My interest in polkas probably began at birth in North Tonawanda or shortly there after. Starting accordion lessons at the age of 7, it was apparent to my teacher (who was also my Uncle and owned a music shop on Oliver) that I would often learn the lesson by ear and not bother with the written music. To keep him happy, I did learn to read music. Polka Music still remains strong in all aspects of my life.
Perhaps that is why I enjoy the concertina so much. From the first time I picked one up, I found I could pick out a tune without knowing what I was doing. (And some today I still won't know what I'm doing.)
Becoming involved with being Polish and being into the Buffalo polka world put me on the road to putting pen to paper/typewriter/computer and that lead me to writing about polka music, which then lead me to the Polka Editor's job for the Polish American Journal Newspaper.
I'm still with all this today, so I must like what I'm doing?
Happy Birthday a little early. Hope you're enjoying your holiday weekend. Right now it's raining in Chi-town, so the weather may put a damper on fireworks if the economy hasn't already done so.
