Free Republic

After 24 years, polka has had its last dance at the Grammys. The Recording Academy, which bestows the Grammy Awards, announced late on Wednesday that the polka category would be eliminated, saying in a statement that it had been cut “to ensure the awards process remains representative of the current musical landscape.” To many in the polka world, that read as a kind of industry code meaning that their genre — once capable of supporting artists with million-selling hits, but long since relegated to micro-niche status — had slipped off the mainstream radar entirely. “It’s devastating,” said Carl Finch of...

Band leader John Stanky has tried everything in more than 50 years in the polka music business. Stanky and the Coal Miners have performed Irish polkas, Italian polkas, Russian polkas, even rock 'n' roll polkas. Add hip-hop to the list of experiments. Stanky and local songwriter/producer Jim Donnelly have joined to record "Stanky's Hip-Hop Polka." Funny as it seems, the song just might work. "People say 'That's not what I expected, I really like that,' " Donnelly said. "That's a big compliment. It's our goal of still introducing his music, mixed with something newer a younger audience will like." Stanky's...