Born on November 3, 1956 in Buffalo, NY, Mark Trzepacz was 15 years old when he started taking trumpet lessons. Remarkably, he was performing in his first band only seven months later. Growing up in Buffalo’s heavily-Polish East Side, Mark’s passion for polka music was a foregone conclusion. First playing in smaller combos, he quickly became an in-demand commodity, graduating to some of the nation’s biggest bands. It was during his tenure with The Dynatones,…
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Randy Koslosky has made significant contributions to the polka industry as a performer, songwriter, studio musician, producer, and creator of unique polka productions. Born in Pittsburgh in 1962, Randy has been actively performing polka music since 1976. He started with a band formed along with his brother that later became known as Energy. He also performed regularly with The Sounds and later joined Henny & the Versa J’s. With these bands, he has been…
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Florian Chmielewski is the product of a family that has been synonymous with polka music for six generations. One of 15 children, he was born in Sturgeon Lake, MN on February 10, 1927. As he progressed from a dairy farmer, to County Commissioner, to Minnesota State Senator, Flo-rian always maintained his love for the accordi-on. At age 18, he received his first accordion in 1945 and began to lead a band. Florian’s children later…
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Born on May 20, 1921 in the “Old Polish” Fleet Avenue neighborhood of Cleveland, OH, Chester Budny became one of the city’s great southside musicians of the 1940s and 1950s. At the young age of 4, he displayed a keen interest in music and was given a violin at age 6. Later at the age of 12, Chester bought himself a drum. Since the young artist loved to sing while he played he be-came…
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