The Chardon Polka Band

The Chardon Polka Band is an American, Ohio-based, Cleveland-Style polka band. It was started by Jake Kouwe in 2003 when he recruited four other teenagers to form a polka band at Chardon High School, and the group was originally called "The Chardon High School Polka Band" and included an accordion, trumpet, saxophone, clarinet, electric guitar, and tuba.[1][2][3] The group got their start in the school's music room and played at local senior centers and nursing homes in the Chardon area.[4][5][6] Kouwe cites Weird Al Yankovic as his inspiration for playing the accordion as he started lessons on the accordion after seeing Yankovic in a VH1 special.[4] The popular satirist remains a role model for The Chardon Polka Band.[7] The band had slowly gained notoriety among Polka fans and in the Cleveland music scene in general, but got mainstream attention when they were featured in a reality show named Polka Kings on Reelz in 2015, even though the show was quickly cancelled.[4][8][9][10][11][12][13] The band currently plays over 200 shows a year and has grown to be one of the Cleveland music scene's most recognizable performers playing at a mixture of festivals, schools, nursing homes, and bars, but also tours nationally and headlines many of the nation's top folk festival and Oktoberfest celebrations, playing a mixture of original music, classic polkas, and covers of pop songs.[1][3][8][14][15] The band was also one of the founding members of the Cleveland revival of Dyngus Day.[16] The band has released ten full-length albums, all independently, four of which were nominated for a Polka Hall of Fame award for either the album or one or more songs.

The Chardon Polka Band
The Chardon Polka Band performing at the Columbus Oktoberfest
Background information
Also known asChardon High School Polka Band
OriginChardon, OH, USA
GenresPolka
Years active2003 (2003)–present
MembersJacob Kouwe, Emily Kouwe, Mike Franklin, Mitch Lawrence, Bob Young
Past membersJoe Dahlhausen, Paul Coates, Paul "Pops" Magooch
Websitehttp://chardonpolkaband.com

Band members

Seasonal Member
  • Michael Grkman - Upright Bass, Bass Guitar

Past members

Awards and Media coverage
  • The Polka Hall of Fame has nominated the band in 4 separate years, and the International Polka Association has nominated them in 2016.
    • In 2011, the band's first single Free Beer Polka was nominated for best Best New Original Song.[17]
    • In 2013, A Fistful Of Polka & Bring Me More Beer were both nominated for Best New Original Song and the band was nominated for Band of the Year.[18]
    • In 2016, You Can't Drink Beer In Outer Space was nominated for Best New Original Song and the album World War Polka was nominated for recording of the year.[19] and "You can't take my Polka from Me" was nominated for Song of the Year.[20]
    • In 2018, the album Old Time Tent Revival was nominated for recording of the year.[19]
  • The band created a pilot for a variety program called “Lights! Camera! Polka!” in 2017. The show is an assortment of performances, humor, and education.[21]
  • The band was the subject of a 16 episode reality show named Polka Kings on Reelz in 2015.[4][8][9][10][11][12][13]
  • The band has produced over a twenty music videos. A few of these videos: Squeeze Box, O Tannenbaum, The Krampus Song, and Jingle Bells were made in a clay animation style by superdaddytv.com, the latter three of which were included in a 30-minute Holiday Special.[22]
  • The band was featured nationally on Here and Now (NPR) in 2015.[23]
  • The band was on and episode of Trip Flip (Travel Channel) named "Ohio: Polka Plane Plunge" in 2015.[24]
  • Jacob Kouwe was named one of Cleveland's Most Interesting People 2015 due to the success of the band.[9]
  • The band produced the documentaries Polka Across America and A Polka Christmas with The Chardon Polka Band which both aired on PBS Western Reserve and was rebroadcast on other PBS stations cross the country.[25][26][27]

