From established, Grammy-nominated artists to polka newcomers, the 36th annual Pulaski Polka Days is gearing up to get visitors young and old off their seats and dancing.
Event chairman and organizer Harold Otto said Polka Days aims to please everyone making the trip to Pulaski — just like it always has.
“We try to change it around a little bit,” Otto said. “It’s what the people want.”
With more than 70 bands waiting for a chance to play at Polka Days, Otto had his hands full in selecting the 20 to 25 needed to fill the schedule. However, he said he is excited about the new lineup, especially because of the number of young performers.
“We have got a lot of the younger generations getting involved,” Otto said. “Even if you come to Polka Days you will see a younger generation.”
One of the new bands is the TNT Band out of Pulaski. The band, which started playing together this year, has deep family roots in Polka Days. Its members include three sets of brothers — Carter and Sam Maroszek, 14 and 16, Taylor and Alex Maroszek, 20 and 23, and Adam and Mitchell Socha, 19 and 24 — all related to members of the Maroszek Brothers band and the New Generation band.
“Our family is big into polka,” Adam Socha said.
Taylor Maroszek said the band members are excited to play at Polka Days because they have not performed much in front of audiences.
“You talk to some of the older people who are in the bands now and they say it took years and years to get to the Pulaski Polka Days, so it’s just exciting to be there right away when you first start up,” Taylor Maroszek said.
Grammy-nominated Alex Meixner, of Palm Springs, Florida, also will make his first appearance at Polka Days.
“I have heard a lot about the festival throughout the years,” Meixner said. “I am looking forward to playing for you guys.”
Meixner, who joked he has been performing music for 38 of the 37 years he has been alive, performed on a Grammy-winning recording with Walter Ostanek in 1994 and was featured on the Tonight Show in 2004 in a segment with Howie Mandel. His album “Polka Freak Out” was nominated for a Grammy in 2007.
Meixner said while he has performed at large venues, such as Milwaukee’s German Fest, he likes the feel of the small-town festivals.
“You come to the smaller communities, and the locals appreciate it and people come from all over the country,” Meixner said. “They really get to show off their hometown spirit.”
Another addition to the Polka Days lineup is Fred Ziwich and his International Sound Machine, a Grammy-nominated group from Cleveland, Ohio.
Ziwich, who has been performing since 1977, said the band’s visit to Polka Days is a rare opportunity to see them live as they only travel outside the Cleveland area twice a year.
“It’s not only our first time playing at Polka Days but our first time performing in Wisconsin,” Ziwich said.
After he missed last year’s festival due to a busy schedule, Ziwich said he made sure to leave the weekend of Polka Days open for 2014 in case Otto called again.
Ziwich said he is excited to share the stage with local performers such as Music Connection, a band that has a style similar to his.
“This has got to be the strongest lineup of polka bands at any festival in the country,” Ziwich said.
Other first-time performers at Polka Days include Polka Family, Gary’s Ridgeland Dutchmen, D Street Band, the Malek Fishermen Band, Lenny Gomulka, the Box On Band, Polka Dynamics, and Pan Franek and Zosia.
Otto said it means a lot that so many performers from such different backgrounds are talking about Polka Days and eager to perform.
“It makes a guy feel good after 36 years of doing something,” Otto said. “It means a lot because it is something that you do for the community.”
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