Brave Combo

Brave Combo
Brave Combo at the Ballard Seafood Fest
Background information
Origin	Denton, Texas
Genres	Polka, Polka fusion, Latin alternative, worldbeat, Tex-Mex, salsa, Latin jazz, ska, dance
Years active	1979 (1979)–present
Labels	Four Dots, Rounder Records, DenTone, Cleveland International
Members	Carl Finch Carl Kleinsteuber Dave Monsch Alan Emert Robert Hokamp Jeffrey Barnes (occasional)
Past members	Ginny Mac[1] Little Jack Melody Dave Cameron Tim Walsh Bubba Hernandez Joseph Cripps Mitch Marine Paul Stivitts Ann Marie Harrop Arjuna Contreras
Website	bravecombo.com

Brave Combo is a polka fusion band based in Denton, Texas. Founded in 1979 by guitarist/keyboardist/accordionist Carl Finch, they have been a prominent fixture in the Texas music scene for more than thirty-five years.^[2] Their music, both originals and covers, incorporates a number of dance styles, mostly polka, but also some Latin American and Caribbean styles like norteño, salsa, rumba, cha-cha-cha, choro, samba, two-step, cumbia, charanga, merengue, ska, etc, all performed with a rock/worldbeat energy.

As part of their perceived artistic mission to expand the musical tastes of their listeners, they have often played and recorded covers of well-known songs in a style radically different from the original versions. Examples include polka versions of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" and The Doors' "People are Strange", The Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" as a cha-cha, and "Sixteen Tons" as a cumbia.

History and influences

In a 1995 feature in The Santa Fe New Mexican, band cofounder Carl Finch described Brave Combo's influence as a polka band with rock styles as an earnest way to escape an increasingly corporate cultural landscape, lamenting-^[3]

'Rock had been removed from the common people' he said 'and musically I wanted what I do to have depth, I started listening to polka and ethnic records I'd find at Target six for $5 — nothing could beat that. At first, I’d just buy whatever covers looked strangest but after a while I’d do research and find out what was good.' Among the best, he soon discovered, were names like Larry Chesky and his big band polka sound, Norwegian accordion virtuoso Andrew Walter (“exciting intense” is Finch’s assessment), and Eddie Blazonczyk, the “Godfather” of Chicago’s Polish community. 'All this came out of a sense of desperation'.

Brave Combo had its website at brave.com/bo, a domain hack. The domain name brave.com was purchased in 1995 by a fan of the band, who transferred it to the band in 1997. In mid-2010s, Finch sold the domain to Brave Software, which develops the web browser Brave, in exchange for bravecombo.com, which had been taken by a squatter, and an undisclosed sum of money.^[4][5]

Awards and honors

They won a Grammy Award in 1999 in the Best Polka Album category for their album Polkasonic, and again in 2004 for their album Let's Kiss.^[6][7]

In naming Denton, Texas, the "Best Music Scene" for 2008, Paste magazine cited Brave Combo as the "Grand Pooh-Bah of Denton bands" and said that "Brave Combo, is in many ways the template from which all the rest are cut: eclectic and artistically ambitious, with a high degree of musicianship and a strong DIY ethic."^[8]

Media appearances

Brave Combo on The Simpsons

• 

  Brave Combo performs at Zero's nightclub in Fort Worth, Texas. October, 1980.

