- I'm Jake.

This is The Chardon Polka Band.

In our line of work, you never know what's going to happen next or who you might run into, because this is "The World According to Polka."

Good evening.

You're watching "The World According to Polka."

I'm your host, Jake Kouwe.

And these are my sons tonight on the show.

You guys wanna tell them your names?

- Ben.

- Luke.

- And who's the little guy on the floor?

- [Both] Jamie.

- Tonight's episode is all about a special type of music.

Guys, what kind of music do we usually sing at night?

- Lullabies.

- Lullabies.

- That's right!

The show is all about lullabies, of course, with a polka twist.

So, let's get started.

- And here's The Chardon Polka Band.

("Hush Little Baby") ("Hush Little Baby" continues) ♪ Hey, hey, ba, ba, rimba ♪ Hey, hey, ba, ba, rimba ♪ Hey, hey, ba, ba, rimba ♪ Hush, little baby, don't you cry ♪ ♪ I'm gonna sing you a lullaby ♪ Hush, little baby, rest your head ♪ ♪ We'll play you a polka instead ♪ ♪ And if this polka song sounds right ♪ ♪ We can polka dance all night ♪ But if this polka song's too hokey ♪ ♪ We're gonna make some fresh pierogi ♪ ♪ Hey, hey, ba, ba, rimba ♪ Hey, hey, ba, ba, rimba ♪ Hey, hey, ba, ba, rimba ♪ Hush, little baby, don't you cry ♪ ♪ I'm gonna sing you a lullaby ♪ They'll hear the song all over town ♪ ♪ You're the sweetest little baby around ♪ - Boys, our first lullaby from The Chardon Polka Band.

What did you think?

- Awesome, amazing!

- Oh, awesome, amazing, perfect-derfect!

- I love it.

I love it.

Say, do you guys know what a tradition is?

Have you ever heard that word, tradition?

- Yeah.

- I've heard the word.

- All right.

Benjamin, what do you think tradition is?

- I think a tradition means that is something you do each year, like celebrating Hanukkah.

Some people do that.

- Mm-hm.

- Easter.

- Oh, okay, so yeah.

- [Luke] Like, we do a egg hunt.

- Traditions often include family.

It's like a family ritual.

Like, we do things together, and maybe someday you'll teach the next generation.

I'm a generation and you're a generation, so you'll teach the next generation.

Maybe you'll do Easter egg hunts with your kids someday.

Can you believe that?

So, tradition is a word we're gonna hear a lot of in this next segment, as we spend a little time with our friends from the Living Traditions Folk Ensemble.

They're gonna share some of their music with us and some stories from their family.

("Aaa, Kotki Dwa") (Cathy singing Polish) (Cathy singing Polish continues) (Cathy singing Polish continues) (Cathy singing Polish continues) (Cathy singing Polish continues) (Cathy singing Polish continues) (Cathy singing Polish continues) - So we just heard a song about kittens, right?

- Yes.

It's a Polish lullaby, "Aaa, Kotki Dwa," "Two Kittens."

And that they will not get into trouble and they will rock the baby to sleep.

- So, I'm here with Tom and Cathy Katrenich, and they're from the Living Traditions Folk Ensemble.

What is the Living Traditions Folk Ensemble?

- It is a performing ensemble that's multi-generational, and we perform Eastern European, Central European folk dances.

- [Jake] Who's in this group?

- We have Polish people, Carpatho-Rusyn people, all different nationalities.

We have people who aren't Eastern European at all.

We have a two-year-old right now is our youngest one, and we have a couple that we call Babka and Dziadzi because they are the grandmother and grandfather of the two-year-old in the group.

We started this group in order to instill Carpatho-Rusyn folk knowledge to our children.

So we did this group now to cover all of our nationalities, because Tom and I have danced since we were children.

I started dancing when I was four, and Tom started to play accordion- - [Tom] In like the fifth grade.

- And we've ever since then always been in performing ensembles.

- So where can we see you guys in Living Traditions Folk Ensemble?

- We have a variety of shows throughout the year.

We perform at some church festivals.

We perform at Simply Slavic.

We perform at international festivals.

You can check out our website and our Facebook page.

If anybody out there is interested in doing Eastern European folk dance and want to perform, give us a call.

We'd be happy to have you join us.

- So not only do you guys perform, this culture is also part of your everyday life, your home life, including bringing up three kids, right?

- That is something that was very important to both of us growing up, so it made sense and worked out beautifully that we married someone that had that same intention of passing down our Polish, Croatian, and Carpatho-Rusyn culture to our kids.

They were carried on stage.

They had baby costumes.

This is our children's very first costume.

A friend of ours, Tina, made it.

So, right from they were coming home from the hospital, they had a costume on.

Their first little mountain dancing shoes from Poland.

This is a costume that my mom made for Thomas, and it is from representing the region of Rzeszow in Poland that my family's from.

And this is one of our favorite pics, of us with the three kids.

