Brave Combo

Brave Combo are a polka/rock band based in Denton, Texas. Founded in 1979 by guitarist/keyboardist/accordionist Carl Finch, they have been a prominent fixture in the Texas music scene for more than twenty-five years. Their music, both originals and covers, incorporates a number of dance styles, mostly polka, but also rumba, cha-cha-cha, choro, samba, two-step, cumbia, charanga, merengue, etc.

As part of their perceived artistic mission to expand the musical tastes of their listeners, they have often played and recorded covers of well-known songs in a style radically different from the original versions. Examples include polka versions of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" and The Doors' "People are Strange", The Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" as a cha-cha, and "Sixteen Tons" as a cumbia. While their records may have a sense of humor, they are played straight and not usually considered joke or novelty records.

They won a Grammy Award in 1999 in the Best Polka Album category for their album Polkasonic, and again in 2005 for their album Let's Kiss.

Media appearances

• The band made a short appearance, as animated figures, on the March 21, 2004 episode of The Simpsons (Co-Dependent's Day).
• In that same episode of The Simpsons, the band played a new original song called "Fill The Stein" and their version of the theme song played over the closing credits.
• Finch and other band members made cameo appearances in Talking Heads leader David Byrne's 1986 movie True Stories, set in fictional Virgil, Texas. Finch can be spotted in the fashion show sporting a brick-patterned suit and in the parade leading the all-accordion marching band. (Trivia note: Brave Combo was David Byrne's wedding band.)
• They appear in the 1986 Hank Wangford Channel 4 television series The A to Z of C & W singing the Hank Williams song "Cold, Cold Heart".
• Their song "Busy Office Rhumba" was used as the theme for the 1993 FOX television series Bakersfield P.D.
• They appear as a wedding band in the 1995 feature film Late Bloomers.
• In 2000, they appeared on the national telecast of the MDA Labor Day Telethon with Jerry Lewis dancing along to the music.
• They wrote and performed the theme song for the 2005 series "ESPN Bowling Night".
• The opening theme and other music for the 2008 PBS animated series Click and Clack's As the Wrench Turns were produced by Carl Finch and composed, arranged, and performed by Finch and Brave Combo.

Discography

US studio and live albums

International releases

Awards and Nominations

Nominations

• Grammys 2008 Best Polka Album - Polka's Revenge

Members

• Carl Finch - guitar, keyboards, accordion (born Nov 29 1951, Texarkana, Arkansas) (1979 - present)
• Jeffrey Barnes - horns (born Jul 27 1951, Fremont, Ohio) (1983 - present)
• Danny O'Brien - trumpet (born Jul 12 1966, Lakenheath, England) (1993 - present)
• Ann Marie Harrop - bass guitar (? - present)
• Arjuna Contreras - drums (born Aug 11 1974, Kenosha, Wisconsin) (2008 - present)

Former members

• Lyle Atkinson - bass guitar, tuba (born 1951, Denton, Texas) (1979 - 1986)
• Tim Walsh - saxophone, flute, clarinet (born c.1952) (1979 - 1983)
• Dave Cameron - drums (born c.1952) (1979 - 1983)
• Cenobio 'Bubba' Hernandez - bass guitar (born Nov 28, 1958, San Antonio, Texas) (1985 - ?)
• Phil Hernandez - drums (born Feb 5 1971, Buffalo, New York) (1992 - ?)
• Mitch Marine - drums (born c.1956) (1983 - 1992)
• Joe Cripps - percussion (born Jan 5 1965, Little Rock, Arkansas) (1992 - ?)
• Paul Stivitts - drums (born 1971) NYC
• Alan Emert - drums (born c. 1965) (1997 - 2008)

References

External links

• brave.com/bo - official website