WEBVTT

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[lively polka music]

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- Gary Brueggen: I met my wife
at a polka dance in Wisconsin.

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There's the stereotype
right there. [both chuckle]

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The typical, you know,
you're from Wisconsin.

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Yes, I met my wife
at a polka dance.

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I was dancing before I was
playing music,

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and that's the way she was too.

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And Mason, our drummer, was that
way, and my wife was that way.

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- Matti Brueggen: Mm-hmm.

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I remember going to dances
and learning how to dance

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in my basement with my grandma
and my mom,

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and that was really fun.

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- Our family is of German
and Bohemian or Czech heritage.

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My relation came over
in the mid 1800s.

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They came here and most of them
played instruments

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and settled
around western Wisconsin.

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Yeah, back in the day, they
would carry their instruments

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and walk, oh, 30 whatever miles
it was

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from Cashton to La Crosse
to go play music.

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So, it goes back quite a ways.

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[bright polka music]

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I was, like,
the 17th generation.

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Started in the band,
I was nine years old.

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I played my first gig
in April of 1982 on drums.

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And then I gradually
moved over to concertina,

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and here I am today.

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- I think I officially joined
the band

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when I was like, three or four.

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It honestly just came
really natural

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because I was going to dances
so much

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and I learned to really love
polka so much.

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So, I was just like,

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"Yeah, I really wanna be
a part of this."

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- Gary: In our band currently,
I play concertina,

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and then I run bass,

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and then my wife Brianne
plays piano.

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Our daughter Matelynn sings.

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Our oldest son, Mason, is 16.

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He's our drummer.

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And then we have a
nine-year-old son, Maverick,

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who also sings with us.

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[bright polka music]

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This is a concertina.

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The difference between the
accordion and the concertina,

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an accordion, all of the notes
in and out,

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it's the same.

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The concertina is modeled after,
like, a harmonica,

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where each note in and out,

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push or draw,
is a different note.

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[plays note]
So, I'm pushing in a little bit

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and I'll do the same note,
but I'll pull out--

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- And it'll be different.
[lower note]

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Yeah.

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- So, one note, push in,
[higher note]

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pull out.
[lower note]

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- It's different.
- Like a harmonica.

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There's no rhyme and reason
to how they made the concertina.

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It's like a typewriter,
you know?

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You would think a typewriter,
A through Z and then type.

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No, that's hunt and peck.

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And that's the way a concertina
is.

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[plays note]
So, the pushing is, that's a D.

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You pull, [higher note]
there's an A chord.

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And here's the D on a pull,
[plays note]

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which I just did here on a push,
same thing. [plays note]

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And now, here's a G.
[higher note]

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And then, here's a C.
[plays note]

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Here's an F [plays note]
with a B-flat [plays note]

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and here's an E-flat.
[plays note]

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Oh, and there's an A-flat too.
[higher note]

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It's not a simple instrument,
no, no.

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And in fact,
I've been doing this

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for 40 whatever years
and I'm still learning on it.

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Like, if I'm at a festival

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and I have a chance to watch
another player,

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odds are I'm gonna
learn something.

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I've been playing it self-taught
for so many years

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that I'll see how they're doing
a certain run,

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or they'll play something

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and I'll be like,
"That's a really pretty chord.

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I've never played that one."

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And then, when we're off
on break,

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I'll say, "How did you do that?"

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We'll do it together,
and then he'll show me.

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So, I learn
from watching others.

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♪ One, two, three,
won't you polka with me? ♪

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♪ Come turn that sad
into a smile ♪

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♪ Four, five, six ♪

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♪ A polka will fix
a broken heart ♪

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♪ In just a little while ♪

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- I am currently learning
saxophone and piano,

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which I'm hoping to one day
join the band

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with those instruments.

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I think just seeing all of the
different styles of polka,

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and that it's so important
to our family

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and it's in our heritage.

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And I was just like,
"I wanna be part of that."

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- So, we're lucky because, like,
even if you go

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to a Milwaukee Brewer game
and the seventh inning stretch,

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you're gonna hear
the "Beer Barrel Polka"

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and the "Chicken Dance."

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So, it's a part of the culture.

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So, like a German song.

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[steady polka music]

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Very marchy.

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Very, almost sounds like
a big marching band, you know?

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Where the Polish style,
little more upbeat,

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instrumentation
is gonna be a lot different.

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Like, instead of tubas,
you're gonna have bass guitars,

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or midi bass,
depending on the band.

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Trumpets or trumpet, sax,
clarinet combo,

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bellows shaking accordions.

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♪ Hey ♪

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[bright polka music]

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The definition
of bellows shaking,

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so, you know, they're doing
this, da-na-na-na-na-na,

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I can't do...
[rapid concertina notes]

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...that because in and out's
a different note.

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I can mimic it though.

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I can,
[quick concertina notes]

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So, that's a version
of bellows shaking.

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You're doing it in rhythm

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with, like,
the bass and the drums.

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That's way easier to do
on accordion.

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You're just standing there
and doing this.

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- It's a lot of arm work

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if you do it that way.
- Yes, well, that's...

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Yep.
[Matti laughs]

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[Gary laughs]
- I just think it's so cool

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that we can, as a band, let
people let loose a little bit

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and give 'em a good day.

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- Gary: There's no words that
really describe how proud I am

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and honored to be able
to do this with my family.

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I wouldn't trade it
for anything.

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♪ Dee da da da ♪

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♪ Dee da da dee da dee da da ♪

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♪ Yoo hoo hoo! ♪

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[lively polka music]

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♪ Somebody scream! ♪

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♪ Ah! ♪