Whenever I do a run of gigs at 1 venue, there always seems to be a mix of regular routines that settle in (ya know—a few specific songs set the tone for the room each night, a few specific tunes close out the night, you remember some of the favorites for the regulars, etc…). At the same time, there’s always those little things that sometimes seem to come from Mars….. that’s what really makes my job interesting! Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy playing the regular repertoire (and the left turn curves that have become my regular repertoire)- but the challenges that come to me, definitely keep me on my toes.

For example—I just did a 7 night swing at the Hofbrau in Panama City Beach, FL. Yes, there were requests for “Roll out the Barrel”, “Edelweiss” and the “Devil Went Down to Munich”…. I also had the “Germans Up for Fliegerlied”, “Hande zum Himmel” and a new arrangement of the “Radetzky March.” But on consecutive nights, there were a variety of Europeans coming in asking for Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Arabic, Jewish, Slovak and Czech tunes… and I got a bunch of them…. I thought the one guy was going to fall out of his seat when I was singing “Uzmi Sve Sto ti Zivot Pruza” for him…. (I can’t believe I got through it in Serbian, as I kept hearing Bubba’s English lyrics from the Polka Freak Out album in my head—thankfully I had the words in my book!) I think the developing arrangement of “Bufcansko Oro” is begging to be recorded soon… whoever knew that Ed Klancnik could get that funky of a Bulgarian/Turkish type groove? (Let’s face it, he can do anything- right?!?)

So…. Anyway—thanks to all of ya’ll that come out to the gigs… dig the sounds, challenge me with some different requests—and forgive me when I can’t do all of them! (At the same time… thanks also to the tables that paid the $20 fine to make us play Free Bird…..)
I love my work….

It’s also good to be home too! The family is all good and keeping me on my toes….. thanks for the good wishes from y’all for the little ones!
alex