Volume 13 – #11 – November 2010

In spite of it all, it’s time to throw caution to the wind and spend, spend, spend. Christmas truly is just around the corner and Brave Combo aims to celebrate in our usual twisted manner. We hope you’ll join us for some fun and merriment. Ghosts and Goblins have morphed into Bambi, Santa and the Nativity. This happened in my neighborhood and it happened in yours, too. Thanksgiving was totally buried by Black Friday and his friend Cyber Monday. Accept your fate, people! And you might as well throw your money away on something worthwhile, like us. Check our holiday itinerary and put on a happy face!

Our full-on live Christmas CD, CHRISTMAS PRESENT, will get you in the mood for anything: shopping, decorating, eating, seeing family, stressing out, feeling a little sick, knowing you’re unable to go another day and all the trimmings.

WRAPPING UP THE FIRST 30 YEARS OF IMPORTANT BRAVE COMBO DATES. Okay, it’s taken over a year to compile, but, Ladies and Gentlemen I now present the final installment of the year-by-year overview of the first three decades of Brave Combo.
2006
Perform first show with full symphony orchestra (Las Colinas Symphony)
Ann Marie Harrop replaces long-time bassist, Bubba Hernandez
Brave Combo returns to Lincoln Center in NYC for “Midsummer Night’s Swing” series
Perform at legendary Los Angeles venue, McCabe’s, and Dr. Demento shows up
First performance at Ashkenaz in Berkeley, the home of radical free speech of the ‘60s
Appear for three days (nine shows) at the Minnesota State Fair in August
Featured at Carl Orff Society Convention in Omaha in November
Record first rough tracks with Danny Jerabek in Appleton, Wisconsin
2007
Compose and record “The Denton Polka” for Denton’s Sesquicentennial.
Compose and record music for documentary on State Fair of Texas
Perform on national radio show, MOUNTAIN STAGE, from Charleston, WV
Perform on national television show, WOODSONGS, from Lexington, KY
Perform at legendary NYC nightclub, Joe’s Pub
Perform with Young@Heart senior citizen vocal ensemble in Northampton, MA
Perform in MacArthur Park Levitt Pavilion in Los Angeles
Perform at Cotati Accordion festival in Cotati, CA
Release POLKA’S REVENGE CD on Dentone Records
POLKA’S REVENGE is nominated for a Grammy
Brave Combo’s version of “Feliz Navidad” is used in TV program, UGLY BETTY
2008
Perform and Record with Mesquite Symphony Orchestra
Appear on BIG JOE POLKA SHOW out of Omaha, NE
Compose and record soundtrack to PBS series, AS THE WRENCH TURNS
Arjuna Contreras replaces Alan Emert on drums
Perform at Mojo Nixon’s showcase during SXSW at the Continental Club in Austin
Perform at WMNF’S TROPICAL HEATWAVE festival in Tampa Florida
Accordion giant, Joe Oberaitis, sits in with Brave Combo in Florida
Compose and record “Art Guys Polka” for tribute to Houston’s Art Guys
Release EXOTIC ROCKING LIFE CD on Dentone Records
Perform at legendary New Jersey venue, The Bay Way Polish Home
Perform Christmas show with Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra
2009
Little Jack Melody becomes Brave Combo bassist
Alan Emert returns on drums

And, so, in April of 2009 Brave Combo officially became 30 years old and started a year of celebrations that included concerts, festivals, art centers and clubs around the USA. Sometime during that year I started going through my gig calendars, making note of special dates and events. I know I’ve missed a lot, but there’s only so much time. Dig?
In our 31st year we were covered by Bob Dylan on his album, CHRISTMAS FROM THE HEART, released our own live holiday CD, CHRISTMAS PRESENT and released our most recent CD, KIKIRIKI. So, it appears, life goes on for Brave Combo, although the future is cloudy and somewhat formless. It’s a much different world than it was three decades ago. The music scene that we cut our teeth on would be somewhat unrecognizable now. Live music in seedy clubs was the ultimate escape for restless youth, turned off by anything mainstream. For twenty years that scene was healthy, then things started to change. Our gigs changed. The audiences changed. Radio support practically dried up, the Internet happened, September 11, 2001 happened, the scene fragmented, smoking was banned almost everywhere and priorities shifted. Entertainment options today are as varied as the selections at a grocery store. Music is thrown into that constant multi-tasking mix, combined with all things virtual and just as easily forgotten as tweets and 30-minute-old Facebook postings. Nothing has ever been less-permanent than everything is today. Is there a way to really make a statement now? Can anyone care more than a few minutes about something like music when there are so many distractions? Perhaps this everything-and-more-all-at-once philosophy will burn itself out and attention spans will start to increase again. Or probably human brains will just adjust to becoming more like robots, capable of piling on the information and sorting it properly and go on living anyway. Some things can’t be helped. Everything is always evolving. It is Brave Combo’s job to find a way to adapt to that ever-changing musical landscape. We can see stuff and hear stuff in our heads, but we have to build it, too. And that’s how Brave Combo manages to cope, starting with something that’s not tangible yet and following invisible instructions. What doesn’t exist? What’s not available anywhere? That’s a good place to start.

I hope you are not too freaked out and still think that everyday holds promise. And, of course, it does. But it’s probably not a bad idea to keep lowering your expectations until you’ve forgotten what your dreams used to be. Then the real fun begins. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Seasons Greetings, etc. Jump and shout, it’ll all work out!