Forty years ago, around this time, Brave Combo played its first gig. All NTSU (now UNT) students, we were going to perform our debut in the courtyard outside the Union Building, right in the middle of campus. We put flyers up like crazy and told everyone we knew. Unfortunately, it rained and Lyle and Dave (now Lisa) bailed. So, Tim and I set up inside a classroom in the dance department and played a little concert for about 30 people. As I remember, it went well enough. I can still see certain people sitting there. Some of them continue to experience Brave Combo live.
Two special opportunities, with historical significance, are happening soon. On Friday, May 3, Brave Combo returns to Ft. Worth Mayfest. 40 years ago, almost to the day, we played our sixth gig at Mayfest. This was a just a few days after our fifth gig, at Hip Pocket Theater, also in Ft. Worth. So, all you fans in the western side of the Metroplex come out and tell us how much you love us. And the Dallas polkaholics will have their shot at bliss a week later, on Friday March 10, at the legendary Poor David’s Pub, where we performed (at the original location) our first club show in Dallas, also in 1979. Follow your heart straight to the dance floor. We’ll provide the soundtrack for this moment of release. Dig?
And, once again, The National Polkafest in Ennis, Texas is here. Memorial Day weekend. Bring the family. The halls are all air-conditioned, comfortable and inviting, full of food and drink. And everyone is friendly and gets friendlier with each pivo. Seriously, this is a state-of-the-art wing-ding, as far as current Texas-Czech polka dance music is concerned. The songs are traditional and the arrangements, modern and thoughtful. Czech and Then Some are the heart and soul of the festival and always present a master’s class in this groovy sound when they perform. I think Alex Meixner will be there again this year, as well as Mollie B. and Ted Lange. Star-studded! We take the stage Saturday and Sunday nights.
Speaking of performing, as most of you know, or remember, we used to travel all over regularly. We did it with varying degrees of intensity for over 35 years. It was just part of the deal. Well, things have changed. We still go out a few times a year and just might show up anywhere. Last summer we played a Carnegie Hall-produced show at Bryant Park in NYC. Still a typical event, but we’re just not really into career-building anymore. You know, we are what we are, and no longer much interested in knocking ourselves out to increase our fame. There are new, more efficient ways to spread the word, as fewer and fewer regular folks go out to live music venues. But back to the nuts and bolts of touring and the unpredictable rewards, just the basics, like getting from Denton to wherever is so much more challenging than before. If you drive, highway construction will stop you 100 times between here and New York City. And everywhere you stop is generally very crowded with other travelers. On top of that, hauling around 4-6 humans who are used to a certain level of well-deserved comfort is expensive. Five hotel rooms, every night of a two-week run can add up. I peruse the motel/hotel reviews myself and book the rooms. The average rating’s gotta be 7 out of 10 or higher. And flying is a nightmare. Carrying on guitars and accordions and horns used to be super easy. No big deal. If they wouldn’t fit overhead, the attendants would let us put them in the little closet with the bridal gowns. Those days are long gone. But, also, if you fly you have to rent a vehicle or two and most of your stage gear (amps, keyboards, drums, etc.) when you arrive at your location, which is a huge drag and then you’re not even playing on your own stuff. And the sustain pedal is always missing. On top of these logistical issues, the money for a band such as Brave Combo is about the same as it was 10-15 years ago, but expenses have risen a lot. Plus, the club scene, across the board, was a happier, healthier place 10-15 years ago. We used to count on having good weekday club shows between anchor dates on the road. Those pesky Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. But, as everyone knows, live music, at the club level is at an all-time low, attendance-wise, unless the club is hosting cover or tribute bands. And in Texas and Oklahoma, young country acts. So, we have taken a much less aggressive approach toward long-distance travel (but if the situation and the $ is right, we’re there) and are trying to limit our number of shows a year to just those with obvious value beyond “just a gig for the night.” Thankfully, for Brave Combo, but not so good for faraway fans, we tend to get plenty of good offers (knock on wood) within 7-8 hours of