Charlie Braunreiter and I are several generations apart but we can agree on one thing: I don’t know much about old-time polka music and he doesn’t know much about music past the early ...

By the 1960s, the Verne Meisner Band was one of the best-known polka groups in the region. Steve received an ambivalent message from Verne when he showed an interest in music. Seven-year-old Steve ...

Chris Bogdon was in first grade in his native Carnegie when he started taking accordion lessons. Steve Novosel, while growing up in Murrysville, took up the instrument at 9 years old. Both were raised ...

The polka quickly spread across Europe, producing local varieties like the Polish polka-mazurka danced to music in 3/4 time. By the second half of the 19th century, the Old Continent was experiencing ...

Today, Joe Jr. and his son Mike are both part of the house band at Hofbrauhaus in Pittsburgh’s South Side, playing old and new polka music for crowds of all ages with several groups housed at ...

Steve Novosel, while growing up in Murrysville, took up the instrument at 9 years old. Both were raised in families where polka music was a regular part of the family soundtrack, and both are part ...