Not many legends play concerts in Batavia, but this Thursday, Batavia Downs will host Jimmy Sturr -- winner of 18 Grammy Awards, leader of a polka band since age 11, and musical artist who has recorded 152 records.
His first recording in 1964, in the midst of Beatlemania, was a 45 -- the A-side was a song Sturr wrote, "Hepsa Polka" -- and he's been touring and recording since, building a reputation as the King of Polka.
"I fell in love with it (Polka) at an early age," Sturr said during an interview with The Batavian.
That won't be hard to understand once you know a bit about where he grew up.
Sturr was born in 1941 and raised in Florida, NY, and even with international success, he's never left Florida, NY.
He's perhaps as proud of his hometown as he is of Polka.
"It's funny, but Florida, New York is known as -- now don't get upset when I tell you this because I know you think your part of the state is the Onion capital of the country -- well, Florida, New York is supposedly the onion capital of the country. We grow, I guess they say, approximately 30 percent of the nation's onions."
Sturr is Irish, but Florida, NY, was 85 percent Polish when he was growing up.
"A lot of the people came over from Poland and Germany working in the black dirt, and they brought all their traditions with them, one of which was their music," Sturr said. "That's how I fell in love with the music. My high school dances all had Polka bands. The local radio station had a Polka show every day. And of course, we had those three-day Polish weddings. So you know, I just fell in love with Polka."
If you were coming of age as a musician in the 1940s and 1950s, it wasn't a bad time to fall in love with Polka. Some of the genre's most influential musicians -- such as Frankie Yankovic, Walt Solek, Larry Chesky, and Myron Floren -- were cutting popular albums. Myron Floren became a regular on the "Lawrence Welk Show," playing a Polka segment that a young Jimmy Sturr never missed.
He quickly became a proficient musician and, by 1952, was leading his own band. In one interview, Sturr said his band was the third call band because he was so young. If the more established bands in town were booked, Sturr got the call, which still led to plenty of performance experience and helped launch his career.
Sturr said he was also influenced by the Big Bands of the East Coast that occasionally passed through his hometown.
"For some reason, most of the bands that came here were from New England, from Massachusetts, and some were from New Jersey and New York," Sturr said. "That's the kind of music I grew up on with bands that came from that area. I sort of molded my band in that direction. That's why we have such a big band."
And it's a good band. There are dozens of live recordings of the Jimmy Sturr Orchestra on YouTube that demonstrate how well the band plays together, their dynamic performances, and individual musicianship.
Sturr, from early in his career, wanted to be an ambassador for Polka.
He realizes there is a bit of a stigma attached to Polka. That it's grandma and grandpa's music, but he's seen for himself how young people can enjoy the music -- which is really party music -- as much as anybody.
"You know, once we can get them to hear the music -- just like last week in Buffalo (for a Dyngus Day celebration) -- there were a lot of people who weren't Polka fans, but they were there for the party," Sturr said. "Once they heard it, they were hooked. I had them hooked. They stayed the whole night."
Spreading the love for Polka is one reason Sturr has recorded with so many other artists who aren't usually associated with Polka, such as Arlo Guthrie, Mel Tillis, Bela Fleck, Brenda Lee, Charlie Daniels, Bobby Vinton, Porter Wagner, Ray Price, the Oak Ridge Boys, Bill Anderson, and Allison Krauss.
Willie Nelson has appeared on five Sturr LPs.
"I read a book one time on Willie Nelson, and that's how this whole thing sort of started," Sturr said. "I read that Willie Nelson started in a Polka band back in his home state of Texas. So I thought, 'Well if I ever get the opportunity to meet Willie, I'm going to ask him if he would record with me.' Well, sure enough, not long after that, I had the opportunity to perform with Willie on the same show. After the show, I snuck around and said, 'Willie, would you be interested in recording some polkas with our band?' And he said, 'I'd love to do that. And we did. That was back in around 1998."
By then, Sturr was already a big star, thanks to the Grammy Awards.
The Recording Academy didn't get around to declaring Polka a genre worthy of its own award until 1986, when Frankie Yankovic won that first award. The next year, Sturr won the first of his Grammys, starting a string of six consecutive Grammys for best Polka album. He would win 12 more before the category was eliminated in 2009. Since 2011, Polka artists have been eligible for awards in the Regional Roots Music category, but so far, no Polka act has won that award.
"If we had not won 18 Grammys, I think we would be just another, quote, polka band," Sturr said. "But the Grammys meant so much. You get to meet a lot of people, people like Willie Nelson. I mean, from that, we got to play Farm Aid. I'm sure we wouldn't be doing that If we hadn't won those Grammys."
In his effort to appeal to younger music fans, Sturr has always welcomed a variety of musicians into his band. His current guitarist is Chris Caffery, lead guitarist for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
"That's one reason I like to tour with Chris Caffery," Sturr said, explaining his desire to reach young fans. "He comes out with the long hair, and he does rock guitar with the horns, and it sounds quite good. It's a good mix. And, of course, the young kids all of a sudden, they're right into it. And the next song I play would probably be a Polka. And those kids are still getting into it. They'll get into the polka."
Sturr's performance at Batavia Downs on Thursday is part of WBBZ's Polka Buzz broadcast from Batavia Downs.
Tickets are $20 and can be purchased on the Batavia Downs official tickets website, BataviaConcerts.com. Tickets can also be purchased at the Lucky Treasures Gift Shop. Tickets can be redeemed for $20 in Free Play on the day of the show.