Denton every year. This means I am home with my animals more, able to be in the recording studio more, able to concentrate on creative efforts, like video, more and that sounds way better than spending hours and hours in a van or a plane. Brave Combo has visited a lot of places. One night we were about to play in Berlin and the opening act, a local German punk polka band, started their set with, “Do Something Different.” The first time I visited ROLLING STONE magazine in NYC I met Bill Murray on the elevator. One time in Hollywood, Brave Combo shared a backstage dressing room area with Phyllis Diller and Shecky Greene the time we played the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon. We marched in the Macy’s Parade in front of Dionne Warwick and behind Woody Woodpecker. During our first trip to Japan, we were presented with the same kimonos as the Beatles received during their first trip, by the same company, Isetan. You might find us playing a wedding in Boston, Seattle or Playa del Carmen, Mexico. We don’t even stop at the Grand Canyon anymore or even Rock City in Minneapolis, Kansas (look it up). Niagara Falls was so packed with people you could barely get up to the fence to see it. We played a cool gig under the Brooklyn Bridge and did a cool pirate radio show in the Netherlands. We performed at a festival in northern Finland, just below the Arctic circle. It looked like a desolate rest area. All concrete. Damn good accordionists, though. Scary good! We’ve been in the mountains a lot. On ocean beaches a lot (Atlantic City in the late 80s was quite a sight, dark, funky, down and out and depressing in an inspiring way), in the desert a lot (Vegas in the 80s was quite a sight, the opposite of the Disneyland it is now and Salt Lake City and the Great Salt Lake is high on the “weird, but we dig it” list. And the mighty Midwest is practically our second home. We have covered the middle of the USA like mofos. Even made it to PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION a couple of times. Whatever, I’m not telling you this to brag or to show how worldly Brave Combo is. I could literally go on and on if I wanted you to start thinking less of me. My point is that we have really covered the miles, as anyone on the road for 40 years would have. And, for what it’s worth, compared to some musicians/artists we ain’t done nothing. My good friend, Mike Dillon, puts us to shame every week. He’s in China one night and at the Continental Club in Austin the next. But, I have more cats than he does! I can assure you, Brave Combo is still creating new sounds and, combined with my new solo project, music is getting plenty of action. We have twelve new tracks almost ready to release. I am trying to shoot a video for each song (a new necessity, but, why not?). We hear from fans every day, asking us to come back to wherever and we appreciate it, but the reality sucks, too. If we could be magically transported, I would try to be everywhere at once all the time. But we are not quite there, yet. Close, though. In the meantime, I want to make Brave Combo’s unique appeal so important to you that you will start to make our shows your destination, no matter where you are from. And if you’re really putting a lot of “above and beyond” effort into your special trip, please let us know and we will play a song, your choice (perhaps, we have to know it), for you at the show.
Anyway, I am starting to think as outside the box as I can, which is just a little concerning, to expand our reach without spending 2/3 of our lives in transit. There’s something to ponder.
Since I started writing this two tornado warnings were issued for Denton; two areas of circulation heading straight for us. My wife, Jane, and I had to secure lots of worried cats and dogs. We thought both storms passed over without incident and just found out a tornado, indeed, touched down about a mile from our house. Wow! Okay. Sleep well and dream about Brave Combo riding twisters like a bunch of Pecos Bills! We are weathering the storms of life to bring you hope or something like that.
Pauline Bartle says
Seattle’s Seafood fest misses you! We’ll just have to come up with a reason to visit Texas again. The first time I saw you guys was at Westfest. It was probably 1998ish. We polka’d our buts off in the 107° heat. I won’t forget it!
Dr Paisley says
Thanks to all of the wonderful people of Brave Combo. First saw you after your Grammy win at the Grand Emporium. Don Lipovac opened. Dragged a friend along, and he was doing ok, but when you ran to the mic after the first song and yelled “We have to play ‘Volare’ right now!,” he looked at me, saw the terror in my eyes, and said “What?” I replied “You’ll know it at the chorus, and regret it.”
