Culture
The Chardon Polka Band’s Holiday Extravaganza debuts Thanksgiving weekend
< < Back toEarlier this year, WOUB-TV broadcast the Chardon Polka Band’s ‘Polka Across America,’ showcasing musicians from around the country in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. You can hear WOUB’s interview with band leader Jake Kouwe here, and Thanksgiving weekend 2021, the Chardon Polka Band is releasing their Holiday Extravaganza, which you can find more information about below.
The Chardon Polka Band’s Holiday Extravaganza is jam packed with the polka-fied Christmas carols. Nothing delivers holiday cheer better than a banjo, accordion, saxophone and tuba!
The band has brought all their eighteen years of experience entertaining crowds to bear with this musically diverse, upbeat, and informative program. The Chardon Polka Band’s Holiday Extravaganza highlights not only the band’s own polka arrangements of holiday favorites, but brings in musicians from across the globe. As The Lawrence Welk Show did in its time, this eclectic holiday special delivers musical variety aimed at a common theme and audience group.
Where the Welk show had the unforgettable Lennon Sisters, The Chardon Polka Band has enlisted The Puppini Sisters from the United Kingdom. Taking a nod from Lawrence Welk’s own accordion virtuoso, Myron Floren, The Chardon Polka Band’s Holiday Extravaganza includes Denver-based accordionist Alicia Jo Straka in its lineup. Also involved in this musical journey is Brave Combo, a grammy award winning polka band from Denton; Delfeayo Marsalis, a jazz icon from New Orleans, LA; and Pomplamoose, one of the most well known independent acts of the last decade.
The Chardon Polka Band’s Holiday Extravaganza delivers hometown holiday charm and the band’s signature wit and humor, while taking audiences on an unforgettable musical journey. The program was produced in Northeast Ohio with help from Lake Erie Video Prd., the Geauga Park District, Cuyahoga County Community College, and GoodCity Concepts.