Polka Dan's Beetbox Band is from Cape Cod, MA, USA. Polka Dan is a 5th generation polka musician.
"Back to Future Polka", released May 1, 2011, was produced and engineered by Joel Hamilton (Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Dub Trio, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Matisyahu). Songs range from Dan's traditional family music, to familiar polka hits, to techno and dubstep remixes for the next generation. This six-song EP is an overture to the planned full-length "Apolkalypse 2012".
Please join us in preserving the incredible music and culture of Polka!
A polka apocalypse is unfolding. Apolkalypse.
Traditional village polka music is all but forgotten. This rich cultural heritage encapsulates many lineages of eastern European roots music. Each year, there are fewer polka bands, and fewer record labels releasing polka music. The Grammys have discontinued the Best Polka Album category.
Polka Dan's Beetbox Band is on a mission to revitalize polka for the next generation. "Polka Dan" Blajda is a fifth-generation polka musician. For hundreds of years, Dan's relatives, the Pudelkow family, were a village band in Poland's beet-farming region. (The family name translates to "box", as in a box to carry beets, or beetbox.) But, the family band has retired their instruments and band costumes to a local museum, and the music is no longer played.
Cape Cod, MA is an unlikely contender for being the savior of polka, but since Polka Dan's relocation to the area, the Cape's eclectic artist community has shown excited support of the Beetbox Band, and a new polka army is emerging. Shows have drawn increasing crowds, and a surprising number of younger attendees who come to dress up and dance.
Contact:
Dan Blajda 978-360-7889
www.Facebook.com/Polka.Dan.Beetbox.Band
PolkaBeetbox@gmail.com
credits
released 01, May 2011
Produced and Engineered by Joel Hamilton. Synthesizer and Remixes by Joel Hamilton. Assistant Engineer: Francisco Botero. Mastered by Chad Clark.
Polka Dan (violin, vocals), Robin Johnson (piano), Clayton March (banjo, clarinet), Greg Johnson (bass), and David Silver (drums).
Contact:
Dan Blajda 978-360-7889
www.Facebook.com/Polka.Dan.Beetbox.Band
PolkaBeetbox@gmail.com
americana folk gypsy hardcore klezmer polka punk roots world Massachusetts
Read more...