- So, we know one of Tom and Cathy's kids, Katherine or Rodina from Simply Slavic, she's a table.

- Yes, she is.

- You couldn't be prouder.

Your little girl grew up and she's a table.

- [Cathy] A very famous one.

- She was telling me about a song y'all would sing to her in her childhood.

Could you tell me a little bit about that song?

- Since we're talking about lullabies, one of the things that we would use that wasn't a lullaby was a plain folk song, "Ja Parobek z Kapusan."

We specifically would sing to the baby in utero.

So then after Thomas, Sarah, and Katherine were born, I could be anywhere and just kind of go (vocalizing), hum that melody, and that calmed them down, because they had always been a part of their life.

- And "Ja Parobek z Kapusan" is a song about a man from this town of Kapusany in Slovakia.

The lyrics go, "I don't have a wife, and I really don't need a wife," so.

- Wait a minute, that's what you were saying to your kids?

- Yes!

(Cathy laughing) - I mean, that just goes to show though, it's more about the tradition, the safety of that tradition to a child.

You know, that's what makes a lullaby.

It's not "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."

The lyrics aren't as important as that tradition and the people bringing it into our lives.

- Yes, they were familiar with it, that melody, that song, and so it comforted them.

Whether they knew what the words meant or not, they knew it first as "Ja Parobek."

- [Tom] By playing accordion and playing those melodies that are traditional melodies from Eastern Europe, the kids actually became quite acquainted to it and enjoyed it and loved those traditions.

- [Cathy] The children have said to me they so enjoyed falling asleep to Dad playing his accordion, that that's a memory they have from childhood.

- So this has been wonderful.

Thank you guys for coming in, sharing about Living Traditions Folk Ensemble and your own lives, because it fits the theme today, it fits what we're talking about, and you guys have blessed us for sharing.

Now, we got one more song to share, right?

- I hope so.

- All right, what is it?

- Well, I brought my accordion.

- Yes.

- And we're gonna do a lullaby, and it's Carpatho-Rusyn, and it's called "Liuliai Liuliai."

("Liuliai Liuliai") ("Liuliai Liuliai" continues) ("Liuliai Liuliai" continues) (Tom singing in foreign language) (Tom singing in foreign language continues) (Tom singing in foreign language continues) ♪ Sleep, sleep, my little one ♪ My little falcon ♪ Your father brings to you ♪ One fine, tasty apple ♪ Your father brings for you ♪ One fine, tasty apple (Tom singing in foreign language) (Tom singing in foreign language continues) (Tom singing in foreign language continues) ♪ Sleep now, my little one ♪ Dear precious son ♪ Sleep for me, little one ♪ Only for an hour ♪ Sleep for me, little one ♪ Only for an hour Oh my goodness, guys.

Was that a lot of fun?

- [Both] Yeah.

- What did you think of Dad playing with his friend, Tom?

- Good.

- Good.

- And remember when you sang, "Apple"?

- Yeah, I said I was gonna give my son a tasty apple.

- Yeah.

- Who likes apples?

- Me.

- And Lukie, I think we mentioned a bird in that song.

- It's my favorite bird, a falcon.

- A falcon.

Yeah, I couldn't believe it.

- Fastest animal in the world.

- The fastest animal in the world.

Which falcon?

- Peregrine.

- The peregrine falcon is the fastest animal in the world.

Look it up.

So we were singing that song, and I thought it was just perfect for my little boys.

Now, guys, is it about time to hear another song from The Chardon Polka Band?

- Of course!

- And Benjamin, would you like to introduce this next song?

- Yep.

It's "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."

("Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star") ("Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" continues) ("Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" continues) ♪ Twinkle, twinkle, little star ♪ ♪ How I wonder what you are ♪ Up above the world so high ♪ Like a diamond in the sky ♪ Twinkle, twinkle, little star ♪ ♪ How I wonder what you are ("Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" continues) ("Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" continues) ("Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" continues) ♪ Twinkle, twinkle, polka star ♪ I'm gonna wonder what you are ♪ ♪ Tis your bright and tiny spark ♪ ♪ Lights the traveler in the dark ♪ ♪ Though I know not what you are ♪ ♪ Twinkle, twinkle, polka star - So that was "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," played by The Chardon Polka Band, right, guys?

- Right.

- Can you guys tell the audience, who's in The Chardon Polka Band, and what do they do?

- [Ben] Our dad is in The Chardon Polka Band.

He sings and plays the accordion.

- Mike Franklin plays two different instruments.

- [Jake] Oh, yeah?

- [Luke] And they are both stringed instruments, the guitar and the banjo.

The banjo's bottom is shaped like a circle, but the other one is not.

- Is Mike a cool guy?

- Mm-hm.

- Brian is a tuba player.

He is very funny.

Brian sometimes twirls and dances while playing the tuba.

- [Jake] He certainly does.

- Bob Young plays the drums, just like me.

I'm a six-year-old, and I'm just almost done with one of my drum books.

