Howdy Friends! And welcome to our new Friends!
Summer's Here! Graduations, weddings, vacations, picnics, beaches, lakes, ahhhhh, that's the life! And Father's Day is just a few weeks away. Dads love polka and Bier! (wink wink) And Das ist lustig has some celebrating available for you!
June public performances:
Hollerbach's Willow Tree Cafe; 205 East 1st Street, Sanford FL
Friday June 9; 7pm - 10pm
Saturday June 10; 1pm - 4pm & 7pm - 10pm
Sunday June 11; 12pm - 3pm & 6pm - 9pm
Reservations possible for Fridays - they fill up quickly! "To make your reservation, please call 407-321-2204 prompt 1. Reservationist hours are M-F 11:00 - 5:00 or via email reservations@hollerbachs.com"
White Horse Tavern; 400 N Main, Burton, TX
Friday June 16, 7pm - 10pm; The Duo
- $25 cover - Allison's delicious Pork steak dinner included! Reservations strongly recommended - 979 277 5768
Celebrate Father's Day weekend and spoil Dad with a huge meal, all the cold beer he can hold and some good old Biergarten frolics!
Friday June 16, 7pm - 10pm; The Duo
- $25 cover - Allison's delicious Pork steak dinner included! Reservations strongly recommended - 979 277 5768
Celebrate Father's Day weekend and spoil Dad with a huge meal, all the cold beer he can hold and some good old Biergarten frolics!
Faust Brewing Company; 499 S Castell, New Braunfels, TX
Friday June 23; 6pm - 9pm; The Trio with Kelsey on horns
Order and Alex Meixner Polka Pils, brewed right there! Free Admission!
The Sauer Kraut Grill; Summer of Stubenmusi; 734 Crabb River Rd in Richmond, TX
Thursdays June 15, 29, Wednesday June 21; 6 - 8pm The Duo
Unplugged and untamed...
Looking ahead:
July
The Sauer Kraut Grill, Thursdays July 6, 20, & Wednesdays July 12, 26; 6 - 8pm; The Duo unplugged
Nathan's BBQ, Sunday July 23; 3 - 6pm; The Duo
August
The Sauer Kraut Grill, Thursdays Aug 3, 10; 6 - 8pm; The Duo unplugged
The Table at Madeley, Friday Aug 18; The Trio; Biergarten Concert; Admission $15
There is a new album out with one of our original songs on it! The Round Top Brass Band just released their "Celebrating 50 years - Then And Now" album. They recorded the Tomball Y'all song, composed by Valina, translated from Valina to readable music and put on paper by Ross, then arranged for the brass band by George De Rocher. It's the first song ever written by Valina and Ross, and it's out there in hard copy with a whole brass band playing it! ...and Valina is the vocalist. Song #20 in the "bonus tracks" on their 50th anniversary CD! It's actually a double album, so you receive their first recording from 1981 as well. 35 songs! Exciting times! Would you like to purchase one? $25 including shipping in the 48 states.
Have something to celebrate? Call us for pricing and availability if you have something to celebrate this summer. How 'bout a Backyard Bierfest? Polka on the porch? We can play for you as a duo unplugged, or we can bring the sound equipment and specialty folk instruments. We tailor our set up and repertoire to your needs! In addition to our German / Austrian / Dutch / Czech repertoire, and old country, we now offer original songs, and some Irish folk music too! Let us know if we can provide the entertainment for your event.
