The Space welcomes The Polkaholics

Show starts at 8

Free Show!

Bring your dancing shoes!

Since 1997, The Polkaholics have been playing a high-speed collision of polka and rock,

creating a sound that is simultaneously new and old.  As noted by Mary Houlihan of Chicago

Sun-Times, “The Polkaholics stun and amaze while wreaking havoc to both traditional polka and

rock genres!” Using a rock-trio format of guitar/bass/drums to power their polka, The

Polkaholics shake some action with a heavy polka beat, creating a sound that fuses the

beergarden with the mosh pit. In other words, something for everyone!  Some love the rocking

sound of the band, while others appreciate their mission to keep polka alive and vital in today's

music scene.  Playing old favorites like "Beer Barrel Polka" and "Chicken Dance," or new

classics like "Polkas on Guitar" and “Blue Haired Lady,” The Polkaholics repertoire is filled

with songs that are all about FUN! Throw in their glittery outfits and wild showmanship, and

you've got a band that is intent on Entertaining, with a capital E, and creating the "life of the

party" atmosphere at every show. 

The trio features founder Dandy Don Hedeker on guitar and vocals, who started the band

when he had a mid-life crisis in 1997. But instead of buying a bad toupee and a cheesy sports

car, Dandy Don greased his diminishing hair back, baptized himself with old-spice, and started

bashing out POLKA on guitar! On bass and vocals is Blitz Linster, who joined The Polkaholics

in 2012 to bring the oompah-POW to The Polkaholics sound! Simultaneously defying the speed

of sound and musical logic, Blitz’s fingers throttle the fretboard to prove that it’s all about the

POLKA bass! Action Jackson Wilson, who joined the band in 2001 (for a polka odyssey!), is on

drums and vocals. Using a cacophony of cowbells, tom-toms, and cymbals, Action Jackson

creates a 1-2 polka punch that simply can’t be beat!

Over the years, The Polkaholics have released several CDs and have won Chicago Music

Awards a number of times for Best Polka Entertainers. Their most recent CD is “Say YES to

Oktoberfest,” a collection of a lucky 13 warped polkatrocities released in Summer 2023. They

have been featured numerous times on TV and radio, and have played shows across the United

States and Canada. The Polkaholics have also crossed the Atlantic to bring their crazy polka

sounds to Europe in 2013, 2014, and 2017, including an appearance at the 2017 polkaBEATS

festival in Cottbus Germany. Clearly, this is a polka revolution for everyone!