Brave Combo

Brave Combo
Brave Combo at the Ballard Seafood Fest
Background information
Origin	Denton, Texas
Genres	Latin Alternative, polka, worldbeat, Tex-Mex, salsa, Latin jazz, ska, dance music
Years active	1979 (1979)–present
Labels	Four Dots, Rounder Records, DenTone, Cleveland International
Website	bravecombo.com
Members	Carl Finch Danny O'Brien Alan Emert Little Jack Melody Ginny Mac
Past members	Jeffrey Barnes Dave Cameron Tim Walsh Lyle Atkinson Bubba Hernandez Joseph Cripps Mitch Marine Paul Stivitts Ann Marie Harrop Arjuna Contreras

Brave Combo is a polka/rock/worldbeat band based in Denton, Texas. Founded in 1979 by guitarist/keyboardist/accordionist Carl Finch, they have been a prominent fixture in the Texas music scene for more than thirty-five years. Their music, both originals and covers, incorporates a number of dance styles, mostly polka, but also some Latin American and Caribbean styles like norteño, salsa, rumba, cha-cha-cha, choro, samba, two-step, cumbia, charanga, merengue, ska, etc.

As part of their perceived artistic mission to expand the musical tastes of their listeners, they have often played and recorded covers of well-known songs in a style radically different from the original versions. Examples include polka versions of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" and The Doors' "People are Strange", The Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" as a cha-cha, and "Sixteen Tons" as a cumbia. While their records may have a sense of humor, they are played straight and not usually considered joke or novelty records.

Awards and honors

They won a Grammy Award in 1999 in the Best Polka Album category for their album Polkasonic, and again in 2004 for their album Let's Kiss.

In naming Denton, Texas, the "Best Music Scene" for 2008, Paste magazine cited Brave Combo as the "Grand Pooh-Bah of Denton bands" and said that "Brave Combo, is in many ways the template from which all the rest are cut: eclectic and artistically ambitious, with a high degree of musicianship and a strong DIY ethic."

Media appearances

Brave Combo on The Simpsons

• The band made a short appearance, as animated figures, on the March 21, 2004, episode of The Simpsons ("Co-Dependent's Day"). Series creator Matt Groening is a fan of the band and they appeared on the show at his personal request. In the episode, the band played a new original song called "Fill The Stein" and their version of "The Simpsons Theme" played over the closing credits.
• Finch and other band members made cameo appearances in Talking Heads leader David Byrne's 1986 movie True Stories, set in fictional Virgil, Texas. Finch can be spotted in the fashion show sporting a brick-patterned suit and in the parade leading the all-accordion marching band. (In real life, Brave Combo was David Byrne's wedding band.)
• They appear in the 1986 Hank Wangford Channel 4 television series The A to Z of C & W singing the Hank Williams song "Cold, Cold Heart".
• They contributed two songs to the Gumby album, released in 1989.
• Their song "Busy Office Rhumba" was used as the theme for the 1993 Fox television series Bakersfield P.D.
• They appear as a wedding band in the 1995 feature film Late Bloomers.
• In 2000, they appeared on the national telecast of the MDA Labor Day Telethon with Jerry Lewis dancing along to the music.
• They wrote and performed the theme song for the 2005 series "ESPN Bowling Night".
• The opening theme and other music for the 2008 PBS animated series Click and Clack's As the Wrench Turns were produced by Carl Finch and composed, arranged, and performed by Finch and Brave Combo.
• Their live music video, "The Denton Polka", appears on the Bohemia Rising DVD Compilation (released in 2009), a collection of documentary shorts directed by Christopher Largen exploring rebellion and resistance to corporate demolition in their hometown of Denton, Texas.
• Included in Bob Dylan's 2009 Christmas release, Christmas In The Heart, the song "Must Be Santa", is performed polka-style. Dylan's arrangement is almost identical to the Brave Combo arrangement from their 1991 CD It's Christmas, Man!. In an interview published by Street News Service, Dylan acknowledged the influence of Brave Combo: "This version comes from a band called Brave Combo. Somebody sent their record to us for our radio show. They’re a regional band out of Texas that takes regular songs and changes the way you think about them. You oughta hear their version of 'Hey Jude'."
• They were featured on Bowling for Soup's album Sorry for Partyin', playing a polka version of Bowling For Soup's song "Belgium".
• The season seven episode "Fun on a Bun" of the animated science fiction comedy Futurama includes two original songs by the band plus a cover version of "The Chicken Dance". The episode debuted August 1, 2012, on Comedy Central.

