WRJQ Goodtime Radio

03/20/2022

It’s the first day of SPRING! Although we’ve had a fairly mild winter, it’s still nice to say SPRING!

03/13/2022

Don’t forget to set your glockenspiel ahead one hour!

03/01/2022

We have tens of thousands of listeners around the globe, including several in the country of Ukraine. We received an e-mail yesterday and we wanted to share a portion of it with you:

“We live in Western Ukraine and we’re OK here but things are tense. Thank you for your music it helps us to take our mind off of the news.”

Music truly soothes the soul, and at WRJQ, we’re more than humbled to have received that message.

02/23/2022

Apparently when you use Alexa to listen to WRJQ, sometimes it plays a commercial before our content kicks in. Just for clarification: these ads are NOT sold by WRJQ. They are sold by TuneIn for their profit.

02/15/2022

Today!! February 15th! We hope you can join us tonight as the 5 piece Leo Lonnie Polka Band plays tonight on News Channel Nebraska's awesome TV show: Quarantine Tonight! We will be playing from 8-10 PM. This is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC and FREE ADMISSION! So if you feel like dancing, join us at the VFW at 316 Braasch Avenue in Norfolk NE. Check your local or cable TV stations to watch. You also can watch online on their website: www.newschannelnebraska.com. Or you can also watch on their page: News Channel Nebraska. It's going to be a great night of Polka Music!!! Tell your friends and feel free to share this with your friends.

02/10/2022

Here’s a very nice lengthy write-up about our good buddy, Brian Brueggen. 🎶

Part 1of 3: "I was born half a mile down the road as the crow flies from where I live in Cashton. I've had chances to go many places with my music but have never moved more than just a quarter mile from home. Cashton is the best city in the world; it’s a place where I can walk to the post office and they’ll ask, “Hey Brueggen, where’d you play last night?” and also, “When you’re free, can you bring me a couple hundred gallons of fuel?” Folks here know I play music and haul fuel, but they don't make a big deal of it, and I like that. When there's an activity in Cashton, well, they know they can ask if I want to come and play. I’ll do that gladly for my community. The people have been really nice to me in this town.

I have a musical family, going back at least five generations, and I’ve been playing in a traditional German music dance band since I was young. Back then, a friend and I used to listen to a lot of music and go to polka music festivals. When I was around 15 years old, this friend told me that I should start a band. He said he already had the perfect name for me, ‘The Mississippi Valley Dutchmen.’ So, when I was 18 and started my own band, I called us Brian and the Mississippi Valley Dutchmen, and we’ve been playing ever since.

I’ve played with a lot of the polka greats, and it’s important to give credit where credit is due. The gentleman Sylvester Liebl was my mentor. He was one of the greats: a great concertina player and a great songwriter. But he was also a great dad and a great grandfather. Like my dad, he was just a true human being and was always really nice to me.

Sylvester Liebl wrote songs that have trickled down to me and other polka songwriters. In a lot of them you can hear how the environment in the upper Midwest is a part of the music tradition. Liebl wrote ‘Echoes In The Hills,’ and if you look around western Wisconsin, you see all the bluffs. He wrote the ‘Champion Valley Polka.’ He wrote that for the people over in the Hillsboro and Yuba area where there’s a little road called Champion Valley Lane. Every polka band in the Midwest plays that song. He also wrote ’The Barre Mills Schottische’ and the ‘West Salem Waltz.’

My dad wrote the ‘Cashton Polka.’ Right down the road from where I live, there's a little area called Pine Hollow, so I wrote a song called the ‘Pine Hollow Schottische.’ Beyond that, there’s a side road going to Melvina known as the ‘Grapevine’ that the gangster John Dillinger was rumored to travel back and forth on; I wrote a song called the ‘Grapeviner’s Lullaby.’ So we’ve definitely recognized the role the environment has played in our music and have milked it for what it’s worth!

After all these years, we're still a dance band playing a style of music that was hot in the 40s and 50s. It’s a big-time honor to carry on that tradition. I almost feel that if I don't, that tradition might not continue. We are about the biggest concertina band that's still going in Wisconsin. We have a six-, sometimes seven-piece-band, and I get a lot of requests where someone will ask if just two or three of us can come play. I will not do it. If I let go of that, that tradition is lost.

To find this tradition, you need to get involved in church festivals, and in different cities’ music in the parks type of events.The music and community go hand in hand. There are different styles of polka music, but I stick to and like the old traditional German stuff. My wife is from New Ulm, Minnesota, and that’s where this all started. They’ve had so many great bands and are really into the traditions like the arrangements and harmonies of the music.

I realize younger people probably think polka is a corny style of music. You know what? Maybe it is, but there’s a lot of music that doesn’t trip my trigger. The music is good, and depending on the age group of the crowd you're playing for, you can relate the music to their lives. For example, if I'm playing a dance and there's an older crowd there, I will veer my music towards their era. It’s important for me to bring back the memory to them so they can relive their story.

These days, it seems like you have to stand on your head and do somersaults to entertain people. Now, don’t get me wrong: there are a lot of good entertainers, but I try to entertain in the simple ways. I'm passionate about how our music should be played. I still think that when a band walks on stage, they better be dressed up in a uniform with matching shirts on, and their hair better be combed. I still want to see someone do the Jitterbug. I still want to promote dancing where a husband and wife actually hold hands and dance, because that's a big part of history. I'm not a fancy or flashy entertainer, but when it's time to play, we just keep the harmonies nice and make sure everybody looks nice on the stage. Let the music speak for itself—simple as that."

