Volume 12 – #7 – July 2009

In April of 1979 Brave Combo attempted to play its first gig. We’d put up flyers around the NTSU (North Texas State University) campus, announcing an early evening polka music concert outside the student union building. We had already created a little buzz in the university’s dance department, where Brave Combo co-founder, Tim Walsh, and I accompanied ballet and modern dance classes during the week. Coincidentally, we were both becoming seriously interested in music from other countries and cultures. I was leaning toward polkas and Tim was into Irish reels and jigs (his name IS Walsh, you know). Between dance classes we would teach each other songs and attracted considerable attention from cute ballerinas in the process, which wasn’t a bad thing. It turns out that college students who are interested in dance as a possible vocation, do, indeed, enjoy the act of dancing quite a bit and turn into Paula Abdul at the drop of Mr. Bojangle’s hat. So, there we were, myself and Tim, learning and performing, with great zeal, polkas and waltzes, while naturally exuberant girls danced in tights and smiled a lot. That’s how I remember it, at least. So eventually, it was decided that we would make a band and call it Brave Combo. The first name, “Brave,” because we knew it would be take courage to play polkas, etc. where we were intending to play them and, “Combo,” because it was the squarest term we could think of, at the time, for a musical group. It was our mission to play music that people were not expecting to hear, or play it in a way that would surprise them; a pretty simple plan, actually. To complete the combo, we asked Lyle Atkinson to play bass and Dave Cameron to play drums. They accepted. Lyle had played in a few polka bands for fun in the upper Midwest and Dave was already way into Tejano music, which included Tex-Mex-style polkas, waltzes and cumbias. So, everything was set in motion. Somehow, four of the most un-cool guys had banded together to play “square” music for anyone who would listen and thought it was a good idea. We knew we weren’t hip, but we also thought there might be some power in embracing and, in fact, boldly exhibiting sincere square-ness. And we did, for what it’s worth, rock the house and I believe we would have even if we weren’t playing polkas. We loved the music we were trying to play and felt that, for the most part, it had been labeled unfairly and did not deserve the ridicule it received. Part of our purpose in all of this was to show just how great polka music really was by reaching ears that wouldn’t normally be open to it or conveniently near it and we had a great time, rehearsing long hours on one unusual song after another. Logically, the jump from polkas to tango and cha cha and Middle Eastern rhythms and so on, was a no-brainer. And, although everything was a challenge, it was all fun, too, because we knew we weren’t going to totally nail any of the styles anyway. But we also knew it didn’t matter, cause we were mutts to all the styles, as well. Whatever, back to April of 1979. As I mentioned, we put up flyers and told our friends that we would be performing outside on the NTSU campus. Well, of course, it rained that day and wasn’t going to let up before our outdoor show. Lyle and Dave wanted to cancel. Tim and I wanted to find a space inside one of the buildings so the show could go on, and we eventually found one. But by this time Lyle and Dave were not into hauling the drums and bass amp a long distance to a questionable performance area and I think they went home. Undaunted, Tim and I set up at the new location, after having posted some last-minute flyers and telling a few people that were probably showing up. Well, the show did go on and people did show up. I banged on an acoustic piano for the most part and Tim played either clarinet or soprano sax. That was all; just the two of us jamming as if it was between the 10:00 AM ballet class and the 11:00 AM modern class. I don’t know how good we really were that night. Tim has fun almost anytime he’s blowing on a horn, so his recollection of how it went can’t be trusted. Whatever, the main thing is that we did it and that was the beginning. That same month Brave Combo also played the opening of a dance studio in a strip mall in Denton and Little Jack Melody, BC’s new bassist, was at that fine, fine concert, checking out our groovy new sound. Weird, huh? As I look at my poorly filled-out 1979 calendar, it appears that first month also included an appearance at Bennie’s, a popular Denton jazz club. For some reason, Ft. Worth opened up to us in May. We played there five times that month; twice at a downtown club called Yesteryears (where we were paid in more than just money), twice at the Hip Pocket Theatre, opening or closing the show, and once at the city’s big deal annual wing-ding, Mayfest. This was all very encouraging, so we kept going. And almost 5000 shows later, here we are in 2009, and not much has changed. We were supposed to play Ft. Worth’s Mayfest this year, but swine flu mania swept through instead, shutting it down and a Brave Combo/Hip Pocket event wouldn’t be out of the ordinary. But you have better things to do than stroll down memory lane with Brave Combo, right? Plus, as I look over all the calendars, there’s a lot to comment on and, right now, it sounds too involved to jump into any deeper. Although, I would like to mention that three months into the existence of Brave Combo we did a two-week tour of Texas mental hospitals and state schools to see how the residents would react to our strange new/old music. I don’t know what we ultimately ascertained, really, since it wasn’t an actual scientific study. We just liked the idea of a nuclear polka band touring mental institutions and wanted to make it happen. Most of it was quite thoroughly documented by our good friend and picture-taking-buddy, Bob Lukeman. All the video he shot is amazing and we hope to have some of it available for you to see this year. We never really know why we did this (and still don’t), but everyone involved thought it was the right thing to do and, sure enough, it worked on many levels. Let’s Polka! And Polka On!

Hey Everybody! It’s vacation time, so Brave Combo is gonna “get back on the road again” and “see the USA in a Chevrolet.” Before summer is over you can catch our mighty wave of noise in one (or more) of these fine locations: Amarillo, TX, Taos, NM, Carbondale, CO, Salt Lake City, UT, Roseburg, OR, Seattle, WA, Boise, ID, Hailey, ID, Red Lodge, MT, Indianapolis, IN, Cleveland, OH, Philadelphia, PA, Bethlehem, PA, Northampton, MA, Stony Creek, NY, Lake George, NY, Portland, ME, Hartford, CT, Washington, DC/Baltimore, MD, Delaware, NJ, New York, NY, Ft. Worth, TX, Austin, TX, Denton, TX, Houston, TX, Santa Cruz, CA, Winters, CA, San Francisco, CA, Yosemite National Park, CA and, of course, West, TX (Westfest!). So, no excuses if you’re within 100 miles of any of these towns. Pack a sack lunch or picnic. See some sights a long the way. Stop at a couple of truck stops or convenient stores and buy a souvenir post card. Eat something. Drink something. Go to the bathroom. Show up at the gig refreshed and ready to mingle soul DNA. It’s the polka train! And it’s making a stop near you. Show up or just give up!