Volume 4 – #7 – July 2001

I can feel the effects of Summer in Texas. Liquid sounds better more times during the day than at other times of the year. The sun is really hot on those big outdoor stages, especially the ones without covers. And it’s hard on the instruments, too. The horns won’t stay in tune. The accordion wax gets soft. And, for some reason, one of my keyboards starts playing random notes that don’t match the keys. But it’s usually fun anyway. It’s weird how the most hopeless and frustrating situations can be at least interesting from a certain perspective. If the idea is to test your endurance, then life can be a ball. Like when you’re landing in Boston during a really bad thunderstorm and everyone knows the plane can’t do it and the pilot decides to take you to Providence for a couple of hours to wait it out. You’re definitely happy to be alive, but it’s hard watching the clock and saying, “Well, it’s ten minutes till showtime and we’re not even close.” Then you finally get to Boston and discover that the guitars are missing. That’s my favorite part to remember and laugh about. And you have to laugh about it, because nothing on this planet is bigger than the weather. Old Mr. Weather. He’s our favorite friend and foe. You can’t wrangle him into a suitcase. You can’t serve him to the kids with whipped cream on top. Someday they may even have a television channel devoted entirely to weather. And a channel devoted to cartoons and one that’s totally about history and one that’s just a bunch of long commercials and one that’s just old stuff. But first, all of the nations of the world will have to come together and put down their weapons of war and embrace each other with understanding and acceptance.

Speaking of weather and seasons, Summer means, among other things, movies. Okay, either I’m really stupid and seriously out of touch or Steven Spielberg’s new movie A.I. is really stupid and out of touch. I am very upset that I allowed this sappy, sappy, sappy filmmaker to rob me of 2 1/2 hours. I wanted to go to a dark, cool theatre in Denton and munch on snacks and have interesting images flash before me. But this was grueling. By the end of the movie I felt sorry for every feeble-minded human that ever lived. In a way I wish I could convince myself that I really am just too ignorant to comprehend the subtle finer points that were being made, but I can’t think that badly of myself. Everyone involved in the making of A.I. from conception to completion should be deeply ashamed and effusively apologetic. Movies like this, designed to tug at the most base human emotions, are dangerous. They contribute to our dumbing down as they pretend to be so deep. If any significant questions were raised by this movie, then there is truly nothing to live for and I am now officially endorsing the bones of Jim Jones as the next President of the World. But, in fact, this is shallow stuff, created by crafty, manipulative and powerful people. My score: A- (I was paid $100 to give it a good score).

Please excuse my strong opinion. I must be very arrogant to think that anyone is the least bit interested in my take on anything. Hmm…maybe that’s it. I’m arrogant. I work in a field that promotes and rewards arrogance. I mean, even the most humble of us must have enormous egos to get on stage, night after night, and shake our groove thang. But, at the same time, I am sincerely grateful to have the opportunity to share my screwy vision with whoever. And at almost every weekly Brave Combo business meeting we are amazed that this ship is still afloat. We still have the incentive to run the obstacle course. And, to be honest, I don’t have a choice. Playing music in general, and polka music specifically, keeps me sane. It’s the place I go for balance; to release the worry and to find myself. Other than the fact that I’m destroying my hearing, which I accept as a down side of the job, I think it’s a healthy thing.

Speaking of hearing, I’ve been working on a medley of Protestant Hymns for Atheists. I grew up singing in a Baptist Church choir and, as I’ve mentioned before, I believe my love of polkas is due, in part, to a familiarity with hymns: strong melodies, simple song form and solid harmonic structure. My purpose is not to convert non-believers to a particular message, it’s to open ears to music, no matter what the message is. Music first, dogma second. Actually, I think of Atheists as believers of something and they seem to base attitudes and actions on a great deal of faith, which is cool with me. In addition, though, I think Christianity has been unduly criticized because of a few misguided souls (well, maybe more than a few). Enlightenment takes work in any religion even Atheism. You have to work at being compassionate. You have to work at being non-judgmental. You have to work at not being self-centered. You have to work at not being motivated by pride. You have to work at enjoying the moment and not living from one fix to the next, whether it’s sex or food or alcohol or money or clothes. And through devotion and discipline enlightenment gradually occurs. Get thee behind me, Satan. Satan! Now that’s an interesting concept. Let’s scare people into living right. Or, even worse, let’s just blame all the stupid things people do on Satan. Some things I just can’t get too worked up about. Satan is one of them. But I may think poorly of you if you don’t give your dog plenty of water in the summer. They need shade, too. And oxygen, of course. But not hook worms. Or tape worms. One time I had a sweet, delicate, angelic little white dog that threw up a tape worm (I’m not exaggerating) at least thirty feet long. Anyway, back to religion. Different strokes for different folks. God bless the USA and all the cruise ships at sea.

Our new album, KICK ASS POLKAS, will be released in September or October on Cleveland International Records. I am frantically pulling together liner notes, photos and credits. It was recorded on Halloween, 2000 at the Beachland Ballroom (formerly, the Croatian Hall) in Cleveland. Many polka bigwigs were in attendance and I think you can hear a little “we have something to prove” in our performance. It was a very cool night. Slovenian style lovers and Polish style lovers came together to check out the Texas freak show. Sometimes I think we’re appropriate because we’re not anything in particular. I am nothing, yet I can flatten myself out, slide under a locked door and return to normal on the other side. This is the Brave Combo way.

Come out and hear us. We’ll play a little music. Tell a few funny stories about heartbreak and famine and encourage you to take a break from reality. And if you can’t make it out or simply don’t want to, go out another time and hear another band. There’s nothing like live music, except more live music. And that’s just the way it is. Brave Combo will be in many places the next couple of months. Check our itinerary. Joe Cripps and Mike Dillon are playing percussion with us a lot and we’re howling at the Moon. It’s polka time!