Family and the Polka Band

It is sneaking up on Oktoberfest time again – or O’fest as we call it.  This is our yearly opportunity to travel the world by having the world come to us.  Our family all comes to visit and we get to find out what they’ve been up to.  A good time will be had by all!

Z Musikmakers in residence
at the Weingarten in Mt. Angel, OR

“Family,” in this case means a lot of things.  Of course our “real” families will be there.  We work collectively as a band called Z Musikmakers.  The band was founded by Paul Zollner to perform at the Mt. Angel Oktoberfest.  Along with his wife Pat, Paul has kept some version of it running for about 30 years now.  The core of the current band is Paul and three of his daughters, Monica, Tecie, and Christiana, with older sister Katie occasionally sitting in for Christi. 

Over the years, the Zollner family band has “adopted” several “Uncles” into the family.  The older of us met and became friends through connections in and around the University of Oregon.  I met Pat and Paul through a church music group.  Rob Neidig was their teacher in a morning conversational German class.  Greg Backstrom and Paul were acquainted through a business group in Eugene.  Our love of music has kept us together and friends for years now.  Our newest member, Nichlas Schaal, joined the band, after Pat “retired” a few years ago, via a friendship with the daughters.

Dave, Klaus, and Paul having a quick strategy conference
before the jam set between the Donaumusikanten and
Z Musikmakers.  We do this the last set of our Sunday
show every year.  If you haven't caught it, you
should come and enjoy it sometime!

Of course, the Uncles all come attached with their own families.  Greg’s wife, Shelley and their two kids, Rob’s wife, Rosie, and Nichlas’ wife, Joelle and his three children are frequent visitors to rehearsals and gigs, and are some of my best friends on the planet.  O’fest season is a chance for us to find out what everyone has been up to.  Although we once lived much closer together, we now all live miles apart and look forward to the once or twice a year catch up.

What does a typical day look like for an O’fest band?  It starts late.  We are a hard-partying group of – OK, I’m lying.  The truth is, it is hard work, and while we enjoy a drink or two and listening to our friends on stage (about which more in a minute), the reality is that we are generally in bed by 11 or 12 in the evening.  It still starts late though.  We aren’t as young as we used to be.  This is always followed by breakfast and the ceremonial lob of the first bad joke – usually by Greg.  It’s downhill from there: a day full of laughter, bad jokes, festival food, folk music, bad jokes, music making, and more bad jokes – followed by a few more “Adult Grain Beverages.”  If you have never been in a band before, you need to add it to you bucket list – it’s one of the best things ever.  My band mates are great entertainers, and a huge amount of fun to hang out with.  I miss the energy throughout the year when we aren’t working.

Making music at St Josef's in Canby
with the Donaumusikanten.

Of course, there are other families at O’fest.  Most of us have a visit of varying lengths by our extended family.  I am still trying to learn the names of all of the extended Zollner clan, but I can tell you from personal experience that there are 1,324, 289 of them.  All of them are swell folks – nicer people cannot be found – there are just a lot of them.  My parents can be found in the back-middle of the hall for every show – they haven’t missed an O’fest in years.  Stop by and say “hi,” they love to meet new folks.  I’ve met various brothers/sisters/uncles/aunts/pets of my band mates over the years, and that is of course part of the fun of the whole thing.

Our family of musical friends now covers the world.  Our friends Gordy and Danny Groening, with Rod and Mark form the Gordanaires from Vancouver, B.C., who are gracious enough to let me share the stage with them for several fests a year.  We also enjoy hanging with the fabulous musicians of the Salzberger Echo, who always drop by to talk brass-shop and to egg me on in playing some orchestral excerpts. Then there are Klaus, Andi, Harry, Hugo, Halef and Thomas of the Original Donaumusikanten from Ulm, Germany, who let me share the stage with them at St Josef’s Grape Stomp – funny guys and fun to hang out with.  Then there is Darlene Jones, who has subbed with our band a couple of times.  And many others.  Among other things (like bad jokes), O’fest is our opportunity to check in with our musician friends and share a laugh and a beer or two.  If you watch, you’ll frequently see groups of bands hanging out to watch each other’s show (and heckle from the crowd).  At least in our band, plans are made around seeing our friends play sometime every fest (so we can heckle them from the crowd) and cheering them on, catching their new tunes, and critiquing their show – in the best possible light.  It would probably be better to say “watch what they are doing that is cool so we can steal it and put it in our show.”  Theft, in the music business, is the most sincere form of flattery.

On stage in Leavenworth, WA with the Gordanaires.

The nice thing about O’fest crowds is that they are small enough that you can get to know some of your audience well.  Over the years, our extended family has grown to include many of these wonderful folks.  We have shared dinner with Dee and David, pictures and e-mails with Rosie, borrowed a dog kennel for our kids from Karen and Keith, and ran into Sharon and chatted for a while at the mall.  I have two friends at my local Applebee’s that I met through the starter, “you’re the trumpet player in that family group down there in Mt. Angel, aren’t you?”  There are many other similar stories.  There is a gentleman who I met while coming off the stage a couple of years ago who told me that he has caught every show the band has played at the Mt. Angel Oktoberfest for decades.  He is such a fan that to do this now requires a flight in every year from Australia.  I am honored to have met these folks, but even more blessed to have had the opportunity to get to know them.

In my case, I also am also fortunate to get to spend some time at O’fest with my “school family.”  The Mt. Angel folks were kind enough to ask a couple years ago if my school group would like to come down and perform.  Like most schools, we were not allowed to perform at a “beer fest.”  This is when I got the idea of putting together a community group that a centered around my students, joined by alums, parents, fellow teachers, and community adults.  Hence the “Columbia River Folk Band” was formed.  One of my biggest joys of O’fest lately is watching the look of shock on my student’s faces in the crowd on a Saturday afternoon when they watch their teacher make a fool of him on stage.  When I see heads on the table, I know I have scored.

I am looking forward with joy of seeing my “family” in the next few weeks.  If you are a “long lost relative,” drop by and reintroduce yourself, OK?  It would be nice to meet you.