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Del Sinchak records country classics
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
Del Sinchak has gone country.
Well, not really. The Mahoning Valley polka king has always mixed a few country classics into his shows.
But he totally embraces the genre on his newly released album “Sweet Country Memories.”
“We have played songs like “Crazy” and “For the Good Times” for years at shows,” said Sinchak. “We just felt it was time to try something different. I’m pleased with it. For a polka band doing country, it sounds real country.”
The 13-cut disc includes love-and-heartbreak standards such as the aforementioned and also “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “Have I Told You Lately,” “Make the World Go Away” and “For the Good Times.”
Sinchak sings on 11 of the cuts, with bass player Alan Koss handling the other two.
The idea to record a country classics album has long been on Sinchak’s to-do list.
“I always said that some day I want to do our favorite country songs,” he said. “We found a steel guitar player [Charlie Brooks of Columbiana] who was thrilled to do it. So far, we’ve found that people really like those old classics.”
Sinchak’s band also includes keyboardist Ron Austalosh on keyboards and drummer Mickey DiPreta, Helping with background vocals on the new album are Sinchak’s son, Rodney, and Susie Prosser.
The new album was recorded at Peppermint Records in Youngstown by Gary Rhamy. To purchase a copy, call Peppermint at 330-783-2222
“Sweet Country Memories” is the 10th album released by Sinchak in his long career, and one of the only nonpolka ones.
Sinchak started his career while in grade school in the 1940s, forming his first band, the Polka Serenaders.
When rock ’n’ roll exploded in the 1950s, he switched his sound and became Del Saint and the Devils. He teamed up with Youngstown doo-wop act The Edsels and played the background music on the act’s smash late-’50s hit “Rama Lama Ding Dong.”
Del Saint and the Devils would tour with the Edsels and other acts of the era, performing with the likes of the Everly Brothers, Conway Twitty and Chuck Berry.
He later returned to his polka roots, forming the Del Sinchak Band, which has garnered two Grammy nominations. In the ’90s, Sinchak was inducted into the Cleveland Polka Hall of Fame and honored as Band of the Year for two consecutive years.