Wed 9/4 @ 8PM
It’s time to put on your polka shoes again. The Beachland Ballroom’s got another evening of dancing at its Octoberfest Accordion Extravaganza.
Featured act is Johnny Koenig, a rising young polka star keeping the old eastern European music alive.
Originally from New York, not exactly a polka hotbed, he picked up the music from his polka-playing father whose band he took over at age 15 when his father passed away.
He moved to Cleveland in 2006 where he was on the board of directors of the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame. He now lives in the Pittsburgh area, where polka is also embedded in the culture.
Koenig released his first album, The New Kid in Town, in 2007, while still in his teens. It featured contributions from such polka heavyweights as Walter Ostanek, Joey Miskulin, and Cleveland’s Bob Kravos and Fred Ziwich, an endorsement of his place in the polka community.
Pittsburgh polka musician, accordionist Kevin Solecki — also a relative youngster in the genre in his mid 30s — will join him at the Beachland Ballroom.
Admission is $10 in advance, $12 at the door.