A World of Music Comes Together on Cape Cod

By: iO Staff, April 24, 2012

Courtesy Cultural Center of Cape Cod - Polka Dan and his Beetbox Band transform the Cultural Center into a Polish village with their contemporary and traditional polka-klezmer sound.

Musical traditions from around the world unite this weekend, with performances by Longing for Ireland, O’Challah and Polka Dan’s Beetbox Band.

The central figure in this musical celebration is Mashpee’s Greg Johnson, a multi-instrumentalist who plays in all three bands and has been in folk ensembles on Cape Cod since the mid-’70s, including the extremely popular Raw Honey bluegrass band. He plays guitar, fiddle, upright and electric bass, accordion, trombone, keyboard, and any other instrument he can get his hands on.  

Dan Blajda, the heart and soul of Polka Dan’s Beetbox Band, will also be performing high energy, original village folk music from southern Poland as well as popular polka favorites. With roots in Poland, the band is famous for its costumes and for being zany and delightfully wild. In addition to Bladja's vocals, other band members are Clayton March on clarinet, flute, and tenor banjo; Robin Smith-Johnson on piano and bass; and David Silver on drums.

Longing for Ireland's reperatoire spans from energetic dance tunes and ancient and contemporary songs from the Celtic countries to poetry and jewel-like originals. The range of material reflects the widely varied emotions of Celtic music. Dinah Mellin and Denya LeVine are on fiddle and vocals and Robin Smith-Johnson plays guitar.

O’Challah is an Irish/Jewish/Eastern European band, featuring three well-respected, longtime performers in the Cape’s folk and world music scene. The band features Denya LeVine on fiddle and vocals, Robin Smith-Johnson on guitar and vocals, and Clayton March on mandolin, clarinet, flute and fiddle. Combining the joy, beauty and sensitivity of the music of Ireland; add the untamed wilderness of Balkan, Eastern European Klezmer and Israeli dance music, O'Challah plays a diverse collection of songs in English, Irish Gaelic, Hebrew, and Yiddish.

“We gave the same concert last year at the Cultural Center, and it was a huge hit and a wonderful experience,” said Denya Levine, who performs with both O’Challah and Longing for Ireland. “The concert is really a multicultural musical feast with the Cape’s three exceptional ethnic bands.”