In the 5th grade, Mike decided that the trumpet was the instrument he would like to learn how to play. His live music performing career began at the young age of 12 when he joined a start-up local variety band in Western Pennsylvania, The Jolly Hopps. At 15, he was polishing his skills with Polka Hall of Famer Joe Fiedor and his Polish All Stars traveling the country. Mike played 1st trumpet in the American Youth Symphony while attending the Kiski Area High School in western Pennsylvania. He moved to Chicago in 1980 and joined the national polka band, Marion Lush and the White Eagles. This band did 2 recordings with Marion and played 130+ jobs a year across the country. Mike then joined Gerry Tarka and the Midwest Sounds in 1986 for nearly one year. In 1987, Mike began his ongoing 35+ year career with Chicago’s Music Company. To name a few other bands Mike performed with regularly, The Versatones, Lenny Gomulka and Chicago Push, Full Circle, The IPA Tribute Band, and Dennis Motyka and the Good Times. In 2015, The Boys asked him about filling in for a few upcoming gigs. He continued to play with The Boys until the regrouping to Frankie Liszka and Blue Magic in 2024. Mike has played on several recordings through the years. Mike is a member of the new Steve Kaminski Dream Team recording project. He is just finishing up a new recording, writing and arranging project for Tony Blazoncyzk and New Phaze. Mike is now a member of Frankie Liszka and Blue Magic in 2024!
Mike’s talents include proficiency on trumpet, clarinet, bass guitar, lead guitar and vocals. He has fun playing the drums, piano and concertina. He continues to be a student on his primary instruments. The learning never stops!
Mike received the Leon Kozicki IPA Trustees Award in 2022. He has 2 Grammy nominations with Versatones and received several best band awards with Lenny Gomulka & Chicago Push and The Boys from the IPA and USPA organizations He received the Marion Lush Songwriter’s Award from the United Polka Association in Chicago in 1990’s. He has also written many songs in the pop music genre and tried to make it as a pop music songwriter in the late 1980’s. Mike developed Full Circle’s website and helped promote 5+ Full Circle cruises, advertising, and produced marketing videos. Mike started a new web-based forum to help promote and preserve Polka Music called Polkas United. He still maintains a Facebook page under that name. He has recently designed the Blue Magic website.
Here are some other bands/groups that Mike has performed with: Freeze Dried, Bratwurst Brothers, The Schnitzels, Tony Blazonczyk’s New Phaze, Stas Golonka and the Chicago Masters, Little Wally, Stas Bulanda and his Average Polka Band, Dynatones, Trel Tones, Ray Jay and the Carousels, Wanda & Stephanie, Freddy K, Windy City Brass, Little Richard and his Polka Allstars, Chi-Town Express, Jerry Zahara and the Happy Hearts, World’s Honkiest Polka Band, Polka Country Musicians, The Southern Most Polka Band, Chicago’s Polish Carolers, Eddie Blazonczyk Christmas shows and the Mollie B Christmas Show.
Mike has 4 YouTube channels that he developed to help promote and preserve Polka Music. They collectively have over a million views. The names on YouTube are polkas101, polkasunited, gonefullcircle and bluemagicband.
Mike has family genealogy in Poland and Italy. Here is his bio in both languages!
Polish
Italian