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Polka is alive and well at Whitewater's Family Festival

Polka performer extraordinaire Steve Meisner performs Sunday at Whitewater's Family Festival. File photo.

WHITEWATER — Without the accordion, polka just wouldn’t happen, and without accordionist Steve Meisner of Whitewater, there would be a whole lot less polka going on in the Midwest.

But there will be plenty of polka Sunday when Meisner performs at Whitewater’s Family Festival at the Cravath Lakefront Park.

Meisner will perform from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday after the parade.

Earlier this year, Meisner, 50, and his squeeze box were honored at the 30th Annual Wisconsin Area Music Awards show, better known as WAMI, as best artist in the newly created polka category.

The lack of a WAMI category for polka artists for the past 29 years is really beside the point for Meisner.

For him, playing isn’t about accolades. It’s simply a way of life. The son of the late Verne Meisner, an accordionist with a national following, Steve’s love for the squeeze box runs deep.

“At 5, I was watching my dad play. We’d go to dances where he was playing and he made all these people happy, and what son doesn’t want to do what his father is doing if it makes so many people happy?” said Meisner. “My father would probably disagree. He would probably just say it was in my blood. Maybe he’s right.

“I’ve been doing this so long it’s just an extension of my body. If I couldn’t play, it would be like cutting a leg off.”

More than 200 days of the year, Meisner and his band are on the road bringing the rich Czech-Polish and German folk music to the mainstream, with a unique twist that Meisner insists on.

He infuses traditional polka with his own unique flair and has performed throughout the nation with popular accordionists Frank Yankovic and Joey Miskulin.

His original music has been featured in network television specials and on the big screen in the feature films “Red Betsy” and “Chump Change,” and on the popular TNN “Crook and Chase” show.

From ethnic festivals to clubs popular with college coeds, the Steve Meisner band travels near and far.

It’s become a family affair. Married for 25 years to Barbara, the Whitewater couple have three children: Whitney, 24, Lindsey, 23, and Austin, 18. All are musically inclined.

Austin plays saxophone, and also dabbles with the drums and accordion. Whitney, too, plays the saxophone and has co-written songs with her father. Lindsey is a singer and was the 2009 Wisconsin Polka Boosters Queen.

Watching his father earn a living full-time playing the accordion, Meisner saw no reason why he couldn’t do the same.

“I’ve been doing it since I was 16, since I was old enough to pay taxes,” he said. “I won’t say I always made a living, but I do now. One of the reasons I’ve stayed in this business is because it’s fairly stable compared to other (genres) like blues and rock. I played in a rock band and I quickly learned that wasn’t going to be very stable.”

Polka typically conjures up visions of aging men in lederhosen on accordions and tubas. But throughout the Midwest, and especially in Wisconsin, there is broadened view of the genre and a willingness to take it in a different direction thanks, in part, to musicians like Meisner, who also sings.

Younger artists continue to embrace the unique sounds of polka, and particularly the accordion.

“It’s really funny how many times it has been reinvented,” Meisner said. “Polka music really never has died.”

More events and recreation in the e-edition of Weekender HERE.