Out of the smoldering ashes of a gloomy dance summer, on an equally gloomy first day of winter weather, a new polka band has emerged. In a time when the future of polka music is cloudy, three young men and a lady have forged ahead with a band that they call the Pivo and Polka Band (PPB).
Temple, Texas is not a well known town. The city was founded in the 1800s as a railroad town and then grew into a busy suburb within a few years. The town is also home to Larry Olejnik (trumpet player for the Vrazel Polka Band from the late 1950s to the early 1960s).
Blue Denim, whose name reflects the members’ rural roots, has been leading the charge of dance music during the reopening of dance halls in 2020. The group, founded in December of 2019, while learning the complexities of playing together, was rapidly gaining popularity in early 2020 when the shutdown began. Blue Denim took advantage of the down time and kept rehearsing and learning new songs to please the crowd, so that when public dancing became legal once again, the band was ready to jump into it with both feet. They were one of the first bands to broadcast live music on Facebook.
With the ongoing pandemic, staying at home is an option most people have had to take advantage of. Unfortunately, the only way to hear your favorite bands during these times is by playing their recordings.
Lots of modern artists have abandoned the steel guitar from their repertoire. However, with Mike Brinkmeyer, that is not the case. Mike has been the steel guitar player for the "Telstars" since 1976 and he and the band are still going strong.