Howdy Friends! And welcome to our new Friends!
Spring has sprung, the clocks are ahead, the Tomball German Heritage Festival is already behind us, and my favorite day of the year, April Fool's Day, is upon us! What a whirlwind March was! How was your spring break? Are you ready for Easter and the guaranteed warmer weather?
The music season picked up for us in the middle of March, with private parties, a concert at Momma's at Sengelmann, lots of rehearsals to learn new music for the Saint Patrick's Day party we were asked to play for at Saint Arnold, followed by the Tomball German Heritage Festival, which I was also doing all the last minute prep for. But this week is very quiet. Probably a good thing, since we're rehearsing a song to sing in church on Maundy Thursday, and I'm getting over Covid. More in the "behind the scenes" below.
April public performances:
Faust Brewing Company; 499 S Castell, New Braunfels, TX
Friday April 14; 6pm - 9pm; The Trio with Robert on fiddle
Grapevine On Main; 5120 Main ST in Chappell Hill, TX
Friday April 21; 7pm - 10pm; The Duo
Muenster Germanfest; Heritage Park, 301 N Ash Street, Muenster, Texas 76252, Friday - Sunday April 28 - 30; The 4 piece band; Friday 12pm - 1:25 and 3:10 - 4:30. Saturday 11:40am - 1:10pm and 10:20pm - 11:50pm. Sunday 2:30 - 4pm.
Looking ahead:
May
Brenham Maifest; Fireman's Park, Brenham, TX
Saturday, May 6; 11:30am - 2:30pm; The 4 piece band plus dancers
Faust Brewing Company; 499 S Castell, New Braunfels, TX
Saturday May 20; 6pm - 9pm; The Trio with Kelsey on horns
Saturday May 20; 6pm - 9pm; The Trio with Kelsey on horns
The Sauer Kraut Grill Maifest Celebration; 734 Crabb River Rd in Richmond, TX
Saturday May 27; 1pm - 7pm; The Trio with Kelsey, Ross and Valina - party all day!
Shiner Picnic; SS. Cyril and Methodius church in Shiner, TX
Sunday May 28; 10am - 1pm; The Trio with Kelsey, Ross, Valina and dancers!
June
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
Faust Brewing Company; 499 S Castell, New Braunfels, TX
Friday June 23; 6pm - 9pm; The Trio with Kelsey on horns
There is a new album out with one of our original songs on it! The Round Top Brass Band from Round Top Texas recorded the Tomball Y'all song, composed by me, 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 I ever wrote, and it's out there in hard copy with a whole brass band playing it! ...and I'm the vocalist. Song #20! Exciting times! We have a few copies available for sale, so let us know if you'd 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 in April, May, June. How 'bout a Backyard Bierfest for Father's Day? 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, old country, and original songs, we now offer some Irish too! Let us know if we can provide the entertainment for your event.
Hosting our trips: The itinerary for the June 2024 trip is beginning to really take shape, with a 3 week trip to Germany and The Czech Republic. The basics are: Depart Monday June 3, arriving in Munich on June 4, spend 2 nights in the eastern part of Franconia, 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 - we might even pop in to Poland! Then we head to the Czech Republic for 3 nights on the outskirts of Prague with a day trip to Prague, a day trip to Kutna Hora, and a day trip to Cesky Krumlov. Heading back to Germany, we'll spend one night near Munich, then spend 5 - 6 nights in southern Bavaria with day trips to Mittenwald, Linderhof Castle, Garmisch Partenkirchen and more. We'll depart on Saturday or Sunday June 22 or 23 from the Munich airport (details still coming) There will be an option to do just the first two weeks with us, or to stay for the entire 3 weeks. 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.
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: We've stayed bbbuuusssyy! March felt like Oktoberfest season with all of the rehearsing that was going on. We got the invitation to play St Paddy's at Saint Arnolds, literally the day the last newsletter out. We had 3 weeks to learn enough Irish repertoire to fill 2.5 stage hours. Somehow, we pulled it off. We knew the material well enough to cover each others mistakes, and the audiences seemed happy. We've been invited back for next year's St Paddy's Day! It was exhilarating to learn and perform new material that is a bit different from most of the music we've been playing for the past 16 years. We had a private party on March 10, a concert on the 15th, St Paddy's on Friday March 17, a private on Tuesday March 21, which Valina had to bow out of (tested positive for Covid) but Ross was negative and well, and Robert was able to take her place, so off they went. Then Thursday March 23, Valina had to be in Tomball to set up the stage areas. Thankfully all the work in Tomball is outdoors. When checked in to the hotel, the manager had a case of water, a huge bunch of bananas and a bag of mandarins put in our room to supplement breakfast, and brought the room key out to the car for me. Was able to avoid all indoor contact with people, and kept good distance. Even Ross never caught it - Valina moved to another room in the house and opened the windows so there would be fresh air in the house at all times. A negative test finally on Saturday morning, just in the nick of time for our performances at the festival. Was saving my voice for the shows, because laryngitis was an issue. But Ross is still fine, and everyone else who Valina worked with last week is covid free. What timing huh? This empty week (with just paperwork, followup and taxes) has been good for resting the voice. Next week is Easter, so we'll be at church several nights, then spending time with both sides of the family on Easter weekend. Performances start up again the next weekend with a new venue for us in New Braunfels. All the details are above, and can be found on the website.
Valina's Mom was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer in early January. She asked it be kept quiet for a while until she had time to process it and know the full diagnosis. 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. On March 22, she got great news that the tumor is getting smaller, and the cancer is responding to the treatments. She's in a much better mood. She and Dad came to Tomball for just the Saturday of the Germanfest. She wanted to see the opening ceremonies, the high school German clubs folk dance, and of course, her favorite German band. It was a family affair with Gerrit, Christina and Jane, and several other friends who also joined them at the table. Thank you for keeping her and Daddy in your prayers! It's working!
We hope we get to see you very soon! Stay healthy, be happy, share a smile with a stranger, and Polka On!