The Machine’s Pump Volume 29 – #7 – July 2026

Mama Mia, this is a freaky world. Not just for me. You, too. When you were a kid and imagined being an adult, did you also imagine so many people choosing insanity as the norm? Willingly? I bet not. But here we are, in the middle of a very hot summer, doing our best to pretend everything is “business as usual” as the follies and mistakes of our dear leader and his super-rich friends inflict pain and confusion on regular folks who are just trying to get by. I’d say the time is right for a new version of Robin Hood. Maybe a sorta boring, but fully legal and EXTREMELY clever Robin Hood; someone who always knows the next move. And is quite adept at making oligarchs nervous. Okay, surely some creative types in Hollywood have contemplated making Mr. Hood America’s next movie superhero. That has massive success written all over it. Hey, my entertainment world instincts are pretty damn good. Don’t forget, I talked the music director of The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade into letting Brave Combo march in it one year, and he had no idea who we were. I mean, we had a club gig in New York City that weekend anyway. Why not try, especially since we could actually march and play? Accordion, clarinet, tuba and washboard. Sure enough, there we were on Thanksgiving, between Woody Woodpecker and Dionne Warwick, freezing our asses off and amazed that we were there, freezing our asses off. And I’m sure we had almost zero impact on the wing-ding, but it didn’t matter. We were invited, and we showed up. Everyone gets together really early for that thing, by the way.

Whatever, my point is this. On occasion you can pull off something which appears impossible, if you just trust your instincts, especially if you’re committed to your cause. And, I have to say, Brave Combo has always been committed to its cause, even when we didn’t know what our cause was. From the beginning we were an “us against the world” outfit. We designed it that way somewhat without realizing it.

But enough about me. Do you like music? It’s a mysterious force, constructed by organized sound, which can have profound influence on the listener, depending on how the elements, such as melody, harmony, rhythm, tempo, texture, and dynamics, are put together and presented. Some music recipients like to sit and listen, but some have to move around, even if the music is slow and dirge-like.

Speaking of music, I’ve been obsessed with the power of polka music for well over four decades. Anyone surprised? And I’m fascinated with it for lots of reasons. It exists in various forms around North America and the world. Most European countries have their own take on it, as does Mexico and various other spots south of the border. Southern Canada has created a unique style of Ukrainian polka. Brave Combo has, obviously, given me an incentive and an obligation to understand the polka big picture; for me, a mandatory education. And not just the music, but also the social issues which often accompany the music. And polka has the potential to be the most radical kid in the room, because the mainstream has so shamefully ignored it for so long. It can easily be more punk than punk in the right situation. I know this very well from experience. Punk music venues have always LOVED Brave Combo, especially when we play polkas and waltzes as fast as possible. That’s a winning formula, if anyone is paying attention. Brave Combo extends the invitation to the downtrodden and disillusioned to stop chasing the cool, hipster dragon. And polka’s over-the-top emphasis on tension and release will leave the lucky listener at peace, ready to face another day in this freaky world. And, coincidentally, polka season is just around the corner. Westfest, a Texas-Czech polka festival in the small central Texas town of West, happens every Labor Day weekend. Brave Combo has performed here since we were in diapers. Well, this year we will be joined by a band called The Dreadnoughts, a popular modern sorta punk polka band, originally from Vancouver, British Columbia, now living in Brooklyn, New York. They composed and recorded the best polka song of this century, in my opinion, several years ago, called “Polka Never Dies.” If I had to pick one band likely to carry on down our lonely road after we’re gone, it’s The Dreadnoughts. That being said, you most certainly need to get your butt to Westfest this year. Yes, it will be hot and probably uncomfortably humid, but you’ll get to say you were there and brag to your grandkids. And there will be lots of cold beer nearby at all times, to help you not notice how hot it is.

Okay. I am going to stop writing now. I have to settle down a bunch of cats and go to sleep. Please check our itinerary. All you fine crazy people around the Wichita, Kansas area come out to the Bartlett Arboretum, in Belle Plaine, toward the end of August. We love this venue and our good buddy, Robin Macy, who books it, was a founding member of The Dixie Chicks.

Sleep well and keep in mind, if you wanted to go from Earth to the edge of our galaxy, the Milky Way, it would take one hundred thousand light years. That’s traveling, non-stop, at the speed of light for one hundred thousand years. I’ll keep mentioning this, from time to time, until it sinks in and everyone is talking about it.