Discography
  • Pirates, Women, and Beer (2009)
  • A Fistful of Polka (2013)
  • This is Oktoberfest (Recorded Live at the Helen, Georgia Oktoberfest, 2014)
  • Polka Round the Christmas Tree (Christmas album, 2015)
  • World War Polka (Released Dyngus Day, 2016)
  • Old Time Tent Revival (A collection of hymns, 2017)
  • More of the Same… and Probably Worse (Live album, 2017)
  • Pony in the Backseat (Kids album, 2018)
  • OH NO! NOT AGAIN! (Covers and live album, 2020)
  • A Very Polka Christmas (Christmas album, 2020)

References
  1. "Ain't too proud to polka: The really cool people are dusting off their accordions and having a wunnerful, wunnerful time". Cleveland.com. 2010-03-26. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  2. "Chardon Polka Band to star in new reality TV show this January". Cleveland.com. 2014-09-18. Retrieved 2016-02-14.
  3. "Chardon Polka Band - Wurstfest". Wurstfest. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
  4. Lange Mosser, Tami (2015-03-28). "Long live polka: Band popular in Wooster getting its own reality TV show". www.woosterweeklynews.com. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  5. Bonchak, Jean (2014-02-14). "The Chardon Polka Band to star in reality TV show on Reelz". News-herald.com. News-Herald. Retrieved 2016-02-14.
  6. "Chardon Polka". Bestpolkabands.com. Retrieved 2016-02-14.
  7. "The Unlikely Comeback of Polka". ideastream. NPR. 2015-01-27. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  8. "polka fever: how hip new bandleaders are keeping traditional music alive and well in c-town". Cleveland - Freshwater Media. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  9. "Most Interesting People 2015: Jake Kouwe". ClevelandMagazine.com. Cleveland Magazine. 2014-12-19. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
  10. "Geauga's Jake Kouwe rejuvenates polka: My Cleveland (photos, video)". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  11. Traciy Reyes. "Polka Kings: The Chardon Polka Band New Show Season Premiere Tonight On Reelz". Inquisitr.com. Retrieved 2016-02-14.
  12. "Live Music – Chardon Polka Band from Cleveland". Hofbrauhaus Newport. 2015-03-20. Retrieved 2016-02-14.
  13. Rich Heldenfels (2015-04-02). "The HeldenFiles: Chardon Polka Band ready for its TV closeup - Rich Heldenfels". Ohio.com. Retrieved 2016-02-14.
  14. "Cleveland Invasion!". polkabeat.com. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  15. "Chardon Polka Band | Cuyahoga County Fair". Cuyfair.com. Retrieved 2016-02-14.
  16. "Cleveland's first annual Dyngus Day". polkabeat.com. Retrieved 2019-04-23.
  17. Tomsick, Joey (Summer 2011). "Polka Quarterly" (PDF). Vol. XXII, No. 4. Retrieved 2016-03-25.
  18. "Nominees/Winners 2013 - Polkas.nl". Polkas.nl. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
  19. "Nominees / Results - ClevelandStyle.com". ClevelandStyle.com. Retrieved 2019-04-23.
  20. "I.P.A. 2016 "International Style" Album of the Year Submissions - IPApolkas.com". IPApolkas.com. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  21. ""Lights! Camera! Polka!" : Excerpt from episode 101 (pilot) - YouTube". YouTube.com. Retrieved 2017-03-13.
  22. "TheChardonPolkaBand - YouTube". YouTube.com. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
  23. "A Polka Revival In Cleveland". hereandnow. NPR. 2015-03-13. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  24. "Ohio: Polka Plane Plunge". Travel Channel. 2015-07-15. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  25. "PBS Western Reserve - Regional Productions: Arts Specials". PBS Western Reserve. Retrieved 2022-01-26.
  26. Mark Meszoros (2021-01-08). "The Chardon Polka Band released two albums, made TV-bound documentary in 2020". News-Herald.com. The News Herald. Retrieved 2022-01-26.
  27. "The Chardon Polka Band's Holiday Extravaganza debuts Thanksgiving weekend". PBS WOUB-TV. 2021-11-23. Retrieved 2022-01-26.
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