Discography

US studio and live albums

Date of release	Title	Label	Catalog	Type	Notes
1979	Polkamania	Four Dots	FD1003 & FD1004	Studio	released as two 7" discs
1981	Music For Squares	Four Dots	FD1005	Studio
1982	Urban Grown-ups	Four Dots	FD1006	Studio	four song EP
1982	Originals	Four Dots		Studio	released as cassette only
1984	World Dance Music	Four Dots	FD1010	Studio
1984	No Sad Faces	Four Dots	FD1012	Live
1987	Musical Varieties	Rounder	CD 11546	Studio	compilation from Four Dots releases plus two new tracks
1987	Polkatharsis	Rounder	CD 9009	Studio
1988	Humansville	Rounder	CD 9019	Studio
1990	A Night On Earth	Rounder	CD 9029	Studio
1992	It's Christmas, Man!	Rounder	CD 3099	Studio	contents similar to It's X-mas, Man!
1993	No, No, No, Cha Cha Cha	Rounder	CD 9035	Studio	content similar to Japanese release
1994	The Hokey Pokey: Organized Dancing	DenTone	DT 1001	Studio	seven-song EP
1995	Polkas For A Gloomy World	Rounder	CD 9045	Studio	Grammy nominee
1996	Girl	Rounder	CD 9050	Studio	with Tiny Tim - his last recording
1996	Mood Swing Music	Rounder	CD 11574	Studio	rarities and singles
1996	Kiss Of Fire	Watermelon	WM 1058	Studio	with Lauren Agnelli, content similar to Allumettes
1997	Group Dance Epidemic	Rounder	R9055	Studio
1998	Polka Party with Brave Combo: Live and Wild!	Easydisc	EDIS 7052	Live	Grammy nominee
1999	Polkasonic	Cleveland International	CIR-1023-2	Studio	Grammy winner
2000	The Process	Rounder Records	ROUN9065	Studio
2001	All Wound Up! - A Family Music Party	Rounder Records	ROUN8092	Studio	with Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, Grammy nominee
2001	Kick-Ass Polkas	Cleveland International	B00005O7SE	Live	Grammy nominee
2003	Box of Ghosts	Rounder Records	ROUN9064	Studio
2004	Let's Kiss: 25th Anniversary Album	Dentone Records		Studio	Grammy winner
2005	Holidays!	Dentone/Rounder		Studio
2007	Polka's Revenge	Dentone Records		Studio	Grammy nominee
2008	The Exotic Rocking Life	Dentone Records		Studio
2009	Symphonic Polkas	Dentone Records	DT1006	Live	with the Mesquite Symphony Orchestra
2009	Christmas Present	Dentone Records	DT1007	Studio	Christmas music
2010	Kikiriki	Dentone Records	DT1008	Studio
2012	Sounds Of The Hollow	Dentone Records	DT1009	Studio
2014	Live at Blob's Park	Dentone Records	DT1012	Live
2015	The Liminal Zone	Dentone Records	DT1013	Studio

International releases

Date of release	Title	Label	Catalog	Type	Notes
1981	Music For Squares	Stunn	Stun507	Studio	New Zealand, content identical to US release
1981	I Gotta Know/Neo Limbo	Stunn	BFA 884	Studio	New Zealand, 7" single
1986	People Are Strange	Rogue Records	FMST 4007	Studio	U.K. compilation
1987	Polkatharsis	Demon Records	REU 1018	Studio	U.K., content identical to US release
1989	Music Circus	P-Vine	PCD-2513	Studio	Japan
1990	Very Early Recordings	Wave Records		Studio	Japan
1991	ÉÉjhanaika	P-Vine	PCD-1800	Studio	Japan
1991	It's X-mas, Man!	P-Vine	PCD-2300	Studio	Japan
1992	No, No, No, Cha Cha Cha	P-Vine	PCD-2400	Studio	Japan
1993	Ondo Saves The World	Tele Disc	TLCD-93001	Studio	Japan, Kikusuimaru Meets Brave Combo
1994	Allumettes	P-Vine	PCD-1986	Studio	Japan, with Lauren Agnelli
1995	Polkas For A Gloomy World	P-Vine	PCD-3614	Studio	Japan, content identical to U.S. release

Members

• Carl Finch - guitar, keyboards, accordion (born November 29, 1951, Texarkana, Arkansas) (1979–present)
• Danny O'Brien - trumpet (born July 12, 1966, Lakenheath, England) (1993–present)
• Alan Emert - drums (born May 5, 1965) (1997–2008, 2010–present)
• Little Jack Melody - bass guitar (2009–present)

Former members

• Jeffrey Barnes - horns (born July 27, 1951, Fremont, Ohio) (1983–2015)
• Ginny Mac - accordion (2011–2013)
• Lyle Atkinson - bass guitar, tuba (born October 23, 1953, Minneapolis, Minnesota) (1979–1985)
• Tim Walsh - saxophone, flute, clarinet (born c.1952) (1979–1983)
• Dave Cameron - drums (born c.1958) (1979–1983)
• Cenobio "Bubba" Hernandez - bass guitar (born November 30, 1958, San Antonio, Texas) (1985–2007)
• Phil Hernandez - drums (born February 5, 1971, Buffalo, New York) (1992 - ?)
• Mitch Marine - drums (born c.1956) (1983–1992)
• Joe Cripps - percussion (born January 5, 1965, Little Rock, Arkansas) (1992 - ?)
• Greg Beck - drums (1996-1997)
• Paul Stivitts - drums (born 1971) NYC
• Ann Marie Harrop - bass guitar (2007–2009)
• Arjuna Contreras - drums (born August 11, 1974, Kenosha, Wisconsin) (2008–2010)
• Bill Tomlin - Drums (born September 28, 1948)

External links

• bravecombo.com/ - official website
• Bohemia Rising: The Story of Fry Street
• Brave Combo at the Internet Movie Database
• Brave Combo discography at Discogs
• Brave Combo discography at MusicBrainz
• Brave Combo collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive