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Polka
Freak Out: Bubba Hernandez with Alex Meixner |
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Polka
Freak Out: Bubba Hernandez with Alex Meixner
When Bubba Hernandez (of Grammy winning Brave Combo) first heard
Alex Meixner he wondered: "what would this guy sound like on
a tex mex tuned accordion (Gabinelli/Horner) with some Tejano players?"
.....
The two first tested collaboration at Alex’s home in Allentown,
PA with his pops Big Al Meixner on accordion as well as Greg Guzevich
of Polka Family on drums. This diverse jam mixing, Germanic, Mexican,
Polish, Serbo-Croatian, Bulgarian, gave Bubba and Alex a good wink
at what was possible on all cultural fronts. And so, Polka Freak
Out: Bubba Hernandez with Alex Meixner was born. Although, Polka
Freak Out is the title of the album by Bubba Hernandez featuring
Alex Meixner, it is also now the name catching on for the band.
The album started out as Bubba invited Alex to San Antonio, TX to
record on some tracks that were already in progress at that time:
"Baby" by I See Hawks in LA and "River of Pain"
by Alex Meixner. Both songs were considered album fillers by both
artists. Hernandez saw otherwise by combining Alex an Austrian/Slovenian/Eastern
European master accordionist over a Tex-Mex rhythm section and Bubba's
pop/rock aesthetic. This truly was a Polka Freak Out. As San Antonio’s
finest Tejano players merged with PA’s wunderkind and all in agreed
that this was something similar but different: like two old cousins
meeting for the first time and the glorious party that ensued. Due
to the studio “polka freakist’s” heavy schedules with their main
bands like, Latin Breed, Texmaniacs, Los Super Seven, Texas Tornados,
Las Campanas De America, etc., Bubba and Alex’s live crew will be
in the very capable hands of a variety of other professional guests
from each region and even other cultures and styles.
Nowadays, the live show is well on the way to filling the calendar
with dates and has already performed at Milestones in Rochester,
Johnny D's in Somerville (Boston) and Barbes (Brooklyn) and even
marched along with the Munroe Dairy Band at the Bristol Parade (RI)
the oldest 4th of July parade in the nation. While in Texas PFO
performed at other alternative venues in Denton, Dallas, Austin,
San Antonio and with great success at Wurstfest in New Braunfels
and has even included some private parties in their touring schedule
to boot! All of this in just it’s first year! Upcoming performances
include the National Polka Festival at Ennis, Tx as well as performances
in California and back to Texas for its performing debut at Westfest.
Polka Freak Out: Bubba Hernandez and Alex Meixner are having a blast
with this busy scheduling. Although the long distance relationship
makes performing and completing the project a bit challenging, the
geographic polarity definitely adds to the diversity. While performing
festivals, PFO will be eyeballing the audience and playing to it
as well as stretching its ear. Bubba and Alex will be mixing in
original arrangements of some old school favorites as well as their
originals that they hope will become classics and hits themselves.
At all shows Polka Freak Out will also drop in some Latin music.
Bubba loves to rock the cumbia and Alex is a whiz at all kinds of
jazzy stuff too! Read and hear stuff collaboratively and individually
at the following websites:
www.myspace.com\polkafreakout
www.polksfreakout.com
www.bubbahernandez.com
www.alexmeixner.com
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