  The band made a short appearance, as animated figures, on the March 21, 2004, episode of The Simpsons ("Co-Dependents' Day").^[6] Series creator Matt Groening is a fan of the band and they appeared on the show at his personal request.^[9][10][11] In the episode, the band played a new original song called "Fill The Stein" and their version of "The Simpsons Theme" played over the closing credits.^[12]
• Finch and other band members made cameo appearances in Talking Heads leader David Byrne's 1986 movie True Stories, set in fictional Virgil, Texas. Finch can be spotted in the fashion show sporting a brick-patterned suit and in the parade leading the all-accordion marching band. (In real life, Brave Combo was David Byrne's wedding band.)
• They appear in the 1986 Hank Wangford Channel 4 television series The A to Z of C & W singing the Hank Williams song "Cold, Cold Heart".
• They contributed two songs to the Gumby album, released in 1989.
• Their song "Busy Office Rhumba" was used as the theme for the 1993 Fox television series Bakersfield P.D.^[13]
• They appear as a wedding band in the 1995 feature film Late Bloomers.
• In 2000, they appeared on the national telecast of the MDA Labor Day Telethon with Jerry Lewis dancing along to the music.^[14]
• They wrote and performed the theme song for the 2005 series "ESPN Bowling Night".
• The opening theme and other music for the 2008 PBS animated series Click and Clack's As the Wrench Turns were produced by Carl Finch and composed, arranged, and performed by Finch and Brave Combo.^[15][16]
• Their live music video, "The Denton Polka", appears on the Bohemia Rising DVD Compilation (released in 2009), a collection of documentary shorts directed by Christopher Largen exploring rebellion and resistance to corporate demolition in their hometown of Denton, Texas.
• Included in Bob Dylan's 2009 Christmas release, Christmas In The Heart, the song "Must Be Santa", is performed polka-style. Dylan's arrangement is almost identical to the Brave Combo arrangement from their 1991 CD It's Christmas, Man!. In an interview published by Street News Service, Dylan acknowledged the influence of Brave Combo: "This version comes from a band called Brave Combo. Somebody sent their record to us for our radio show. They’re a regional band out of Texas that takes regular songs and changes the way you think about them. You oughta hear their version of 'Hey Jude'."^[17]
• They were featured on Bowling for Soup's album Sorry for Partyin', playing a polka version of Bowling For Soup's song "Belgium".
• The season seven episode "Fun on a Bun" of the animated science fiction comedy Futurama includes two original songs by the band plus a cover version of "The Chicken Dance". The episode debuted August 1, 2012, on Comedy Central.^[18][19]
• The season ten episode "Bar Wars V: The Final Judgment" of the NBC sitcom comedy Cheers features Sam’s rival Gary pranking the bar on Halloween by rigging Cheers’ jukebox, telephone and even the bar’s soda gun to play the Combo song ‘Vampire Twist’ when being used.

Discography

US studio and live albums

Date of release	Title	Label	Catalog	Type	Notes
1979	Polkamania	Four Dots	FD1003 & FD1004	Studio	released as two 7" discs
1981	Music For Squares	Four Dots	FD1005	Studio
1982	Urban Grown-ups	Four Dots	FD1006	Studio	four song EP
1982	Originals	Four Dots		Studio	released as cassette only
1984	World Dance Music	Four Dots	FD1010	Studio
1984	No Sad Faces	Four Dots	FD1012	Live
1987	Musical Varieties	Rounder	CD 11546	Studio	compilation from Four Dots releases plus two new tracks
1987	Polkatharsis	Rounder	CD 9009	Studio
1988	Humansville	Rounder	CD 9019	Studio
1990	A Night On Earth	Rounder	CD 9029	Studio
1992	It's Christmas, Man!	Rounder	CD 3099	Studio	contents similar to It's X-mas, Man!
1993	No, No, No, Cha Cha Cha	Rounder	CD 9035	Studio	content similar to Japanese release
1994	The Hokey Pokey: Organized Dancing	DenTone	DT 1001	Studio	seven-song EP
1995	Polkas for a Gloomy World	Rounder	CD 9045	Studio	Grammy nominee
1996	Girl	Rounder	CD 9050	Studio	with Tiny Tim – his last recording
1996	Mood Swing Music	Rounder	CD 11574	Studio	rarities and singles
1996	Kiss Of Fire	Watermelon	WM 1058	Studio	with Lauren Agnelli, content similar to Allumettes
1997	Group Dance Epidemic	Rounder	R9055	Studio
1998	Polka Party with Brave Combo: Live and Wild!	Easydisc	EDIS 7052	Live	Grammy nominee
1999	Polkasonic	Cleveland International	CIR-1023-2	Studio	Grammy winner
2000	The Process	Rounder Records	ROUN9065	Studio
2001	All Wound Up! – A Family Music Party	Rounder Records	ROUN8092	Studio	with Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, Grammy nominee
2001	Kick-Ass Polkas	Cleveland International	B00005O7SE	Live	Grammy nominee
2003	Box of Ghosts	Rounder Records	ROUN9064	Studio
2004	Let's Kiss: 25th Anniversary Album	Dentone Records		Studio	Grammy winner
2005	Holidays!	Dentone/Rounder		Studio
2007	Polka's Revenge	Dentone Records		Studio	Grammy nominee
2008	The Exotic Rocking Life	Dentone Records		Studio
2009	Symphonic Polkas	Dentone Records	DT1006	Live	with the Mesquite Symphony Orchestra
2009	Christmas Present	Dentone Records	DT1007	Studio	Christmas music
2010	Kikiriki	Dentone Records	DT1008	Studio
2012	Sounds Of The Hollow	Dentone Records	DT1009	Studio
2014	Live at Blob's Park	Dentone Records	DT1012	Live
2015	The Liminal Zone	Dentone Records	DT1013	Studio

