Fritz’s Polka Band from Verona, along with special guests, Rocko Dorsey and Rick Szczyt will be returning to Cleveland, Ohio, for the Thanksgiving Polka Weekend, Nov. 29 and 30, 2019. This event will be held at the Cleveland Marriott at Key Center, 127 Public Square. FPB is scheduled to perform at 5 p.m. Nov. 29 and at 7 p.m. Nov. 30.
In addition, the FPB will be guest presenters in the Sideman of the Year category during the Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame Awards Show at the Marriott during the afternoon of Nov. 30.
“As the two remaining founding members of FPB, my brother-in-law Gabe Vaccaro and I are anxious to return to Cleveland for this event, along with Rocko Dorsey and Rick Szczyt, and perform twice as part of the Thanksgiving Polka Weekend and then present some awards during the Awards Show,” said Fritz Scherz, bandleader of Fritz’s Polka Band. “With my band being nominated in the ‘Band of the Year’ category, and FPB original tune, Fred’s Polka, which is the last song written by my dad, the late Fred Scherz, Sr., being nominated in the ‘New, Original Song’ category, as well as my being nominated in the ‘Musician of the Year’ and ‘Button-Box: Artist or Duo’ categories, this weekend is really going to be very exciting. As with the last two years we played at this event, Rocko will once again be a special guest guitarist. He’s quite the talent, too, as he has been featured before on the Gretsch Guitars’ website. As an extra treat this year, Rick Szczyt, who drummed in FPB for 24 years will be performing this weekend with us. Rick is an amazing talent, too, as he has been nominated before for multiple national awards. We’ve got some surprises planned, too, for the friends going with us.”
Oct. 14, 2018, marked the 40th anniversary of Fritz’s Polka Band; FPB made history in 1999 by becoming the first polka band to play at a Woodstock Festival. FPB appears on “The Manchurian Candidate” DVD, released in 2004. In 2011, FPB had two songs (‘Grandparent’s Polka’ and ‘Here Is Fritz’s Polka Band’) included in two episodes of the TV show “Breaking Bad.”
In November 2018, FPB released their 19th recording, “Hey!” which featured Dorsey, Ron Keck and Todd Kerns (from Slash featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, TOQUE, Age of Electric and more) as special guests.
For more information on Fritz’s Polka Band, visit fritzspolkaband.com, facebook.com/fritzspolkaband, twitter.com/fritzspolkaband or instagram.com/fritzspolkaband.
For details on the CSPHOF, visit polkafame.com or call (866) 66-POLKA.