Brian Brueggen | Cashton, Wisconsin

(Can't wait to read parts 2 and 3? You can read the rest of Brian's story on our website, https://www.lovewi.com/brian/)

02/05/2022

Don't forget to listen to the Leo Lonnie Polka Show tomorrow and every Saturday on Good Time Radio WRJQ at 2 PM CST. Listen on www.wrjqradio.com , Tunein app on your smartphone or on Apple Music. Tune in for the "Fastest Hour In Polka Music"! And!! The joke of the day! Feel free to share this post! Nothing like getting the word out there about great polka music on the Leo Lonnie Polka Show! On this Saturday's show I have a special music tribute to Norm Sodomka.

02/05/2022

It’s the weekend! Tell us about the fun you have planned this weekend in the comments below! 🎶

01/27/2022

01/27/2022

“Alexa! Play Goodtime Radio WRJQ!”

01/22/2022

We’re back on the air. Thanks to Chief Engineer Jerald Bode.

01/01/2022

Come celebrate the Laack Family and the legacy they created by joining us in wishing them a blessed and joy filled retirement. Help us kick off the next 109 years as we become custodians of this wonderful place in the heart of Johnsonville! Susan & the HUB & Laack's team!

01/01/2022

From WRJQ, we wish you a very happy and healthy 2022. Thank you for being our loyal friends and listeners.

12/24/2021

Merry Christmas from WRJQ! Be sure to listen to WRJQ's "Music Of Christmas" starting at 12Noon (central) on Christmas Eve, all the way until midnight on Christmas night. 36 glorious hours of beautiful, traditional Christmas music to enhance your yuletide spirits all through this Christmas period. Ask Google or Alexa to "play Goodtime Radio, WRJQ." Or, listen on our website.

http://www.wrjqradio.com

12/14/2021

Here’s a nice video of Danny Jerabek playing “An Old Alpine Waltz” on Ray Dorschner’s old Hohner button accordion. Great to hear this box again! Thanks, Danny.

12/09/2021

Here’s Lonnie Piitz and the Leo Lonnie Orchestra. Don’t miss Lonnie’s show each Saturday at 2pm central time on WRJQ!

12/01/2021

Obituary for Clifford R. Banks, Jr. "Uncle Ozzie" | Grasse Funeral Services

https://www.grassefs.com/obituary/Clifford-BanksJrUncleOzzie

Share memories & support the family

11/28/2021

Thinking of Uncle Ozzie (Ron Banks) and his family today. Ozzie passed away yesterday.

11/25/2021

11/24/2021

Feature Film: An Evening with Kris and the Riverbend Dutchmen

Feature Film: An Evening with Kris and the Riverbend Dutchmen

Enjoy an evening with the Riverbend Dutchmen as they perform crowd favorites at the WOW Zone Family Entertainment Center in Mankato, Minnesota on October 29,...

11/20/2021

Concertina Styles and Smiles with Pete Wendinger

https://youtu.be/IkCtvjPkhkY

Host Smiley Wiltscheck interviews fellow concertina players. This episode features Pete Wendinger.

11/15/2021

For our big band music fans, be sure to watch this tonight (Monday!)

Tune in tomorrow night, November 15th, from 8-10 PM CST for some great Big Band music with the 9 Piece Leo Lonnie Orchestra on NCN's Quarantine Tonight!! Check your local listings. You can also watch on www.newschannelnebraska.com and also on their page!

Mike Flood informed me that it's open to the public! So come to the VFW, 316 Braasch Ave., Norfolk, NE! We'd love to play for a live studio audience for the show! And it's the start of Pledge Week!! There is plenty of seating. And Mike said we can move a few tables for dancing if people want to dance! We hope you can join us!

PLEASE SHARE!!

11/14/2021

Brian’s Mississippi Valley Dutchmen.

11/11/2021

At WRJQ, we don’t need a day on the calendar to remember all who’ve served our great USA. But we’re thinking of all of you on this Veteran’s Day 2021. 🇺🇸

11/04/2021

WRJQ would love to hear from you! Call us on our “Big Q listener line” and leave a voicemail telling us why you love WRJQ. You could even hear your message on the air! 920-540-9109.

10/23/2021

It’s a beautiful autumn weekend here in Rainbow Valley. Be sure to listen to WRJQ all weekend long for GREAT oldtime music you’ll never find anywhere else!

http://www.wrjqradio.com

10/21/2021

Jon Dietz and The Jolly Brewers. Free admission! Be there!

10/18/2021

Tune in tomorrow night, October 18th, from 8-10 PM CST for some great polkas and waltzes with the Leo Lonnie Polka Band on NCN's Quarantine Tonight!! Check your local listings. You can also watch on www.newschannelnebraska.com and also on their page! We hope you can join us!

10/15/2021

Goodtime Radio | WRJQ Radio

Goodtime POLKA MUSIC 24 hours-a-day! Give us a try and tell your friends about the HAPPY MUSIC on WRJQ.

http://www.wrjqradio.com

WRJQ plays your kind of music 24 hours-a-day! We love our goodtime radio!

10/15/2021

What do you enjoy most about WRJQ Goodtime Radio? Tell us in the comments below! 🎶

10/14/2021

Photos from Leo Lonnie Orchestra's post

09/30/2021

Name some bands whose music you could listen to “on repeat” for the rest of your life…

09/17/2021

Christy Hengel`s Concertina All-Stars: Lindenau Polka

How many guys can you name??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9cnlIPG_7I

Chuck PasekKEYC-TV BandwagonMankato, MN1983

09/11/2021

Happy Saturday to you from WRJQ! Tell us how you’re spending your day…