But y’all pulled it off, and that was the first of many shows we saw. Last one was last summer in St Louis, the day of the Naked Bike Ride. When Jeffrey and Bubba came out, I was losing my mind. Hope to see you again. Kansas City need a polka party!
Thomas Daugherty says
I love you guys and will be a fan for the next 40 years! Thanks for the update. Polkaholic for life.
Christopher Burton says
You folks blew my mind in Austin 89, I think it was the UT student union. I’ve collected your albums and dragged friends to shows for years. Raised my kid listening to your music (among many others) and now yours is his favorite! I love what you guys have done for music, your interest in and dedication to the variety of folk music styles has probably preserved these styles for another century. Thank you for bringing it to me and my neighbors and friends. Thank you and Jeffrey and Danny and Bubba and the whole gang of talented, adventurous musicians that have built the BC catalog.
If I had only one wish, it would be to ensure the institution of Brave Combo would survive your passing. Please tell me there’s a Brave Combo School of Music, or some plan to franchise out the project to other players, or generate clones of yourself at 80 year intervals. I’m in awe of what you’ve been able to do and can’t really imagine a world without you in it. Polka on, good sir.
Grace Joseph says
I live in Syracuse, but about every four years or so I happen to be somewhere in Texas where you are playing a show, and it’s always a thrill to see you. Last summer i was lucky enough to be in NYC to catch your show in Bryant Park. I was surprised at the number of Brave Combo t-shirts I saw in the crowd, but I should not have been. Y’all have a worldwide following! I will continue to cross my fingers that you’ll be playing nearby on my subsequent Texas trips, and in the meantime, I’ll contentedly sing along to the MP3’s I play at home and while driving.
Mr.Troll says
I saw some of the earliest shows in Denton at Benny’s or The
Porch, whichever it may have been at the time.Will see you at PDP this weekend!
Erin and Ryan says
It’s been almost 11 years since we’ve seen you guys! Ryan and I have so many good memories of BC shows: in Seattle (where I first heard Honga, love that song), in Denver and the Rocky Mtns (we got engaged on that trip), and so many times in Albuquerque and Santa Fe dating back to about 1994. And, of course, you provided us with a family member, our cat Jolly, probably the best thing you ever found at a truck stop.
The last time we saw you was on 4th of July 2008, when the idiot former-Mayor of Albuquerque bumped you off stage so he could play with his terrible classic rock cover band. (I did not vote for him after that.) We brought our three-week-old twin babies out in the heat to see their first Brave Combo show. We are determined that that will not be their last!! We WILL come to Texas one day!! We must.
Brody Fanning says
I first saw Brave Combo play the dingy Student Union at Austin College in January 1984 and y’all blew my mind. I haven’t counted the live shows I’ve caught since, but it’s got to be well past 100. I live in Chicago now, and cant wait for the annual Fitzgerald’s Christmas show. My wife and friends come along every year, because they like BC, and because they get a kick out of watching me lose my mind polka dancing and singing the words to every song as loud as I can get away with without bugging the crowd. Looking forward to seeing you again this year at the American Music Fest over July 4th weekend.
Grace Joseph says
My first shows were also at Austin College! My spouse and I actually got engaged at the Oktoberfest 1992 celebration in the Pouch Club while Brave Combo was on stage. Can’t remember what song they were playing at that moment, though.
kat says
A new family tradition was born about 5 years ago when my aunt asked me if I’d ever heard of Brave Combo because they were playing at Fitzgerald’s. Answer? YEEEESSSS! I now go to Chicago for your show there in December. My aunt, being much wiser than I, came to Denton to dance with y’all on Sunday at Arts & Jazz. Next December, we’re hoping for a bigger crowd of us to dance with you again. Thanks for giving us so many opportunities to polka, bump n grind, and hora until we can’t hora no more-a!
