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Mike Schneider (polka bandleader)
Encyclopedia
The Mike Schneider Polka Band
The Mike Schneider Polka Band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin is a Slovenian-style polka group that performs at approximately 100 events annually in Wisconsin and throughout the United States...
. Schneider and his band perform at approximately 100 events annually in Wisconsin and throughout the United States. He is an experienced studio musician with nearly 20 recording credits to his name on the accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
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Schneider is a monthly host of "Polka Parade", a polka radio show that airs on AM1340 WJYI
WJYI
WJYI is a radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. It runs a Christian format with Contemporary Christian Music from Salem Radio Network's Today's Christian Music network. It also features brokered teaching and preaching programs from both local Churches and national ministries. It also airs...
in Milwaukee
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
. He has appeared on WKTI-FM
WKTI-FM
WLWK-FM is a radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin broadasting at 94.5 FM. The station is owned by the Milwaukee-based Journal Communications , and broadcasts an adult hits format.-History:The owner of the Milwaukee Journal was an early pioneer of FM broadcasting...
as a seven-time guest of the Reitman & Mueller show. In 1997, he was also the main subject of a front-page article, entitled "Kids dig polka," in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. It is the primary newspaper in Milwaukee, the largest newspaper in Wisconsin and is distributed widely throughout the state...
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Schneider was born in 1979 to parents, Paul and Nancy, both of whom were instrumental in his early interest in music. His father, Paul, led his own Milwaukee-based polka band throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and is a guest of the Mike Schneider Polka Band at select events. His mother, Nancy, plays piano for her own enjoyment. Schneider was also influenced musically by Frankie Yankovic
Frankie Yankovic
Frankie Yankovic was a Grammy Award-winning polka musician. Known as "America's Polka King," Yankovic was the premier artist to play in the Slovenian style during a long and successful career.-Background:Of Slovene descent, he was raised in South Euclid, Ohio...
and Verne Meisner
Verne Meisner
LaVerne Donald "Verne" Meisner was an American polka musician born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and raised in Whitewater, Wisconsin. He was inducted into five halls of fame, including the International Polka Association Hall of Fame as a "Living Legend" in 1989...
. Schneider received his first award nomination while attending high school at Whitefish Bay Dominican High School
Dominican High School (Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin)
Dominican High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin. It is in, but not funded by, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee as a college preparatory high school.-Background:...
, from which he graduated in 1998.