anyway, yep, here we are, in 2017.

OUR NEXT STEP IN WORLD DOMINATION. Brave Combo’s first Dyngus Day in Buffalo, New York was a smash! Thanks to everyone who made it happen. Thanks to all of our great polka fans who showed up. Thanks to all of the other bands playing around town for accepting us into your circle and for inspiring to learn this unique and uniquely powerful music. We will continue to fight for polka’s dignity, in this time of mounting racism and “us against them” attitudes. Hey, dark forces! You’re all officially on notice! Embedded in this post are a couple of videos from Dyngus Day.

Okay, you guys. Get off your butt and come out to one of our shows. Check our itinerary and make your plans today. You can even be picky about it. In the upcoming weeks, you have German festivals, Polish festivals and Czech festivals to choose from, as well as some super groovy concerts and club shows here and there; a perfect mix of this and that. Now, let’s have a snack.