International releases

Date of release	Title	Label	Catalog	Type	Notes
1981	Music For Squares	Stunn	Stun507	Studio	New Zealand, content identical to US release
1981	I Gotta Know/Neo Limbo	Stunn	BFA 884	Studio	New Zealand, 7" single
1986	People Are Strange	Rogue Records	FMST 4007	Studio	U.K. compilation
1987	Polkatharsis	Demon Records	REU 1018	Studio	U.K., content identical to US release
1989	Music Circus	P-Vine	PCD-2513	Studio	Japan
1990	Very Early Recordings	Wave Records		Studio	Japan
1991	ÉÉjhanaika	P-Vine	PCD-1800	Studio	Japan
1991	It's X-mas, Man!	P-Vine	PCD-2300	Studio	Japan
1992	No, No, No, Cha Cha Cha	P-Vine	PCD-2400	Studio	Japan
1993	Ondo Saves The World	Tele Disc	TLCD-93001	Studio	Japan, Kikusuimaru Meets Brave Combo
1994	Allumettes	P-Vine	PCD-1986	Studio	Japan, with Lauren Agnelli
1995	Polkas For A Gloomy World	P-Vine	PCD-3614	Studio	Japan, content identical to U.S. release

Members

Brave Combo performing at Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, North Carolina

• Carl Finch – guitar, keyboards, accordion (born November 29, 1951, Texarkana, Arkansas) (1979–present)
• Lyle Atkinson – bass guitar, tuba (born October 23, 1953, Minneapolis, Minnesota) (1979–1985, 2015–present)
• Danny O'Brien – trumpet (born July 12, 1966, Lakenheath, England) (1993–present)
• Alan Emert – drums (born May 5, 1965) (1997–2008, 2010–present)
• Robert Hokamp – guitar, lap steel, cornet (2015–present) *^[20]

Former members

• Jeffrey Barnes – saxophones, clarinet, flute, harmonica, penny whistles (born July 27, 1951, Fremont, Ohio) (1983–2015)
• Ginny Mac – accordion (2011–2013)
• Tim Walsh – saxophone, flute, clarinet (born c.1952) (1979–1983)
• Dave Cameron – drums (born c.1958) (1979–1983)
• Cenobio "Bubba" Hernandez – bass guitar (born November 30, 1958, San Antonio, Texas) (1985–2007)
• Phil Hernandez – drums (born February 5, 1971, Buffalo, New York) (1992 – ?)
• Mitch Marine – drums (born c.1956) (1983–1992)
• Joe Cripps – percussion (born January 5, 1965, Little Rock, Arkansas - missing, last seen October 19, 2016, Little Rock, Arkansas) (1992–1999), some subsequent performances
• Greg Beck – drums (1996–1997)
• Paul Stivitts – drums (born 1971) NYC
• Ann Marie Harrop – bass guitar (2007–2009)
• Little Jack Melody – bass guitar (2009–2014)
• Arjuna Contreras – drums (born August 11, 1974, Kenosha, Wisconsin) (2008–2010)
• Bill Tomlin – drums (born September 28, 1948)

