Klarinet Archive - Posting 000164.txt from 1997/09

From: mfkeffer@-----.net (Mary Keffer)
Subj: Re: Welk, polkas, etc.
Date: Thu, 4 Sep 1997 22:46:44 -0400

Susan,

I play in what you might call a polka band. We call ourselves the
Sauerkraut Band. We have a webpage. If anyone is interested I'll look up
the address. It's great fun for 6 weeks out of the year for a bunch of
amateur musicians. We play polkas, waltzes and marches. In fact,
Oktoberfest season is about to begin. We play every weekend at Mountain
Lake Hotel in Southwest VA (where Dirty Dancing was filmed) starting the
last two weekends of September. We made a CD 2 years ago. I can get you a
copy if you e-mail me directly.

As for being a woman, I am usually the only woman in the band, sometimes we
have a female singer/accordian player. It didn't take long for me to become
just one of the guys, except for the red dress I have to wear. :-) I
wouldn't let that aspect stop you if you find a band to play in. If you
behave like a lady they'll treat you like a lady, that's what Mom always
said anyway. And the music is fun, for 6 weeks anyway. ;-)

Good Luck, Mary

>As a young performer trying to be as flexible as possible to find work, would
>you have any suggestions for me as to how I would go about finding work in
>polka bands?
>I live in Pittsburgh and there are probably a few out there, since I grew up
>with my dad listening to polkas on an AM station while in the car; and my mom
>played accordion, so I heard "Beer Barrle Polka" quite often. Also, do you
>have any suggestions on recordings to which I can listen to gain a better
>understanding of that genre?

   
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