By Kim McDarison

As polka and other music filled the air some 100 Steve Meisner fans founds vantage points in the shade near the Birge Fountain in Whitewater.  

The small park, located in front of the Whitewater Cultural Arts Center, is home to the “Savory Sounds” annual concert series. The Steve Meisner Legacy Band performed Thursday, offering the first concert in the series, which is facilitated through the Whitewater Arts Alliance.  

Thursday’s concert was the fifth performed by the legacy band and the first performed in Whitewater, since the death of Steve Meisner on June 1. Meisner lived in Whitewater, and members of his family continue to make the city their home. 

Meisner died shortly after receiving a diagnosis of stage 4 cancer. He was 62. His music has been an area staple over the course of his career, as he and the band performed in indoor and outdoor venues, and were often featured favorites at area festivals and parades. 

According to his obituary, “Steve was a multi-talented musician, entertainer, composer, and arranger who traveled the country and world with his band.”

The obituary noted that Steve Meisner began playing the squeezebox when he was 5, and later mastered the accordion, and “took on” the trumpet, tuba, bass guitar, button box and, occasionally, drums and banjo. 

He enjoyed a career spanning more than 50 years, and performed with the nation’s top accordionists, polka icons and musicians, “sometimes averaging over 250 performances annually. He has either produced, performed on or created nearly 50 projects, including LPs, CDs, singles, jingles, commercials, movies, and videos — including appearing as a guest on other artist’s recordings. He appeared in two movies, countless times on radio and on national, regional and local television,” the obituary noted.  

He also was the recipient of  “numerous awards from nearly every polka and ethnic organization, including the International Polka Association (IPA), National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame, Wisconsin Polka Hall of Fame, Wisconsin Area Music Industry (WAMI), Iron World Polka Hall of Fame (and) Maryland Accordion Club,” among others, the obituary stated.  

Steve Meisner’s full obituary is here: https://nitardyfuneralhome.com/tribute/details/319479/Steven-Meisner/obituary.html#content-start. 

Among members of the audience Thursday were Meisner’s wife, Barbara, two daughters, Lindsey and Whitney, Whitney’s fiancé, Adam Issa, all of Whitewater, and Meisner’s sister, Michelle Bush, Milton. 

As members of the band set up their equipment on the steps of the Cultural Arts Center, they talked about their time as members of the Steve Meisner Band and the recently formed legacy band. 

Members performing Thursday included Tom Brusky, Milwaukee, who played the accordion during the Savory Sounds concert. He has served, on and off, and in different capacity’s with the Steve Meisner Band for about 20 years, he said; Drummer, “BB” Carter, Oak Creek, described himself as an “on and off” band member for some 40 years; Don Hunjadi, Wind Lake, who plays saxophone and sings, said, he has found “steady” involvement with the band for 12 years, and Jerry Bieniek, Cudahy, the group’s banjo and guitar player, has been involved for more than 20 years. 

Remembering Steve Meisner and describing the goals of the legacy band, Hunjadi said: “There’s nobody that’s going to do what he did the way he did it. We have to acknowledge that going in.” 

As members of the legacy band, he said: “Our attempt is to provide the same songs and the same variety of music,” but, he said, “It’s going to sound different.”

As the band continues its legacy tour, he said some four or five musicians who have played with Steve Meisner have been identified to perform as accordion players and vocalists during different concerts. 

The legacy band is continuing with Meisner’s musical commitments, with plans to fill in for at least the next six months, he said. 

When they formed as a legacy band, their first performance was at a Polish festival, Hunjadi said, adding that band members, as they performed, believed Steve’s spirit was with them. 

“The accordion broke three times, and a cable fell out,” he said. A piano came on by itself, he added. 

“We thought: ‘Steve is toying with us,” Hunjadi said. 

Playing in Whitewater held special meaning for them, he noted, adding that the community is Steve’s hometown and they were aware that members of his family would be in the audience. 

The legacy band plans to be back in Whitewater for the city’s upcoming Fourth of July celebration, Hunjadi noted.  

The Savory Sounds concerts offer a pairing of music and onsite lunch venues. Thursday’s onsite lunch opportunity was provided by The Sweet Spot.

The full schedule of Savory Sounds concerts is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/summertime-music-forts-community-band-offers-full-itinerary-whitewater-continues-with-savory-sounds/. 

Photos from Thursday’s event follow.