Good Times…..

Whenever I do a run of gigs at 1 venue, there always seems to be a mix of regular routines that settle in (ya know—a few specific songs set the tone for the room each night, a few specific tunes close out the night, you remember some of the favorites for the regulars, etc…). At the same time, there’s always those little things that sometimes seem to come from Mars….. that’s what really makes my job interesting! Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy playing the regular repertoire (and the left turn curves that have become my regular repertoire)- but the challenges that come to me, definitely keep me on my toes.

For example—I just did a 7 night swing at the Hofbrau in Panama City Beach, FL. Yes, there were requests for “Roll out the Barrel”, “Edelweiss” and the “Devil Went Down to Munich”…. I also had the “Germans Up for Fliegerlied”, “Hande zum Himmel” and a new arrangement of the “Radetzky March.” But on consecutive nights, there were a variety of Europeans coming in asking for Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Arabic, Jewish, Slovak and Czech tunes… and I got a bunch of them…. I thought the one guy was going to fall out of his seat when I was singing “Uzmi Sve Sto ti Zivot Pruza” for him…. (I can’t believe I got through it in Serbian, as I kept hearing Bubba’s English lyrics from the Polka Freak Out album in my head—thankfully I had the words in my book!) I think the developing arrangement of “Bufcansko Oro” is begging to be recorded soon… whoever knew that Ed Klancnik could get that funky of a Bulgarian/Turkish type groove? (Let’s face it, he can do anything- right?!?)

So…. Anyway—thanks to all of ya’ll that come out to the gigs… dig the sounds, challenge me with some different requests—and forgive me when I can’t do all of them! (At the same time… thanks also to the tables that paid the $20 fine to make us play Free Bird…..)
I love my work….

It’s also good to be home too! The family is all good and keeping me on my toes….. thanks for the good wishes from y’all for the little ones!
alex

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PCB!

I’m in the midst of a week long run here at the infamous Hofbrau Haus Beergarden in Panama City Beach, FL. As always the entire crew here has been spectacular to work with. They are serving up the best German food and beer around and Klancnik and I are serving up our fun mix of musical mayhem! It’s good times for all!

It’s particularly good to see our locals enjoying the scene with the tourists. Although the gulf oil spill is putting a damper on the tourist trade a bit, many are still coming down to enjoy the beaches. As of yet, the oil hasn’t reached Panama City Beach, and we’re all hoping that this disaster is contained very soon—for the sake of every aspect of life for the gulf shores. In the meantime, we’re making the best of the time here right now—enjoying the beach and the scenes of this great area…..

On a lighter note, we’ve been getting some great audience response to our new covers by Guns n’ Roses, James Brown and The Who, as well as some new traditional German/ Austrian arrangements and some tunes that I’m revisiting from the past repertoires…. Definitely looking forward to continuing to entertain through Thursday evening here in PCB…. If you’re around, c’mon down and party with us….

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My first Vinyl!

I never thought that I’d actually be on a record—but recently 2 of my tunes landed on a 45 rpm made for distribution in the Netherlands. A previously unreleased take of Jaka Caka Polka—(re-named Jelse Pelse Polka, after Jelse Vos, the Dutch record producer) and the recording of HoeDown (from the Stay All Night CD) are now available on www.polkas.nl . I’m anxious to see and hear the finished product—but I’m sure Jelse did a great job getting the tracks mastered for vinyl.

In the meantime, I’m busy working on some recording for other people’s projects. Between arranging and performing, it’s a lot of fun getting to work with the variety of musicians that bring me in…. (of course, I’m always interested in collaborating as a soloist or accompanist for new projects, so keep me in mind!) I’m also getting arrangements together to start my next album…. I’m planning on starting to record it later this summer—but it probably won’t be ready until next spring or summer.

Hope everyone had a great extended holiday weekend and remembered the people who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

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