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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Li’l Richard Towalski was born in 1942 in Chicago, Illinois. When he was four years old, grandma began taking him to picnics at Caldwell Woods. At age ten, he formed a polka band and started his musical career playing in local clubs, at carnivals, wedding and anniversary parties. All the while, grandma helped him with the Polish lyrics. He recorded his first 45 rpm single on the Ampol label at age fourteen. At…
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Lou Trebar authored one of the Cleveland-Style Polka’s most impressive careers. A true dean of Cleveland-Style music, Lou’s credits included over sixty quality years of professional performances beginning at age 13; over forty years as a composer/arranger and adapter of Cleveland-Style music; leading his own orchestras from 1936-1950; co-owning the Metropole Cafe, Cleveland’s first significant Polka establishment; twenty-five years as the co-leader, featured accordionist, and business manager of the Johnny Pecon-Lou Trebar Orchestra;…
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Uniquely, making his name as a sideman, Richie Tokarz is well known particularly in the Polish sector of polka music. Through the years he has demonstrated his talents playing the accordion, trumpet and singing with top polka bands. Also, his efforts as a musical writer have always scored high on the list. Born on February 16, 1949, to Stanley and Florence Tokarz, he was raised in Whiting, Indiana and he was the older…
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Jolly Joe Timmer of of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, has a radio show, television show, polka band, music store and picnic grove all strongly promoting polka music. When asked when and how he became involved in polka music Joe said, “My time started after high school, 1948. Before he had a band, he used to go dancing every Saturday night at the Lincoln Hall in Miller Heights, Pennsylvania. He danced every polka, waltz…
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