Accordionist Mike Schneider celebrated National Polka Month with the Wisconsin Historical Society on January 30, 2025 at the History Makers Space in Madison, Wisconsin.
Six-time Polka Hall of Fame accordion player, Mike Schneider presented an entertaining program highlighting Wisconsin’s Official State Dance. He traced the history of polka music from its Eastern European roots to the dance halls and festivals of Wisconsin and beyond.
Mike also performs with the Mike Schneider Band which is a Wisconsin polka band serving Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago, and the Midwest.
Mike Schneider started playing the accordion at the age of six after hearing America’s Polka King Frankie Yankovic perform live for the first time at a parish festival in Milwaukee, WI. Mike’s father, Paul, planted the seeds of polka early, pulling his accordion out of the closet from time to time to entertain his only son. So if you were wondering how a six-year-old boy can go from accordion player to an acclaimed Wisconsin polka band leader, now you know!
The Mike Schneider Band has been entertaining audiences throughout Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio since 1996. Since that time, Mike and his band have been nominated for 17 polka awards from five separate organizations. In 2009, they took home the Band of the Year Award from the Wisconsin Polka Hall of Fame after eight nominations in the category since 1998. Mike also holds the honor of being one of the youngest people ever inducted into the Wisconsin Polka Hall of Fame at the age of 18 in 1997.
The Mike Schneider Band’s travels have taken the group to such places as Cleveland, OH for Tony Petkovsek’s annual Thanksgiving Weekend Polka Party and in their first Polka Cruise aboard the Carnival Valor. Mike and his band have appeared numerous times at Oktoberfest in New Ulm, MN, plus Summerfest and Rainbow Summer in Milwaukee, WI, and Motongator Music Festival in Wallace, MI. The Mike Schneider Band has even entertained audiences including James E. “Chip” Carter, son of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, and J.C. from the band NSync.
Mike and his band are no strangers when it comes to major media attention, either. In 1997, Mike appeared on the front-page of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel regarding his nomination for the Wisconsin Polka Hall of Fame’s Horizon Award, which he would go on to win the following week.
Mike has also been featured on 94.5 WKTI’s long-running Reitman & Mueller show, Wisconsin’s Morning News on News Radio 620 WTMJ, the Daybreak Report on Today’s TMJ4, and on the Food Network for Food Nation with Bobby Flay, an appearance he made along with his entire band.
In 2008, Mike Schneider took his first steps into what has become a successful venture into children’s music with his Pint Size Polkas project. His goal is to bring polka music to a new generation of fans while educating them on a number of core curriculum topics.
Future performances include:
02.07.25 Friday
Old German Beer Hall
1009 N. Old World 3rd St.
Milwaukee, WI
7:00-10:00 PM
02.22.25 Saturday
Bavarian Bierhaus
700 W. Lexington Blvd.
Glendale, WI
5:30-8:30 PM Solo
2.28.25 Friday
Old German Beer Hall
1009 N. Old World 3rd St.
Milwaukee, WI
3.04.25 Tuesday
National Bakery for Paczki Day
3200 S. 16th St.
Milwaukee, WI
6:00-11:00 AM Solo
3.06.25 Thursday
Old German Beer Hall
1009 N. Old World 3rd St.
Milwaukee, WI
7:00-10:00 PM Solo
3.15.25 Saturday
Bavarian Bierhaus
700 W. Lexington Blvd.
Glendale, WI
5:30-8:30 PM Solo
3.20.25 Thursday
Old German Beer Hall
1009 N. Old World 3rd St.
Milwaukee, WI
7:00-10:00 PM Solo
For further information: mike@mikeschneiderband.com
