Story by Molly Garriott Photo by minorwhitestudios.com
Roll Out The Polka The Polka Show With Local Roots and a National Following
Joseph “Big Joe” Siedlik is a self-described SOB (South Omaha Boy).
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Siedlik, aka “Big Joe,” equates polka music with happiness. He should know. His career in polka music has spanned five decades and reaches even further back to his South Omaha childhood. “I’m an SOB,” Big Joe admits with a chuckle. “A South Omaha boy,” he quickly clarifies. Growing up in the St. Stanislaus neighborhood, little Big Joe was exposed to the music from which he would one day earn his living. “Windows were always open,” recalls Big Joe, “and you heard polka music all the time.” The music was a fixture at joyous occasions: first communions, graduations, engagement parties and wedding receptions. It was not uncommon for a bride to be serenaded by a polka band on her front porch step the morning of her wedding. The band would then proceed to “escort” her to the church and continue playing all day long. The celebrations often lasted for three or four days, or
as Big Joe explains, “as long as the bride’s father’s pocketbook would hold out for buying booze.” Siedlik’s first foray into publicly playing polka music was a fundraiser for a friend who needed medical treatment. He then began collecting polka records, playing at South Omaha watering holes, fraternal organizations and Sokol Park. But his professional interest in polka music began in earnest when he broadcasted what would be the first in a 40-year run of The Big Joe Polka Show on KTTT in Columbus, Neb. His one-hour inaugural show was a hit; within seven weeks the station had increased his airtime to five hours. Soon, a station in Ord, Neb., picked up the show. Four months later, his hometown could tune in to “The Big Joe Polka Show” on Sunday mornings. The three cities combined totaled 18 hours of polka music programming. It was the No. 1 radio show on Sunday mornings in Omaha. “Most radio shows on Sunday continued on next page
www.omahapublications.com
november/december | 2008
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