Tom Brusky
Encyclopedia
Tom Brusky is a Slovenian-style polka
Slovenian-style polka
Slovenian-style polka is an American style of polka in the Slovenian tradition. It is usually associated with Cleveland and other Midwestern cities. It is also known as "Cleveland Style."...
musician and bandleader from Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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 is the creator and webmaster
Webmaster
A webmaster , also called a web architect, web developer, site author, or website administrator is a person responsible for maintaining one or many websites...
of Wisconsin Polka Music, and actively records, produces, and promotes polka music through his company, Polkasound Productions. Brusky has appeared on over fifty recordings worldwide along with artists such as Verne
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...
and Steve Meisner, Eric Noltkamper, Ron VanDenboom, Kathy Zamejc Vogt, Jeff Winard, and 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...
. He performs roughly 175 events a year throughout Southeastern Wisconsin and abroad.
Tom Brusky was born into a musical family. Both his father, Jim, and his brother, Ron, played polka and big-band music professionally with bands such as Louis Bashell
Louis Bashell
Louis Bashell was an American polka musician from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was known for playing the Slovenian-style polka. He was nicknamed "Milwaukee's polka king"....
, Guy Lombardo
Guy Lombardo
Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...
, Chuck Hedges, Russ Morgan
Russ Morgan
Russ Morgan was a big band orchestra leader and musical arranger in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s.-Early life:...
, Don Nedobeck, and Dick Rodgers. His mother, Jan, is an accomplished orchestral musician and pipe organist. His sister, Susan, is a Wisconsin Area Music Industry
Wisconsin Area Music Industry
Wisconsin Area Music Industry is an American volunteer organization founded in 1980, and based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its stated purpose is "to educate and recognize the achievements and accomplishments of individuals in the Wisconsin music industry." The organization is best known for its...
(WAMI)-winning drummer who toured the country with a heavy-metal band in the 1980s, opening for such acts as Wendy O. Williams
Wendy O. Williams
Wendy Orlean Williams , better known as Wendy O. Williams, was the lead singer for the American punk band the Plasmatics, as well as a solo artist...
.
Tom Brusky plays 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....
, drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, and tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
.
Wisconsin Polka Hall of Fame Awards
- "Sideman of the Year" 1998
- "Horizon Award" 2000
- "Sideman of the Year" 2006
Tom Brusky Band discography
- 1989 "Song of Lecco"
- 1990 "Generations Together"
- 1992 "Don't Shoot the Accordion Player"
- 1995 "Undercover"
- 1997 "Polkalanis"
- 1997 "Tom x 5 But Not Quite Live"
- 1999 "Polkas from the Digital Domain"
- 2000 "Did You Remember To Pack Your Accordion?"
- 2000 "Butt 'n' Box by Joe LaBotz"
- 2003 "On the Bright Side"
- 2005 "Playing Your Requests Vol. 1 - Classic Polkas and Waltzes"
- 2005 "Playing Your Requests Vol. 2 - Timeless Ballroom Melodies"
- 2009 "The First Forty Years"