Polka Christmas Party with the Alex Meixner
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Back by popular polka demand, the world’s greatest polka three-piece return to B’more to celebrate the season in their own accordion-driven style. Grammy nominee Alex Meixner is single-handedly reviving the polka scene with incendiary live shows. Meixner carries on a family polka tradition brought to America four generations ago by his Austrian violin and cornet playing great grandfather Leopold who emigrated from the Austrian province of Burgenland to the U.S. in the mid-1920s. Home to Germanic, Hungarian, and Croatian-speaking inhabitants, Burgenland’s blend of diverse musical traditions shaped Leopold Meixner’s repertoire and that of subsequent generations of Meixner musicians, including Alex’s grandfather Alfred. In the early 1950s, Alfred (known as “Skeeter”) brought his four-year-old son Al (Alex’s father) into the family polka band. Performing in an American setting heavily dominated by other polka traditions, such as Polish and Slovenian, the Meixner’s Austrian sound evolved and the band’s repertoire expanded. The younger Meixner became an extremely versatile performer who toured with his own band for many years. In 1982, just as his father had before him, Al brought his son, Alex, 6, into the family band, and the young Alex hasn’t looked back since. He fires up crowds with bouncing accordion jams fueled by a relentless desire to spread the joy of performance.