Music & Dance Music-Dance News Sept-Oct '19 | Page 7

Music & Dance News
September/October 2019
Page 7
Ray Sands continued
The first photo taken of Ray Sands and the Polka Dots was in 1949.
fans and polka enthusi-
asts,” said Ray Sands. “I
feel very fortunate to ex-
perience so many high-
lights and fun memories
over the years with the
band. It’s truly a gift to
be able to make music
for seven decades.”
Band members
Ray Sands is the only
living member of the
band originally formed
in 1949. He was 18 years
old when the band start-
ed to perform.
Sands is a retired
dairy farmer from Ken-
yon, MN, and continues
to lead the band with his
accordion and vocals.
His wife of 46 years,
Susan Sands, played sax-
ophone and keyboard;
she also sang backup
vocals and arranged mu-
sic for the band until her
passing in fall 2018.
Their oldest daughter,
Kristy (Sands) Jacobson
plays saxophone.
Trumpeters and back-
up vocalists include Rick
Keane of Pine Island,
MN; and Gene Eiden of
Rochester, MN.
Nathan Davidson of
Grand Meadow, MN,
and Myron Muhlbauer
of Lakeville, MN play
tenor saxophone.
Dave Perry of Hast-
ings, MN plays drums.
An interview with
Ray Sands
What instruments do
you play?
I only play the accor-
dion. I have probably
gone through eight or 10
accordions in 70 years.
Did you have music
lessons?
I have never taken a
lesson in my life. I do
not read music, but am
self-taught and play ev-
erything by ear.
Tell us about the early
band members.
When the band started
in 1949, we had eight
musicians. Now, we are
using six, and sometimes
seven musicians. Rick
Keane has played with
us the longest and is still
with us. He started with
us when he was a junior
in high school, around
1969.
How
has
music
changed?
We still play the basic
old-time music – polkas,
waltzes, fox trots, and big
band music. The biggest
change is the audience.
We have lost the young
people in our crowd.
Now, our crowd consists
of people in their 60s
and 70s.
What is the farthest
you have traveled to
perform?
We played the Interna-
tional Polka Fest in Kitz-
buhel, Austria in 1978.
We were one of five
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