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Alex Meixner mixes pop and rock into polka
By John Benson
Alex Meixner can’t wait to bring his oom-pah-pah sounds back to Northeast Ohio. The polka musician is scheduled to perform Saturday at Oktoberfest Youngstown, which takes place in Colonial Plaza on Belmont Avenue, Liberty.
“When I look at playing Youngstown, an area that historically has had so many great polka musicians, I greatly honor that tradition to do whatever I can to uphold it,” said Meixner, calling from Florida. “Many years ago I played with my dad’s band at Kuzman’s Lounge in Girard and throughout the region, like in Sharon, and of course up to Cleveland. So I’m looking forward to returning. We have a lot of friends in the area.”
Meixner, who started performing at age 6 with his sisters and father, is currently touring his latest CD, “Happiness is a Choice.” He said the new album finds a lot more original repertoire than previous efforts, including collaborations with reggae singer and composer Carlton Pride (son of country legend Charley Pride), as well as with Texas rock icon Hector Saldana of the Krayolas.
Even though Alex Meixner is most often considered a polka artist, the multi-instrumentalist can’t be pigeonholed. Sure, he plays his fair share of ethnic tunes, but underneath the melody can be found a cornucopia of influences and sounds.
“I’m the fourth generation in my family that are Austrian polka musicians in the United States,” Meixner said. “So I’ve built upon the tradition that my family has cultivated, and at the same time, I’m schooled in jazz, pop and classical music. Plus, the musicians who work with me are extremely versatile. We aim to make it a party that is built on the roots of the culture and, at the same time, is relevant to people of all walks of life.”
For those unfamiliar with Meixner, he’s considered a veritable iPod playlist artist that can change genres on a dime. Specifically, the Palm City, Fla., resident is known for his rock’n’polka mashups, which include Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” evolving (or devolving) into the Monkees’ “Last Train to Clarksville,” Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” and Glenn Miller’s “Chattanooga Choo Choo.” The entire song is performed with a polka sheen.
Another mashup begins as Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” before becoming The Liechtensteiner Polka and ’50s classic “Mr. Sandman” before returning to “Enter Sandman.”
Interestingly, the mashups act as a two-way street not only for those metal fans unfamiliar with polkas but to those diehard ethnic music fans with a serious disdain for hard rock. Meixner said he can’t wait to watch Oktoberfest Youngstown concertgoers become converts right before his eyes.
“That is one of the things that’s amazing about what I get to do, seeing how people start accepting music that they didn’t think they liked,” Meixner said. “Last night we were playing for metal heads and one guy said, ‘I really don’t like polka music but I like what you do to polka music.’
“So you’ll find certain old people who learn they like Ozzy Osbourne now and sometimes you’re going to find some young people who find out they really like old school polkas, they just didn’t realize it.”