At the age of 10, Alfred Vrazel talked his parents into buying him his first accordion for $32. His brother Anton began playing the piano accordion so Vrazel switched to playing the tenor and alto saxophones, and guitar.

The band was originally known as the Vrazels’ Playboys and consisted of the Vrazel brothers and their cousins, Leo, Louis and Ladis Vrazel.

A short time later the name was changed to Vrazels’ Polka Band and the rest, as they say, is history. Through the years the lineup may have changed but their drive to play never slowed down.

They have a few big performances left, but Alfred Vrazel said they will be hanging up their instruments sooner rather than later.

“Supposedly at the end of this year,” Vrazel said. “Our farewell performance will be at the Mayborn Center on Jan 24. It’s going to be the whole works. We have a lot of musician friends that have polka bands across the state that will be there.”

On Aug. 24 the band will make their 47th appearance at the Annual Homecoming Picnic at Sts. Cyril and Methodius Church in Marak. Mass is at 10:15 a.m. and dinner is at 11 a.m. with games starting at noon. Meal tickets are $7.50 each and there will also be an auction. The band performs at 12:30 p.m.

A week before the Marak concert, Vrazel sat down with the Telegram to share a few memories of the last 55 years on tour.

First performance

“You know what? It was so long ago I don’t even remember it,” Vrazel said. “We started in smaller places at some of the clubs around Cameron. Then we started playing at some of the church picnics and it grew from there.”

Crowd favorite

“A signature song would be ‘If I Were a Bird Polka,’” Vrazel said. “People just like that song. Most of the music that we play was brought here from what is now the Czech Republic. They are folk songs that our parents and grandparents brought here to America when they moved here years ago. A lot of those songs we’ve been playing for 55 years and (the fans) like them.”

Band favorite

“It’s probably ‘If I Were a Bird Polka,’” laughed Vrazel.

Unexpected moment

“I guess it would be at our 25th anniversary at the Cultural Activities Center,” Vrazel said. “We were hired to play a Czech celebration but along with that we got a surprise. They honored us for our 25th anniversary. That was a real surprise.”

Memorable performances

“One of the highlights was when we were invited in 1976 to perform in Washington D.C. at the Bicentennial Festival,” Vrazel said. “Texas was being represented and we played on the Washington Mall for about a week. In 1991, the Texas Festival was held at the Kennedy Center ... That was another big highlight for our group to perform for them.”

Fans

“We’ve played all over in Kansas, Arizona, Las Vegas,” Vrazel said. “Polka music is family. You could not ask for greater fans than Polka music has ... It’s not uncommon for folks to travel hundred of miles to a polka festival.”

First record

The Vrazels’ first recording was “Poor Cinderella Polka” in 1959. On the flip side of the record was “Red and White Waltz.”

“We’d never been in a studio before,” Vrazel said. “Back then I think they had a two-track recorder and two microphones to record a whole band.”

Longevity

“Never in my wildest days did I expect it to last this long,” Vrazel said. “The fans are why we’ve kept playing. They are so loyal. They are half of your family, is what it is.”

Retirement

“Getting up in age it’s kind of getting hard to travel,” Vrazel said. “We thought about cutting down performances to maybe two or three a month. But we have calls to play more than that. So who are you going to play for and who are you not going to play for? It was one of the hardest decisions we’ve ever had to make.

“It’s been kind of bittersweet since we announced our retirement in April,” he added. “Everybody is wishing us well and at the same it’s sad. I wish we could keep it going.”

The day after

“I don’t know,” Vrazel said. “I’m not going to know how to live or act. I’ve been doing this all my life.”

--rrenfrow@temple-telegram.com