Bob Young plays the drums and he does the beat.

The only drum that keeps the beat is the bottom drum.

The bottom drum is the most biggest drum.

It's the bass drum.

- Mitch is the saxophone player.

He plays tunes.

He can make the saxophone sound like a horse, or even a fire alarm.

- Whoa.

So when we played that song, "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," did you guys know that song?

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- Do you think a lot of people know that song?

- [Both] Yeah.

- Yeah, a lot of people know that song.

Everybody sings it to their kids.

Well, we've got a very special song up next, because it's one that not everybody knows, because my friend, Alicia, wrote it for her little boy, Hank.

So she sings it to him.

Not all mommies and daddies sing this song.

And even better, it's in French.

Here's a wonderful lullaby written by our friend, Alicia Jo Straka.

("Berceuse Pour Hank") ("Berceuse pour Hank" continues) ("Berceuse pour Hank" continues) (Alicia singing French) (Alicia singing French continues) (Alicia singing French continues) (Alicia singing French continues) (Alicia singing French continues) (Alicia singing French continues) (Alicia singing French continues) (Alicia singing French continues) (Alicia singing French continues) (Alicia singing French continues) (Alicia singing French continues) (Alicia singing French continues) ("Berceuse pour Hank" continues) ("Berceuse pour Hank" continues) - What a wonderful song from my friend, Alicia.

Now, that song made me feel all nice and cozy.

Did it make you guys feel cozy?

- [Both] Yeah.

- [Jake] Yeah, did you like it?

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- It made me feel warm and safe.

- I liked the little baby in the video.

- You know, music can make us feel warm and cozy and get us ready for bed, but what else do we do to get us ready for bed, guys?

What do we usually do at nighttime?

- [Both] Read a book.

- Read a book.

Do you guys want to read a book with our TV friends?

- Yep.

- This is a polka book, it's not just any book, it's a polka book called "A Is For Accordion," to help us get ready for bedtime tonight.

"A is for accordion.

B is for banjo.

Strum, strum, strum!

C is for clarinet.

And D is for drum.

With these letters and instruments, you can start a polka band, and travel playing polka music all across the land.

Or you could board a rocket ship and soar to outer space.

You could jam with an extraterrestrial tubeist who has a mustache on his face."

Who does that look like?

- Brian.

- (laughs) That's right.

"If you would rather, you could oompah under the sea, where sea urchins with oboes are as happy as can be.

You'll play 'round the world and have such fun each day, traveling from place to place and smiling as you play.

You will get very hungry, playing polka shows like these.

Make sure you have a lot of snacks like pumpkin pie and cheese."

And then the robot, he's saying, "Where is the cheese?"

"Yes, A is for accordion and banjo starts with B. A polka band is lots of fun, as you can plainly see."

Was that a good book?

- Yep.

- Mm-hm.

- And is it time for more polka music from The Chardon Polka Band?

- Yep.

- Mm-hm.

- This is a song called "Rock-a-bye Baby."

("Rock-a-bye Baby") ♪ Rock-a-bye baby on the treetops ♪ ♪ When polka plays, the cradle will rock ♪ ♪ If you polka too hard, then you might fall ♪ ♪ Let's polka party, let's have a ball ♪ ("Rock-a-bye Baby" continues) ("Rock-a-bye Baby" continues) ("Rock-a-bye Baby" continues) ("Rock-a-bye Baby" continues) ♪ Oh, rock-a-bye baby on the tree tops ♪ ♪ When polka plays, the cradle will rock ♪ ♪ If you polka too hard, then you might fall ♪ ♪ Let's polka party, let's have a ball ♪ ♪ Let's polka party, let's have a ball ♪ Oh, man, Jamezilla is back.

Why do we call him Jamezilla?

- Because he's a bad boy.

- And he's like Godzilla.

- Yeah, he's like a monster that terrorizes everything.

But you know what?

He looks like he feels happy and that he feels safe.

Do lullabies make us feel kind of happy and safe?

- Yep, because they're nice and calming and they're nice and sweet.

They aren't scary like scary movies.

- They are calm and they aren't loud.

- [Jake] Who would sing you a lullaby?

- Mama, Dada.

- Yeah.

- Baba.

- Well, we hope that everyone watching felt calm and cozy tonight as they watched our program, because these guys, these guys watching are our special polka friends.

Do you guys want to say goodnight to our special polka friends watching?

- [Both] Goodnight, polka friends.

- Night.

- And that's "The World According to Polka."

Got this one, Jamie?

- Okay.

- All right.

- Rubba-dub-dub, three men in a tub.

Who do you think they'd be?

The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker.

♪ In heaven, there is no beer ♪ That's why we drink it here ♪ When we're gone from here ♪ Our friends will be drinking all our beer ♪ ♪ La, la, la, la, la, la ♪ La, la, la, la, la, la ♪ La, la, la, la, la ♪ La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la ♪ (upbeat polka music continues)