Volume 3 – #4 – April 2000
Big news of the month: Our new album, THE PROCESS, is now available and should be at a store near you. If you can’t find it, order from us directly. It’s a collection of songs about simple things: bad vs. good, obsession, love, rejection, revelation, etc., you know, normal stuff. Ten of the twelve songs are original compositions, including, “Denton, Texas,” which attempts to describe in melody and groove what the vibe feels like in our hometown. Happy, yet interestingly dark. Cool and clumsy. Close enough to Dallas to constantly feel its overflow, yet far enough away to…well, we’re really not far enough away anymore. Interstate 35, that connects Denton to Dallas, is a miserable stretch of road. Come on down and see for yourself. This isn’t just Texas-style bragging. It really is miserable. But Denton itself is quite pleasant most of the time. For those of you who don’t know, we’re at the top of the Golden Triangle (Dallas, Ft. Worth and Denton) in North Central Texas, otherwise known as God’s Country. Denton is a small city, inhabited by an interesting mix of rural folk, college professors and lots of musicians. And we unselfishly share our blessings with Dallas, Ft. Worth and all the mid cities, hamlets and burghs. We’re proud, but we have a good sense of humor. We’re intimidated by the likes of Houston, Austin or San Antonio, but also glad we’re not them. And they’re probably glad to not be us, because everywhere in Texas has it’s own special thing. Viva diversity. Anyway, I was talking about our new CD. Check it out. And don’t worry. If the “pop” angle doesn’t sound enough like your idea of what Brave Combo should be, understand that this record does not represent a new direction. It’s just an album of some of our favorite new songs. We are certainly still committed to the crusade, if you know what I mean. Whatever, you may like it lot, so much that you’ll play it for a friend. And the two of you will have a good cry as you contemplate the glorious hopelessness of humanity. Viva hopelessness.
Grammy fever subsides. We’ve had a month of stardom. But normal life is returning with a vengeance. Daily routine will always win out. I’m plagued by important decisions constantly, like what to eat for lunch and what time to go to bed. Life can be so full of confusion and disappointment. I mean, every time I get my teeth cleaned I vow to be better about flossing. But I never live up to even my lowest expectations. My dentist congratulated me and told me to floss more often. So, by early May I should have an actual Grammy sitting awkwardly somewhere in my house, as will all Brave Combo members. It’s still hard to believe. We’ve heard from so many friends and fans, but we also got two pieces of hate email. They think we’re making fun of polka and that we shouldn’t even exist. There’s nothing we can do except be what we are and see what happens.
Speaking of what we are, we’re a band, not a political party, not a religion, not a grocery store, not a group of doctors or spies or dust mites. We’re an ongoing thing and our basic makeup changes slightly every now and then, but we’re still us. Lately we’ve added a violinist. At this time, she’s an apprentice of sorts and her position in the band is primarily to add color to the sound. We felt that many songs would benefit from the flexibility of three melodic instruments, so we’re slowly working her in. When Joe left, we thought about finding another percussionist right away, but decided to chill out, record a new album (POLKASONIC) and not commit to anything in particular for a while. But that doesn’t mean that a percussionist isn’t in our future. In fact, anything could happen. Brave Combo must always be as unpredictable as possible, for several reasons. We don’t want to be pigeonholed. We do want to keep ourselves entertained. We like a good challenge if everyone is happy to be involved and contributes positive energy to the shows, rehearsals and projects. Also, the element of chance looms heavily at a B. C. performance. It’s supposed to. Rising above the vulnerability we impose on ourselves is an important part of the experience. Part of our journey means reinventing and growing. Our fan base is growing, but always changing as well. People come and go on both sides of the fence and it’s our responsibility to have faith in what we do and be brave. Viva pigeons and fences and bravery.
Print media has been very supportive lately. Nice pieces have appeared in TIME OUT NEW YORK, BILLBOARD, HOUSTON PRESS, POLISH AMERICAN JOURNAL, FT. WORTH STAR TELEGRAM, TULSA WORLD, OMAHA READER, D MAGAZINE, DALLAS MORNING NEWS, TEXAS MUSICIAN, DALLAS OBSERVER and more. We’ll try to post as many of these as possible as soon as possible. Check the “articles and reviews” section of the web site toward the end of the month. We’re very thankful for the coverage and encouragement. It helps our cause, which helps me feed four dogs and two cats.
The Time/Life polka compilation inches closer to release. I think it will be called A TREASURY OF POLKA and they plan to have it available in stores as well as on television. I wrote the liner notes a couple of weeks ago and just finished sequencing the tracks. I enjoy putting things in order. I’m a good “things to do” list maker, though I never complete all the tasks. I also prefer things to be neat and uncluttered. I don’t like for microphone cables to be strung across the stage. They’re distracting and you can slip on them. Just remember, a tidy workplace is the Devil’s workshop…or something like that.
Fun Facts: When Danny was 14, he and a friend slept in a dryer at an all night laundromat waiting for a video arcade next door to open. Alan’s mother’s cousin’s wife was Jayne Mansfield. When Carl was a teenager he got too close to a monkey at a zoo and the monkey snatched his glasses and smashed them to bits on the floor of the cage. Jeff was a janitor at a porno theatre in Austin in 1976 and sold Bibles door-to-door in Virginia in 1971. One time, when she was 7, Bonnie’s green plastic pearls got caught in the handlebars of her bike while she was showing off for a neighbor lady and she fell down. When Bubba had cancer, he lost all of his hair. He and his hair are fine now.
Brave Combo is playing like crazy. Festival season is upon us. Check our itinerary and come out. Happy traveling and happy breathing. You’re okay and you know it. See you next month. Polka is cool!