Peter and Paul Wendinger: Twin Concertina Artists with Brass SEALED
We're unsealing and playing it on Polka Time's March 24 LIVE episode.
On Friday the International Polka Association announced 2024 Hall of Fame inductees and 2023 award winners. Hat tip to all the folks the IPA recognizes who have made significant contributions to the polka music world. The name that jumped out to me was Peter Wendinger who is being recognized in the pioneer category.
In honor of Peter’s award, I’m going to unseal and play my copy of Peter and Paul Wendinger’s Twin Concertina Artists with Brass album live on Polka Time with DJ Shotski on Sunday, March 24 at 7 p.m. CST on 98.7 WVMO.
The Polka Time Album of the Week is a chance for me to dig into the biographies of these musicians a bit and share the highlights with you. You are going to love Peter.
First, Peter and his brother Paul were a brother act. Legend has it that, while their parents weren’t musicians themselves, they did befriend band leaders like Harold Loeffelmacher of the Six Fat Dutchmen, Fezz Fritsche, and Whoopee John Wilfahrt.
Paul’s biography on the IPA’s Hall of Fame website says, ‘it was Polka Day 1962 when Peter and Paul’s father purchased their first concertina from the Christy Hengel display in New Ulm, Minn.” They learned how to play in between their chores on the family’s 400-acre farm.
The brothers soon played their first gig at a neighbor’s wedding reception for which they each received a pair of black socks for payment. They made their first real money on John Deere Day in Gibbon, Minnesota when they got a five dollar check for the gig.
Peter and Paul played music together for well over 40 years. They toured and traveled, and eventually started their own travel service with their wives (which is exactly what the arc of a polka band’s career should be). They won numerous awards — too many to list — including being inducted in the World Concertina Congress in 2005 and the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame in 2007.
Though Paul passed away in 2010, Peter still leads the Wendinger Band and they had lots of gigs in 2023. My favorite part is that Peter hosts the Wendiger Band & Travel Polka Parade every Sunday at 12:30 p.m. on KNUJ-FM out of New Ulm, which you can stream online. The show is absolutely charming and you should stream it online. You’ll find other great polka shows on KNUJ including one hosted by Amy Zents (another rare lady polka DJ) and the Dinner Bell hour with Tom Wheeler weekdays from 11-noon (which is often on at my office when I’m working my day job).
I’m looking forward to busting the plastic off of this record and dropping the needle on it for the first time this weekend. The show will air LIVE on 98.7 FM WVMO on Sunday, March 24. Tune in on your terrestrial dial in Monona or on Madison’s east side, or stream it online. The show will rebroadcast on participating stations the following weekend.
All stations stream on the web at the links below. All times CST.
Polka Time: Where and when to listen
LIVE
Sunday, 7 p.m. - WVMO-FM 98.7 Monona
Streaming
Saturday, 6 p.m. - WPCA-FM 93.1 Amery - support WPCA
Saturday, 7 p.m. - WVMO-FM 98.7 Monona - support WVMO
Sunday, 7 a.m. - WOJB-FM 88.9 Hayward - support WOJB
Sunday, 8 a.m. - WILW-FM 96.3 Waupaca
Sunday, 9 a.m. - WOCT-FM 101.9 Oshkosh
Sunday, 4 p.m. - WLSP-FM 103.5 Sun Prairie - support SPMC
Thanks to these community-powered stations for keeping vintage polka on the air waves.