Music & Dance Music-Dance News July-Aug '19 | Page 7

Music & Dance News
bers, which we did. We
would do this in two or
three places, acquiring
name recognition and
future job prospects.
Playing with
established bands
Around the age of 15,
I met a fellow by the
name of Roy Steinborn,
a guitar player from
New Germany, MN. He
played with The Larry
Robinson Trio from-
Henderson, MN, and a
group called Smiley Er-
ickson and the Western
Aires, based in Hutchin-
son, MN. Roy was my
introduction to country-
western music.
I played a few jobs
with The Larry Robin-
son Trio in the Mankato
and Henderson area,
and I was a regular for
a while with Smiley’s
band.
Smiley, his wife, Nor-
ma, and daughter, Linda,
were originally from the
Grand Rapids, MN area.
Linda and I were the
same age.
Smiley was a car
salesman for Frank Mo-
tors. Frank Motors was
the Dodge and Chrys-
ler Motors dealer in
Hutchinson.
Smiley played accor-
dion and sang a lot of the
popular country songs
by Merle Haggard, Lefty
Frizzle, Ernest Tub, and
Johnny Cash.
Norma’s brother played
bass guitar, Roy Stein-
born played lead guitar,
Linda Erickson sang
lead and backup vocals,
and I played drums and
backup vocals.
We did a lot of the
popular country-western
tunes of that time period.
Linda did an awesome
interpretation of Loretta
Lyn and Patsy Kline.
I had my farm permit
driver’s license those
days. Occasionally, we
would drive new cars up
to the Grand Rapid’s area
and bring the old trade-
in back to Hutchinson.
On one occasion in
summer, we played a Fri-
day and Saturday night
somewhere in the Grand
Rapids area. That Sun-
day, Smiley and Norma
had some business to at-
tend to, so Smiley asked
Linda and I to take his
car back to Hutchinson.
Now, the car Smi-
ley was driving was a
new Chrysler convert-
ible with a yellow exte-
rior and white interior. It
had every accessory you
could purchase at that
time.
That Sunday was a
beautiful sunny day.
Linda and I took all day
to get the car from Grand
Rapids to Hutchinson,
driving with the top
down, enjoying the ride.
At 15 years old, I was
driving a brand-new
convertible on a beauti-
ful sunny day and had a
gorgeous blond riding
alongside.
I thought to myself,
“Life can’t get any better
than this!”
Polish-style music
I drifted away from
country-western music
as I got more involved
with the Polish-style of
polka and waltz music.
July/August 2019
Page 7
Mike Wendolek continued
A couple years after I
left Smiley and the West-
ern Aires, a new group
of musicians, including
Linda Erickson’s future
husband and a drummer
named Steve Hall, joined
the group.
Hall was originally
from the Brainerd, MN
area. His claim to fame
was a puppet he used in
his performances, “Shot
Gun Red.” He used this
act to introduce the peo-
ple in the band.
Their group won a
battle of the band’s talent
contest in Minnesota, al-
lowing them to compete
in Nashville, TN. There,
Hall and his puppet were
discovered by Ralph Em-
ery of “Ralph Emery’s
Morning Show,” and lat-
er “Nashville Now.”
Emery and Hall had
a 10-year partnership.
Hall and Shot Gun Red
were also featured on the
television shows “Hee-
Haw,” “Buck Masters,”
(Outdoor channel), and
the “Shot Gun Red Vari-
ety Show” on RFDTV.
Hall and Shot Gun
Red were regular enter-
tainers on the “General
Jackson Showboat” in
Nashville.
Sadly, Hall died of
natural causes Dec. 28,
2018 at the age of 64,
while ice fishing in his
home town of Brainerd.
Bruce Bradley, Pat’s
Place
Around 1967 to 1970, I
Continued on page 14
Food! Beer!
Parking!
Polka Fest, Humboldt IA
Friday, Aug. 30
• Camping
$12 per day
Sunday night free
• Electricity
while available
• Air-conditioned
• Wooden dance
floors
Music 2-10 pm • $12
Top Notchmen • Julie Lee
Saturday, Aug. 31
3-day
pass
$45
Music 11am-10pm • $20
Malek’s Fishermen
Julie Lee • Leon Olsen
Karl Hartwich
Top Notchmen
Visit
Becky & The Ivanhoe Dutchmen
citywide
No food garage
Sunday, Sept. 1 or
drink sales!
Music 10am-8pm • $18 brought
Top Notchmen • Leon Olsen
in.
Karl Hartwich
Becky & The Ivanhoe Dutchmen For more information
8-11:30 am Breakfast by Lions Clubs
10 am Polka Mass
call [phone]
or [phone]
midwestpolkafest.com