Born June 4th, 1942, Richard (Rich) Sendra grew up in a Polish-Catholic musical family on the South Side of Chicago. Influenced and surrounded by music at an early age, his mother Helen took him and his younger brother, Bob, to dances to hear their father, Frank Sendra, play with the Chuck Stevens Orchestra. Dad on drums, Uncle Chuck on accordion and Uncle Gus Chuckla on clarinet and sax. When Rich was 10 his dad passed…
Chester Pala started off his musical career in 1958 with accordion lessons at the Monarch School of Music in Hammond, Indiana. Here, Chester acquired keen musical knowledge and developed many music abilities which enabled him to excel quickly with playing the accordion. It was at this point where Chester Pala started going down the road to become a Professional Musician. After two years of music study, Chester started to play the trumpet, so he could…
Bandleader of The Imperials of Toledo, Drummer, Vocalist, Emcee, Polka Promoter, founder of The International Music Association Bob was born on Aug 21, 1930 to a Polish mother and English father. Bob grew up in a Polish neighborhood in Toledo ,Ohio. In 1951 Bob married wife, Mary and had 3 children, Jim, Bob Jr and Mary. Bob founded Earl Bros. Transmission and Auto Repair Centers and quickly trained his sons to take over the business…
Mark Janson was born December 17, 1959 to late Erna (Bender) Janson and Albert Janson. Mark is the youngest of four children, twin sisters Karen and Sharon, and a brother, Robert. Mark has been a lifelong member of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Frankentrost where he attended grades 1-8. Mark is a 1978 graduate of Frankenmuth High School. He married Valerie Maurer on May 29, 1994. Val was one of the original members of the band…
John “Johnny” Krawisz was born on September 5, 1964. His grandmother, Anna Kamien, bought him his first accordion when he was 5 years old. She owned a tavern in the old polish neighborhood by St. Peter and Paul on the Southwest side of Chicago. So many polka musicians grew up in this area. At age 9, Johnny started taking lessons from Chester Kordelewski, who was the accordion player from the Johnny Bomba orchestra and who…