It was 1960 when it all started for Virginia Seretny on a small community radio station WILI in Williamantic, Conn. As a result of an association with a friend named Homer who was employed as a newscaster and Sunday morning DJ at the station who enjoyed polka music and featured it during his program. During this time the owner of the station purchased another station in nearby Putnam, Conn., and he offered the…
*Deceased* Born in 1926 in Bristol Connecticut, he started to study the accordion at age ten while attending St. Stanislaus School. At the age of thirteen he was playing professionally at social affairs, concert solos, and private parties. He started a four-piece band at the age of eighteen. A typical Saturday consisted of a one hour broadcast over Radio station WBIS, a wedding reception from 2-6PM, a night club from 8PM-Midnight, and then played…
Fred Hudy’s introduction to music was at the age of 10 when a representative of the Midwest Accordion School visited SS. Peter and Paul School on Chicago’s Southwest side. Practicing daily, he soon joined his first polka band with Richie Gomulka and Louie Jedlowski called “Little Louie and the Lucky Boys.” At the age of twelve he and this band took second place on the then famous Morris B. Sachs amateur hour. The…
At the age of 12 Chet had a couple of neighbors that were musicians one played the clarinet, the other the accordion. Chet knew that if he purchased a trumpet he would be asked to join them. Chet’s family couldn’t afford to just purchase one for him outright, so he worked on a farm for two weeks which netted him $10 which was just enough to purchase that trumpet. Now he needed to…
The late Tom Mrozinski of Minnesota, leader of The Mrozinski Brothers Aleatoric Ensemble, started his polka career at the age of 11, when he took up the clarinet and started to sit in with his dad’s band at age 12. It wasn’t long before other musicians noticed Tom’s Talent and asked him to join their bands. He often performed with Frank Pastuszak’s Polka Pals and Rodger Stigney’s Polish Brass, two of Minnesota’s popular…