References

1. Warren, Jason (July 5, 2013). "Brave Combo takes the accordion rocking across the world and the patio at the Old Rock House". KDHX-FM. Archived from the original on August 21, 2013. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
2. Philpot, Robert (June 18, 2014). "Brave Combo: Still rockin' the polka after all these years". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Archived from the original on July 23, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
3. Prince, David (September 8, 1995). "Brave Combo's polkas are 90 percent serious; It's 'a beat, a dancing drug'". The Santa Fe New Mexican. Santa Fe, N.M. p. 59.
4. Jeffries, Adrienne (December 3, 2019). "Brave Dot Com". Underunderstood (Podcast). Retrieved February 14, 2024.
5. Brave Software (November 13, 2019). "The road to Brave 1.0". Brave Software. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
6. Breeding, Lucinda (July 7, 2008). "Click & Clack add oompah; Brave Combo provides musical nuts and bolts for animated TV series". Denton Record-Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2008-08-28. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
7. "Brave Combo Awards". Grammy.com. Retrieved 2012-11-26.
8. Sims, Dave (November 21, 2008). "Signs of Life 2008: Best Music Scene – Denton, Texas". Paste. Archived from the original on February 2, 2009. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
9. Beal, Jim Jr. (November 28, 2003). "Group gets a, uh, gig on 'Simpsons'". San Antonio Express-News. San Antonio, TX. p. 18H. Retrieved November 26, 2012.(subscription required)
10. "Music for nuclear (polka) families: Grammy-winning Brave Combo has a new CD". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. January 23, 2001. p. L1. Retrieved November 26, 2012.(subscription required)
11. Hepola, Sarah (March 11, 2004). "Brave New Combo D'oh! The Simpsons animate Dallas' favorite polka band". Dallas Observer. Dallas, TX. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
12. "The Machine's Pump Volume 7 – #3 – March 2004". Brave Combo. Archived from the original on June 15, 2004. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
13. Vreeken, Stacey (August 27, 2009). "Brave Combo runs the gamut of musical styles". Santa Cruz Sentinel. Santa Cruz, CA: MediaNews Group. Archived from the original on 2014-07-15. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
14. "MDA Labor Day Telethon list of celebrity appearances" (PDF). Muscular Dystrophy Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-08-13. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
15. "Click and Clack's As the Wrench Turns – Show Credits. pbs.org. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
16. Catlin, Roger (July 9, 2008). "Click And Clack Get Their Own Public Television Show". Hartford Courant. Retrieved July 24, 2008.^{[dead link‍]}
17. Flanagan, Bill (November 23, 2009). "Bob Dylan Discusses Holiday Music, Christmas and Feeding The Hungry". Street News Service. Archived from the original on 2011-07-10. Retrieved November 26, 2009.
18. Pinson, Ann (July 16, 2012). "Brave Combo's nuclear polka to explode on the small screen in "Futurama"". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on July 20, 2012. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
19. Lewis, B.J. (July 30, 2012). "'Futurama' to feature Brave Combo music". Denton Record-Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2012-08-01. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
20. "Introducing Robert Hokamp | Brave Combo". 11 January 2016.

External links

• Official website
• Bohemia Rising: The Story of Fry Street
• Brave Combo at IMDb
• Brave Combo discography at Discogs
• Brave Combo collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive