I had a chance to visit with Roy Haag (front row, left) recently to talk about the Bohemian Dutchmen’s performance at the International Accordion Festival in San Antonio a couple of weekends ago.
Roy said the variety of musical talent at the festival was amazing, especially the performance by the Alamo Angels Accordion Orchestra. The group consists of musicians with special needs. “I know Mary Archuleta, who co-founded Dreams Fulfilled Through Music in 2006 with her daughter, Kathryn,” Roy said. “I remember seeing Kathryn in front of the stage when she was a little girl blowing bubbles when Myron Floren would play at Wurstfest. Myron was her godfather.”
Roy mentioned there was a nice article about the orchestra in the San Antonio paper. They also have a fundraiser coming up on Saturday, November 5--Musikfest German Concert and Dinner featuring the Blasmusik Texas All-State German Band and of course, the Alamo Angels. Click here to get more information.
As for the Bohemian Dutchmen performances, Our first one was cut short by a long-winded emcee and our second performance on another stage was rained out. But we were proud to be there to represent German-Czech music,” Roy said.
In addition to the Bohemian Dutchmen, Roy is the leader of the Litt’l Fishermen. It’s been a busy Oktoberfest season for the bands, mostly for private functions.
Roy’s Internet radio shows are going strong as well. He is one of three DJs who presents a weekly show on www.NBGermanmusic.com. And he and his son-in-law, Donnie Howard, produce another weekly Czech-German show atwww.polkavariety.com. Roy says he has listeners from all over the world and his stateside audience is mostly from Wisconsin, Nebraska and Texas. And I was happy to hear that four out of the five DJs doing the shows mention polkabeat.com. Hmm, I need to find out who the holdout is and do some sweet talking!
Anyway, thank you Roy and Donnie for your support! “You’re welcome,” Roy said. “We really appreciate what you’re doing for Texas polka industry.”