"Dr." Walter Hojka plays piano for us and serves as general ringleader. Walter is also an architect and a fine fiddler who is constantly driving to and from West Virginia for weekend gigs. His latest obsessions are Gary Harrison's book of Illinois fiddle tunes and fixing up his two-flat in the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago
Michelle Steinman: The only parent in the group, Michelle fiddles when not taking care of her two little ones.
Jordan Wankoff: Was there ever a time when Jordan wasn't in a band or three? He fiddles for Dr. Hojka and plays in WABOLABR, and the Wazoe County Warblers. Jordan studied fiddle with Paul Tyler and his repertoire is based on tunes he learned from Paul, Chirps Smith, and Steve Rosen as well as tunes from the likes of Lotus Dickey and other Midwestern fiddlers.
Influences
We play Midwestern and Southern old-time fiddle tunes with a piano back up. We often put our tunes in medleys but we don't really play "contra-dance" music. We've written a few of our own tunes but much of our repertoire comes from Chirps Smith, The Old Time Fiddler's Repertoire, and from Garry Harrison's book of Illinois Fiddle Tunes.
Sounds Like
Dr. Hojka's Medicine Show plays for contra-dances and square dances. Is it old time music or is it contra dance music? Well, our tunes are usually Midwestern but we play them in medleys. I say it is old time music but there is some creativity there. We can also play at weddings and parties and we have a ton of music in our repertoire so we can go on and on.
We play a mix of Midwestern and Southern old-time fiddle tunes with a piano back up.
Walter Hojka organized Dr. Hojka's Medicine Show for a one-off gig out in Warrenville back in the winter of 2006 (or was it 2005?). We had such fun that we started getting together every week and playing dances for the Chicago Barn Dance Company. We've twice come in third at the Old Town School of Folk Music's fiddle contest. Up until now (summer of the 2008) we've been purely instrumental but we've just started singing.
Hey there Jordan! I remember you, Ken Waldman, Brett Heitke, and myself eatin' some bar-b-q ribs, drinking a few brew's, and playing lot's of great tunes on Brett's back porch. Man you guys sound great! I look forward to running into you again someday.
