The Central Texas Accordion Association published this lovely piece of music in their August 2020 newsletter. Sign up for the newsletter by emailing Dr. Mitchell R. "Mitch" White, president of the CTAA, at austinaccordion@gmail.com
Back in July, Texas Folklife launched the Texas Folk and Traditional Artist COVID-19 Relief Fund. The fund provides grants of $500 to community-based folk and traditional artists impacted by COVID-19. Grants are a one-time award made to individuals to assist with their financial well-being.
In spring of 1918, a pneumonia/ influenza pandemic began to encircle the globe, it was commonly called “the Grippe” or the “three day flu.” The Grippe appeared to abate by the summer of 1918, however the strain morphed into a more deadly variety and was given the name the Spanish Flu. People were dying from this new disease all over the U.S. and the world. Government censorship forbade the reporting of it as not to excite the population, since they were focused on the slaughter of their men in Europe.
There's not a lot happening in the Texas polka music scene right now, just look at the meager dance listing on pages 9-10. A lot of folks in polka music are worried about the future. The pandemic will subside one day, but what will the scene look like then? How many bands will survive? What about the dancehalls?
The Texas Polka News, a publication dedicated to promoting dance hall music, announces a new chapter in its endeavor to bring happy music to happy people. Theresa Cernoch Parker, current publisher of the Texas Polka News (TPN) and polkabeat.com, will handing over the reins of the media outlet to Gary E. McKee, on August 1, 2020. Ms. Parker bought the paper in 2014 from the estate of Julius Tupa who founded the paper in 1987. The paper complimented her website, polkabeat. com, and was vital to keeping the dance floors full and educating the public on the cultural history of Texas. Mr. McKee, a photojournalist, had been providing content for her website and assumed editor and photojournalistic duties when Ms. Parker purchased the paper.