The Machine’s Pump Volume 25 – #9 – September 2022

When I first started paying close attention to polka, around 1978, not only did I know very little about it, I did not think of it as dance music. I knew that’s how most people perceived it, but I heard it differently. In the beginning, to me, it was more like trance music. It took me away, like Calgon was supposed to. It was passive, physically: something to hear with your eyes closed. And this is still my reaction upon hearing a polka for the first time. Trance, not dance. I never really cared how someone got to the music, but I always want the audience to listen first and then start gyrating or hopping after the sound has wormed its way into their heads. Whatever, from my point-of-view, polka music was exotic and sorta mysterious, because it was so NOT mainstream and because it had attachments to faraway places, AND the emphasis on the upbeat turned me on. One of the great practitioners of the style, which first got my ear, was a Swedish accordionist, named Andrew Walter. His interpretations of traditional Scandinavian polkas and waltzes were immaculately executed and all the songs on his albums were little masterpieces, full of intriguing, but simple, melodies and interesting harmonic structures (chord changes). It was wonderful music to relax by.

I became totally sold on Andrew and his contemporaries from the various Scandinavian countries. One of the first polkas Brave Combo ever played was Andrew’s “Herrgard’s Polka” and we still play it regularly in 2022, often opening the show with it. In fact, when we were invited to tour Sweden and Finland, it was mainly because a famous folk magazine, LIRA, heard about this oddball band from Texas who covered Andrew Walter recordings and ran a huge article about us. It turned out Andrew was a national treasure over there. We didn’t know that bit of information, we just liked to rock his polkas because they were so clean and precise. As I learned more and more about more and more polka musicians and styles, it was exciting and rewarding on many levels, but was always about the music first. I say it constantly. “Music, for music’s sake!”

This does not mean that I don’t fully and whole-heartedly appreciate the forever surprising physical reactions people have to the sounds we make. I am overwhelmingly grateful that Brave Combo has been able to evolve the way it has and that we are solidly viewed as a wild dance band. But it’s just not necessarily how I see/hear it. By the way, I am also thankful that we can evolve any damn way we want, based on musical whims. Polka will forever be the core sound and message, but it was just the beginning of an unencumbered journey of joyful discovery which is still happening at full-steam. There’s just too much to hear and do. I’m supposed to be wrapping up work on three previously unreleased Tiny Tim/Brave Combo tracks (first recorded 25 years ago) about now, to be ready for Christmas-time release. Haven’t even started yet.

Plus, now I’m so hung up on cranking out lo-fi music videos, there’s barely enough time to work on my cat circus. They (the cats) are all pretty good at the high wire trapeze stuff (on their terms, of course), but we have a lot of work to do on the synchronized dance routines. Plus, Twitchie and Dreamy literally hate each other. Screaming, nostrils flared, bugged eyes, backward ears, claws out, teeth exposed. That kind of hate. We think they’re sisters

Back to my original topic, I’ve always been fascinated by background music and its often misunderstood relative, Muzak. I once tried to figure out a way to play live background music through the sound system at a grocery store. I still want to do that. Who wouldn’t? You know, to affect people, with music, but subliminally rather than overtly. Muzak, specifically, is more active, than passive. It’s actually a company that custom designs office music to get the most productivity out of the workers through the application of various musical elements. They’ve been around a long time and what they make is not the same as what people call elevator music; true background music, which only exists to fill a space or mildly enhance a situation.

Speaking of enhancing (I hope) situations, Brave Combo is performing at a bunch of big ol’ fabulous gigs between now and mid-November. Denton’s massive Arts and Jazz Festival, The State Fair of Texas, Texarkana’s (my hometown) first Oktoberfest, the ever-expanding McKinney Oktoberfest (and myriad other fabulous Oktoberfests), Blanco’s hippie-cool Marigold Fest, Austin’s appropriately weird POLKAPOCALYPSE and lots more! Most of our musical events are still outdoor safe and each will be special and unique, of course. Check our itinerary right now, pick one or two shows and make your plans! That’s an order!

Thanks for wasting your time reading this. I know you have options and could have wasted your time reading something else. Here are a couple of those lo-fi videos I mentioned earlier, to send you on your way.

