Mike Schneider (polka bandleader)

Mike Schneider

Mike Schneider is the leader of the Mike Schneider Band, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based Slovenian-style polka band who performs approximately 100 events annually in Wisconsin and throughout the United States. Schneider and his band are a four-time award winner and 16-time nominee from such organizations as the National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame, the Wisconsin Polka Boosters, the Wisconsin Polka Hall of Fame, the Wisconsin Polka Music Awards, and the Wisconsin Area Music Industry (WAMI). Schneider is also an experienced studio musician with nearly 20 recording credits to his name on the accordion.

Mike Schneider is a monthly host of Polka Parade, a polka radio show that airs on AM1340 WJYI in Milwaukee and is rebroadcast online on the Radio & TV page of the official website of the Mike Schneider Band. Schneider has appeared on WKTI-FM as a seven-time guest of the Reitman & Mueller show. He was the featured subject of the September 15, 2005-edition of Positively Milwaukee with Carole Meekins on WTMJ-TV for his work on the Wisconsin Polka, a benefit project for Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. Schneider and his band were featured performers on "Food Nation with Bobby Flay" on the Food Network in 2002. In 1997, Schneider was also the main subject of a front-page article, entitled "Kids dig polka," in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Mike Schneider was born in 1979 to parents Paul and Nancy, both of whom were instrumental in his early interest in music. His father, Paul, led his own Milwaukee-based polka band throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and is a featured guest of the Mike Schneider Band at select events. His mother, Nancy, plays piano for her own enjoyment. Schneider was also influenced musically by Frankie Yankovic and Verne Meisner.

Awards and Nominations

• Winner, Wisconsin Polka Hall Of Fame First Annual Young Band Of The Year (1997)
• Nominee, Wisconsin Polka Hall Of Fame Band Of The Year Nominee (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007)
• Nominee, National Cleveland Style Polka Hall Of Fame Best New/Young Band (1999, 2000)
• Nominee, Wisconsin Area Music Industry Best Polka Band Nominee (1999, 2000, 2001)
• Winner, Wisconsin Polka Boosters Distinguished Service Award Recipient (2006)
• Winner, Wisconsin Polka Music Exceptional Achievement Award (2007)
• Winner, Wisconsin Polka Music Recording of the Year Award (2007)

Full-Length Recordings

• First Impressions (1995)
• Second Thoughts (1996)
• The Pursuit Of Polka’s Lost Frontier (1998)
• Polka Visions (2002)
• A Stretch of the Imagination (2004)
• The Mike Schneider Band Live! (2006)

Single Recordings

• Star Spangled Banner for WTMJ (AM) (2000)
• Happy Birthday Polka (2001)
• Bill Michaels Polka for WTMJ (AM) (2004)
• Polka Parade Theme Song for WJYI (2004)
• Sabrina's Songs (2005)
• The Wisconsin Polka (2005)

Compilations Featuring Mike Schneider

• Polkasound Potpourri (1997)
• Parade Of Blue Chip Polkas, Volume 5 (1998)
• Ron VanDenboom, Family, and Friends: How I Love Them Old Songs (1999)
• Third Generation (2002)
• The Best of Polka Parade (2003, 2005, 2006)

External Link

• Official Website