Hosting our trips: Would you like to join us for a 3 week trip to Franconia, former East Germany, the Czech Republic, Bavaria and Austria? The basics are: Departing Monday June 3, arriving in Munich on June 4, spend 2 nights in the eastern part of Franconia visiting Bayreuth and Bamberg, Then head north for 4 nights in Wittenberg with day trips to Halle, Leipzig, and Berlin, 3 nights in Bautzen with a day trip to Dresden, and a day trip touring the region - and by request, we will pop in to Poland for lunch! Then we head to the Czech Republic for 3 nights in Kutna Hora with a day trip Cesky Krumlov and Prague! Heading back to Germany, we'll spend one night in a brewery near Munich, then spend 6 nights in southern Bavaria with day trips to Innsbruck, Mittenwald, Linderhof Castle, a mountain top in Austria, Garmisch Partenkirchen, and more. We'll return from Munich on Sunday June 23. This trip is just a year away! Make sure to check the dates on your passport, in case you need to get it renewed. Passport processing is taking several months at this time, so plan ahead and make sure that's not on your to-do list. Details are still coming, but we hope to have a full brochure ready by the beginning of July. Planning is *taking more time than it did before all the Covid shutdowns. Stay tuned for more information!
Website: You can always find out what's happening with us at http://www.prostyall.com. We update our calendar as information becomes available, and always keep the upcoming gigs and last minute changes on the home page. The shop page https://www.prostyall.com/shop has all sorts of fun things available, including the brand new design "It's All About The Ponytail" t-shirt.
Social Media: You can find us on Facebook, and Youtube. You can subscribe to our Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/valinapolka , friend us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/valinapolka "like" us on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prostyall/ We have an instagram, but don't know how to use it.
Behind the scenes: Valina and Ross celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary with a lunch date to the Sauer Kraut Grill, followed by a road trip to Brenham to gorge themselves on Bluebell Ice Cream. They had their first date 16 years ago in July at the Bluebell 100th anniversary, so Bluebell is a tradition! Valina has been writing music again, and these original songs need a place where the duo can feel them out with a live audience, and what better place than The Sauer Kraut Grill: their favorite Imbiss (German quick service restaurant) in Richmond, Texas? The two newest songs are different from all the others she's written. One of them is quite the challenge to figure out instrumentation, because it has such a pop music feel. The second song that she wrote just last night has an Americana vibe to it. Possibly a good two stepper. We'll see how they evolve as the band works on arranging them. Ross has been doing odd jobs for people, making repairs here and there. Right now, he's aging some wood for an antique style German sleigh bed frame. With all the new arrangements and original songs, there is a lot of rehearsing and hashing going on in the studio. Valina spends a lot of time working on the band promotions, graphics for new merchandise (Do you need a new t-shirt? They're hot off the press, and pictured below), handling Oktoberfest paperwork, managing the band's travel logistics, and building the 2024 trip to Europe. *One of the biggest hurdles now that things are open for travel again, is getting pricing. Communication with the hotels began in January, but they are just now getting back with price ranges. Nailing the right hotel down in each region is important before the actual itinerary and pricing can be finalized. Logistics for the bus, the driver's (required by German law) days off, having a place to play live music, and maximizing the time to visit each region with free time for exploring on your own all effect the planning. Every tour is planned to allow time to have a drink, relax and take in the flavors and culture of the places we visit.
Valina's Mom was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer in early January. She's been taking her treatments like a champ, even though they are causing discomfort, and have totally robbed her of her love for chocolate, cheese, and many other foods. On March 22, she got great news that the tumor is getting smaller, and the cancer is responding to the treatments. The last treatment she received in late April was especially brutal, and she was down for about 2 weeks, zero appetite and strange reactions to even such basics as water. She started feeling much better a couple of days after Mother's Day, and has been back out partying as much as she can since. She even hung out at the Sauer Kraut Grill on May 27 for 6 hours! She's in a much better mood, but is becoming wary of the next step in treatment with a lumpectomy coming in June. She's looking forward to later this summer when the surgery should remove the remaining offending bits, and getting to heal. We're all continuing to pray for her, and for Wim as he navigates all the chaos around his wife of 59 years. Thank you for keeping them in your prayers! Some of you have been such wonderful support to her, and we're all very thankful!
We hope we get to see you very soon! Stay healthy, be happy, travel safe this summer, share a smile with a stranger, and Polka On. Prost Y'all!