News

Editor's Log
Editor's Log
Editor's Log

Editor's Log

Wed, 12/01/2021 - 12:00am

Editor’s Log Polka date December 2021. The Texas Polka News fully supports the heritage of dancing in Texas. This support covers all the aspects of dancing: different dancing styles, the music itself, the culture which generates this music, and the physical locality of the dance, be it a concrete slab, wooden platform, dance hall or your kitchen. In my research on a completely different subject I came across this article (see TPN November 2021, Editor’s Log) in the October 24, 2021 edition of the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung paper, which relates directly to my personal interest and the interest of Texas Polka News subscribers.

John Zavadil, Polka DJ
John Zavadil, Polka DJ
John Zavadil, Polka DJ

John Zavadil, Polka DJ

Wed, 12/01/2021 - 12:00am

When the strains of Polka Time in Texas came rolling out of radios tuned to 1450 AM across Southern Central Texas from 1996 to 2013, people’s ears pricked up and concentration was shifted to hear the voice of John Zavadil wishing them a pleasant day in English, Czech, German, and Spanish.

The Hi-Toppers: A Texas German Band

The Hi-Toppers: A Texas German Band

Wed, 12/01/2021 - 12:00am

New Braunfels, Texas has been the heartbeat of German Texas culture and music for over a century and a half. It has been the home of German singing festivals where hundreds of voices filled the air recreating the “Old Country”. German bands were plentiful through the decades up into early 2000s (Solm’s Orchestra, Cloverleafs, Lit’l Fishermen, Oma and the Umpahs, The Seven Dutchmen, and many more including the Hi-Toppers. The fire department had a band and the many fraternal organizations (Vereins) each had a band. The city itself had an orchestra of citizens. Numerous festivals combining music and dance (Bavarian Village and Wurstfest) and dancing halls, (particularly the 1870 vintage Weichold/ Matzendorf/Echo/Eagle’s/??? Hall) have brought together the lovers of Teutonic music and culture to preserve it and along with other ethnic cultures that make Texas the marvelous place it is.

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