The Machine’s Pump Volume 25 – #8 – August 2022

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So, here we are, another month into our new reality, our alien world. My mother used to scold me for saying “what if?” too much. But I HAVE to wonder. What if Covid-19 had never happened? What if our weather wasn’t going berserk? What if the riotous January 6th insurrection attempt had never happened? What if no one had challenged the 2020 election results? What if there had been no mass shootings in the last couple of years? What if Russia hadn’t invaded Ukraine? What if the Supreme Court hadn’t overturned Roe vs. Wade? What if white supremacists were not feeling empowered? I know a lot of other bad stuff would have happened instead, but this is, indeed, a plateful of worry! It’s too much for us to manage, on top of normal day-to-day challenges.

So, if life and the world around you can’t seem to stop thwarting your efforts with stumbling blocks AND freaking you out, in the process, what are you supposed to do? How do you move forward with any level of optimism? How do you make enough sense of it all to feel like there’s a point to anything? If you find yourself singing Peggy Lee’s “Is That All There Is?” way more than you should, and not because it’s a great song, how do you find peace? Is it possible to remove yourself enough, on occasion, to laugh in the face of the horrors unfolding around you; to view us all as ridiculous beings, constantly doing ridiculous things? Jeez, have you seen any of the recent images from outer space? The universe is a pretty big place, as it turns out. And believe it or not, there’s quite a bit more going on in the universe than Jennifer Lopez’s most recent wedding. Or anybody getting married, for that matter. So, so, so many, many, many galaxies and stars and planets, and, yet Putin just could not control his ego. He just could not do it. And, of course, we all had to fight about masks and vaccines. And, apparently, teenage boys are desperate to have sex with AR-15s, while gleefully creating havoc for everyone else. Oh, the joys of youth! And the irony is we LOVE being attached to Earth and our simpleton Earthly ways, but we’re reluctant to do what it will take to protect and preserve it. Damn, I’m sorry, but humans are, generally, self-centered idiots. And I’m sad to say, it’s in our nature to be this way. One must work at not being one, which means trying not to be so attached to one’s ego. I’m speaking from experience. I know how shallow I can be, I know how self-centered I can be and I know how stupid I can be. I do dumb things every day and tell myself how dumb I was to do whatever dumb thing I did. BUT then I try to laugh, take some solace in the fact that everyone is a fuck-up, realize that perfection is unachievable and attempt to see the humor in the day’s unfolding follies.

For instance, if you have several dogs and cats and you desire order and some acceptable level of cleanliness, you better learn to make light of your situation, because acceptable won’t be easy to achieve and your four-legged buddies will definitely not help make it better. But you know what else? Who cares? I like being constantly entertained and it cracks me up that each of these little critters is unique and separate from all other beings, with likes and dislikes and it’s my place to understand them and respect the specialness of each one. To me, it’s super fun stuff. I really want to make a train out of all the Chewy (very popular pet food home-delivery company) boxes and put one animal in each open-top train car (Chewy box) and pull them all around the backyard, while making choo-choo sounds. Who wouldn’t want to do this? I’m sure lots of insane animal lovers have thought about it.

But hanging out with dogs and cats all day doesn’t get the job finished, unfortunately. Eventually, I must do something, like issue a contract or make a promo video for a gig or schedule a rehearsal or buy a new fog machine or write a newsletter or a song or both! And even then, so what?

And, that, is why polka is so important! It makes fun of our pride-drenched foibles and injects positive energy at the same time. And within that combination of elements is the answer to everything. Polka requires you to make up your own mind and then make light of your predicament. It allows easy access to the magic of tension and release. So, to sum up, think for yourself and submit at the same time. YOU decide, all alone, what’s cool or hip or appropriate and then, without fear, give in to it. Don’t worry about what anyone else thinks, especially since that’s one of the deadly sins!

Speaking of music, that’s what we do. Brave Combo plays music and I ramble. And we will be playing and rambling a whole lot in the next few months. It’s polka season and everyone’s pretty revved-up about it. Please check our itinerary and pick out a couple of gigs and come out, with a good attitude! In the meantime, I also plan to start releasing my backlog of brilliant music videos any day now.

Okie-Dokie, an avalanche of Brave Combo live shows is about to be upon us. Almost all are outdoor safe, so no excuses! Check our itinerary often. Dates are being added even as you read this! Which means you will have myriad opportunities to look at us (and listen to us) and to try to figure us out! Good luck and remember to think for yourself.