Polka Time returns LIVE on Sunday.
Plus, Milwaukee Polka Riot on Saturday night!
Polka Time with DJ Shotski returns LIVE on Sunday, September 7
Encore Polka Time Goes to Summer Camp episodes are about done and I’m stoked to get back to the studio.
On Sunday, September 7 at 7 p.m. on WVMO, I’ll play a whole stack of 7-inch records generously donated by Nate Gibson from UW Mills Music Library. He’s a local, musical treasure who leads the honkytonk band, Nate Gibson and the Stardazers, and is among our state’s leading ethnomusicologist experts on vintage country music. He gave me a stack of goodies we can listen to together.
Milwaukee: let’s riot this weekend
I’m also stoked to partner with Keith Gaustad to co-DJ and MC the Milwaukee Polka Riot this weekend. Details about the event are below. The Milwaukee Polka Riot melds polka with rock, punk, hip hop, poetry, zydeco and klezmer into one marathon of love for squeezeboxes and oompah. Held this year at Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, it will be more Milwaukee-vibey than ever.
The twist to this DJ set is that everything I play will be for sale at the merch table! I’m bringing crates of spare records up from the basement, and if you like them, you can take them home along with other pro-polka merch offerings from me and the bands.
I interviewed Keith G aka DJ Brumeister in the Shotski Lodge where we talked about the Milwaukee polka scene and the different things we are doing to get polka music into more ears.
DJ Shotski on City Cast Madison podcast
The home station of Polka Time with DJ Shotski is WVMO-FM, an award-winning, low-power station of the City of Monona. WVMO celebrated its 10th anniversary in August with a big party at San Damiano park on Lake Monona, local concerts, and an outpouring of community love.
I told WVMO’s origin story and explained why the station means so much to the people and volunteers in my community on the City Cast Madison podcast. Thanks to Bianca Martin for being a gracious host, and to Jade Iseri-Ramos and Hayley Sperling for being a welcoming production team.
ICYMI: Set up a digital calendar for your favorite community radio programs
Last month, I sent out a Shotski Lodge newsletter explaining how I have a Google Calendar that’s dedicated to my favorite community radio shows. If you missed it, you can find it on Substack.
Did you try it? Or did you bookmark awesome community radio streaming sites on your phone? Let me know how it’s working for you! Drop me a line at djshotski@gmail.com. I’ve got lots of recommendations for shows I think are great, including a bunch of polka shows that play a variety of styles (← this could be a whole other post with a polka radio music calendar).
Polka Time show schedule
Saturday, September 6: last Polka Time goes to Summer Camp
Saturday, 8 a.m. - WHYS-FM 96.3 Eau Claire - support WHYS
Saturday, 3 p.m. - WRJQ Goodtime Radio - support WRJQ
Saturday, 6 p.m. - WPCA-FM 93.1 Amery - support WPCA
Saturday, 7 p.m. - WVMO-FM 98.7 Monona - support WVMO
Sunday, September 7: Polka Time with DJ Shotski returns LIVE in the WVMO studio!
Sunday, 7 p.m. - WVMO-FM 98.7 Monona
Thanks to these community and volunteer-powered stations for keeping vintage polka on the air waves.
Events
Saturday, September 6 - Milwaukee Polka Riot
Milwaukee’s infamous polka-punk-hip-hop show is back in 2025! Hosts DJ Brumeister (aka Keith Gaustad) and DJ Shotski will spin vintage vinyl during the set breaks. The event will be held at Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, 1001 E Locust St in Milwaukee from 5-11:30 p.m.
DJ Shotski will be cleaning out her spare collection of polka vinyl and LPs will be for sale (FOR CHEAP!) at the event (cash or Venmo).
Bands include: The Polkaholics (Chicago - guitar polka), Sigmund Snopek III (Milwaukee - prog polka), Good Friends Klezmer Band (Milwaukee), The Frantastic Sound System (Chicago - creole/zydeco/Americana), The November Criminals (Milwaukee - non-Ironic Polka HipHop) with special guest Mario the Polka Poet Laureate.
Details at milwaukeepolkariot.com. Invite your friends via Facebook.
Saturday, September 13 - Gemütlichkeit Days
Jefferson County, Wisconsin has thrown a party to celebrate its German heritage since 1971. This year will be no exception as the community gathers for polka music, dancing, games and the welcoming spirit of Gemütlichkeit.
Join DJ Shotski in the GDays biergarten for vintage polka from Wisconsin and the upper Midwest from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. Dancers welcome.
The event is held at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds at 503 N. Jackson Ave., Jefferson, WI. In the event of rain, the event will move inside a fairgrounds building. Thanks to generous local sponsors, GDays is free.
Saturday, October 11 - Rosemount, MN Oktoberfest
Rosemount, Minnesota will host its second annual Oktoberfest celebration with music, games, local brews in a pop-up biergarten, and food trucks on the beautiful green lawn of Central Park in front of a wooden amphitheater. DJ Shotski will provide vintage polka music in the afternoon.
Save the date: Saturday, January 17 - Beer & Cheese Fest, Madison
Beer, cheese and DANCING. Back for its 16th year, the Beer & Cheese Fest at Alliant Energy Center has food, fun and dance parties. A little birdie told me people will get a chance to polka. Stay tuned. Visit the festival’s website for details and tickets.
Readers like you keep the Shotski Lodge open
The Shotski Lodge is a reader-supported publication. Support from subscribers like you gives me the confidence to pursue my mission to get more people to listen to vintage polka and vinyl records, including through this free e-newsletter.
Become a Shotski Lodge member - Substack offers paid subscriptions for people who want to be patrons of the Lodge’s mission.
DJ Shotski’s Venmo - skip the subscription and give via Venmo where transaction fees are lower.
Hire me for a gig! - your community needs a polka party. Email me at djshotski@gmail.com if you have a venue or an event that needs a vinyl DJ.
Donate records - the answer to free records is always “yes.” Email me at djshotski@gmail.com with a description of what you have to share.
Want to connect? Drop me an email.
I’d love to hear from you at djshotski@gmail.com
In the Shotski Lodge, only paid subscribers can leave comments on posts. That’s by design. I want to connect with listeners in a better, more direct way than in a comments section. We’ve been leaving comments on social media apps for twenty years and it’s a real mixed bag whether it’s brought us more connection or left us feeling more disconnected from each other.
So drop me a line. Tell me what polka music means to you. Or ask me for some community radio show recommendations. Let’s connect outside of social media.