MPA formally released today its Music from the Heartland album. Heartland is the second in a series of musical selections from MPA’s Vitak-Elsnic Collection. The album contains 18 selections of fresh, new arrangements of music by Ernie Broeniman and was performed by Wisconsin-based Dorf Kapelle band. Founded in 1988 by Ernie Broeniman, Dorf Kapelle captures the traditional ethnic style of a European village band.
As with MPA’s previous release, Then and Now, the selections on Heartland include some well-recognized standards, but also some brand new selections for polka enthusiasts. “Last year, we discovered buried musical treasure among some old Vitak-Elsnic business records,” said MPA President Steve Harris. The treasure consisted of dozens of hand-written manuscripts from the 1930-1950 period that had been acquired by Vtak-Elsnic but never published.
“I showed the manuscripts to Ernie. We both liked the tunes and agreed to bring them to life.” Broeniman picked two of the manuscripts and developed them into band arrangements with full scores, which are performed for the first time on the Heartland CD. One of the new selections – “Charlotte Polka” – has a special significance for Harris. Since the manuscript was unpublished, he decided to name the tune for his mother, named Charlotte (who died several months after Dorf Kapelle recorded it). He also has a granddaughter named Charlotte. Charts for both songs, as well as the other 16 selections on the CD, are available on the MPA website.
Seven of the selections contain vocals by Abby Broeniman. In addition to her performance on MPA’s Then and Now album, Abby Broeniman has appeared on RFD-TV’s Mollie B Polka Party and also performed in Branson on the 2013 Mollie B Christmas Special. In 2015, Abby received the Youth Achievement Award from the Wisconsin Polka Hall of Fame.
The CD can be purchased directly from MPA or downloaded on iTunes and GooglePlay.
For more information or DJ promotional copy, contact Steve Harris at: steve@musicpublishersofamerica.com or call 855 NUMUSIC.
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