Polka still popular, says Grammy nominee

ST. CLOUD, Minn. (CNS) — Is polka music popular among Minnesota Catholics? Is the pope Polish?

Polkas dot the central Minnesota landscape and many other parts of the Midwest. Catholic masses celebrate polka Masses under God’s cerulean roof and participate in other polka celebrations at open-air festivals and in ballrooms.

Those polka "dots" seem to be growing larger according to a person who should know, Eddie Blazonczyk Jr., band leader of Chicago-based Eddie Blazonczyk’s Versatones.

"I’ve been to my share of polka Masses. They are very popular during the time of year or in climates where they can be held outdoors," said Blazonczyk, a Catholic who spent four years as a seminarian before choosing music as his vocation.

The St. Cloud Visitor, St. Cloud’s diocesan newspaper, interviewed Blazonczyk by telephone during breaks in a recording session Feb. 11. He left the next day for Los Angeles to attend this year’s Grammy Awards ceremony. "Highways & Dancehalls," the Versatones’ 56th recording, was among the five nominees for best polka album of the past year.

A recording by Brave Combo won the Grammy Feb. 13. In the 20 years that the Grammy Awards have had a separate polka category, the Versatones have received 16 nominations and one Grammy.

"Some outdoor polka Masses I’ve been at were really big — thousands of people out in a big field," Blazonczyk said, adding that he enjoys hearing his Polish-American style of music praising God.

The prominence of polka Masses is greatest in the Midwest and lower-Great Lakes regions, where many Catholics have Polish and German ethnic backgrounds, he said.

Those are also the areas where polka music and dancing are popular as recreational activities.

"Polka’s popularity is up and down," Blazonczyk said. "It depends on the area you’re in. Some summer polka festivals I’ve been to are so big that they draw thousands and thousands of people."

He said polka’s popularity with youths is growing "because when they try it they discover what great dance music it is and how fun it is."

Joe Gill, who hosts a daily polka show on KASM radio in Albany, a small town west of St. Cloud, is doing his part to aid that discovery.

At places that feature polka music, older folks still outnumber younger ones, who have access to a daunting array of musical genres, said Gill, 25, a member of Our Lady of Seven Dolors Parish in Albany.

"But I’m still fighting to get people of all ages involved, and I get excited when they do," he said.

Father Ronald Dockendorf, pastor of parishes in Greenwald and Meire Grove, said he became interested in polka as a boy and learned to play the accordion.