Pam says
Love the new song. We will see y’all at Poor David’s.
Let’s not forget playing at our wedding. Love you guys
ron slachta says
Since you don’t seem to have booked Riga, Latvia, for a gig this year, looks like when we head back to the states, we will catch you at Fitzgerald’s on 5 July. I have been a fan for over 30 of your years as a band, and you never fail to make me smile.
See you soon.
Theresa Parker says
Polka on, Carl!
Scooter Smith says
Brave Combo is a blessing to the world, and Carl, you have earned your time in the sun! I respect, admire and appreciate how you have remained true to your artistic vision over the decades. Like you and Jane, Amy Moonlady Martin and I limit the gigs we take in order to spend more time with our cats, family, friends, and garden. “To every season,” you know. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
David B Canine says
My first wife and I were married at Blob’s Park in Jessup, MD in 1972. Her father was Heinrich in their house band Heinrich and the Rhinelanders throughout the 60’s and 70’s and they played for our wedding of course. Many who attended still say it was the best wedding ever. I have your live album from there, thankful for those memories. I love “impelled to dance.” Fits this non-dancer to a tee!
Larry Lewis says
SO many great memories with BC over the years, Carl, since getting “Polkasonic” when it was a new release. Dancing with my GF, Sue, at the Twin Towers in Narragansett, RI, ‘til exhaustion set in….she’s still my GF and I didn’t realize she could twist me off the floor. After, we treated Bubba to (several) beverages & chat nearby, to cool down. Following you guys out of the Iron Horse in Northampton, MA, through the downtown and into a pizza shop, for an impromptu concert, with free slices to all from the owner, whose smile never left his face. Me, singing, “My Girl Lollipop” with you, at the 1992 Nashville wedding of a buddy who’d soon become John Prine’s bassist (and, still is, today). Interviewing Jeffrey over the phone for a couple hours for my article in Dirty Linen magazine…I’d thought “Steve Jordan” was Letterman’s drummer, but Jeff never flinched on the line, a true gentleman. The day a package arrived for me, full of 4 Dots vinyl, gratis.
Sue, on a consulting assignment in Roseburg, OR, phoning me to say she was at an outdoor concert featuring BC…..”Take videos!!” She did…more reasons to love her. The smug self-satisfaction of watching thousands of people at the Rhythm & Roots fest in southern RI asking one another, “Who ARE these guys?” and then gleefully following your commands to do the Hokey Pokey. More converts to your cause.
After I click “Send,” here, I’ll ask Sue if we can start thinking about flying out to catch BC somewhere across this land, while it’s still your land and my land. After all, Brave Combo was meant for you and me. (Corny, but heartfelt.)
Trish Daskivich says
After our musician son raved about Brave Combo for years, Brave Combo came to Santa Monica, CA,, to McCabe’s, a small venue. What pure delight in seeing and hearing Brave Combo perform! So dynamic, so extremely talented, they put on such a memorable show! We now listen to their CD’s all the time, and if Brave Combo is not going to travel to CA, then we in CA and our son in Cheyenne, WY, will fly down to one of their gigs in TX. Brave Combo, hope to see you soon in your home turf! All the Best to each one of you!
Trish
Chuck Norton says
I first experienced the magic of “atomic polka” when I happened upon my first Brave Combo gig in the Rock Bottom Lounge, underneath the old student union of North Texas State U., back in the fall of ’84. I had never heard anything so funky and wonderful. I’ve been a dedicated follower ever since. I still live in Denton and I consider it a blessing that my favorite band still call this place home too!
RalphOnYourRadio says
I’ve had the very good fortune to be a fan and supporter of Brave Combo since the early 80’s. Used to play their albums on KUNM in Albuquerque during the wee morning hours and always received calls asking for more information about the band and their music.
Many years later I find myself living in the Midwest and one of the band’s favored places to perform is at The Zoo Bar in Lincoln, NE. How wonderful life is when Brave Combo is part of this world!