Practically since their founding as a band in 2007, members of Das Ist Lustig have toasted audiences with their (actually trademarked) Germany-Meets-Texas cheer of “Prost, Y’all®!”
But for one upcoming gig, the group whose high-energy sets consist mainly of German/Austrian/Swiss/Czech polkas and traditional tunes will have to switch it up to “Sláinte, Y’all!” That’s because Das Ist Lustig (whose name roughly translates into “That’s Fun”) will headline the barley-and-hops-soaked St. Patrick’s Day Celebration at St. Arnold’s Brewery on March 17.
It’s not their first dipping into another culture. Frontwoman Valina Polka (yes, that’s her stage moniker) first got a call from St. Arnold’s in 2023 when the Irish band they normally book for the holiday festivities broke up. And…well…could they learn a few new tunes from the Land of Éire?
“It’s all St. Arnold’s fault!” Polka laughs. “We had been playing their Oktoberfest since 2009 and I had been teaching polka dancing. We already had ‘My Wild Irish Rose’ and ‘Danny Boy’ in the set, but we were true to the German culture. We all got on the phone, picked four or five Irish songs each, and played those.”
So expect to hear tunes like “Drunken Sailor,” “The Irish Rover,” “Molly Malone,” “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean,” “Rocky Road to Dublin,” “Whiskey in the Jar,” and “Drowsy Maggie” amidst German/polka tunes, originals, and even a few rock covers (“Sweet Caroline,” “Brown Eyed Girl,” and even “Margaritaville”).
“The audience was receptive and helpful from the first time we started playing the Irish songs, and that meant a lot,” she adds.
So, for the band, what is the biggest similarity between German and Irish music? Polka doesn’t hesitate for a second with an answer.
“Beer!” she laughs. When asked if the band themselves have a particular favorite tipple, she says almost anything but an American-based light beer. “We all like trying something new, and we see beer as an art form just like music or painting. No one is heads and tails better than any other.”
Polka does note that during hot days, she and her bandmates prefer wheat beers with a touch of grapefruit. During colder climes, the darker, heavier beers come out.
But there are other similarities between German and Irish music.
“The love of life, beautiful women, and songs being emotional. As for the differences, a lot of Irish songs sound very happy, but if you listen to the story, there’s a lot of darkness and heartbreak. With German music, the hide that. Everything is happy and there’s singing about beautiful valleys, gorgeous mountains, and beer that tastes great.”
Born of German/Dutch descent, Valina Polka (vocals/autoharp/hand percussion)—fronts the group that also includes core trio Ross (accordion/vocals) and Robert Herridge (fiddle/guitar). Rick Weiss is behind the drum kit for this gig.
After a phone interview, Polka reaches out to add more context. “Ross reminded me about the northern Germans were very seafaring. So [German and Irish] sailors trading across the North Sea sang similar songs, or used similar melodies they heard, and applied their own stories to the tune,” she says. “German songs tell their stories with a general flair, and Irish tell their stories with lots of detail.”
At the age of three, Polka began dancing and would at 11 join a Dutch folk dancing group, The Texas Klompendansers. She also sang in the school choir while absorbing the music of her ancestry, then spent time in the Netherlands as a high school exchange student before returning to Texas.
She continued to sing and dance and began learning musical instruments. Odd jobs like bartending and working for the much-missed Garden in the Heights venue or the Tomball German Heritage Festival helped keep the bills paid.
In 2006, she began looking for an accordion player to start an “all-girl band” with when she ran into Ross at a Wurstfest when they discovered they had mutual friends. Ditching the Polka Go-Go’s idea she envisioned, the pair began rehearsing and had their first gig the next year at the Texas Folklife Festival in San Antonio. The chose the band named based on a song by Slavko Avsenic.
They also discovered that their connection was more than just musical and married in 2008. Polka mentions that the couple just purchased a house. And with the not-so consistent or lucrative income of local full-time musicians, must handle a lot of things on their own instead of paying someone else.
Luckily, she says Ross is a more-than-adept mechanic, electrician, and all-around home handyman. “He even changes our own oil in the car!” she says.
There is a difference between playing a Festival like the St. Arnold’s show as opposed to a concert venue. Or even a school where the band will include some educational background on the music, songs, and even the instruments.
“The concert and school shows are more specialized, because they’re coming to see what we are doing. We know they’re paying attention to us,” she says. “At a bar, restaurant, or festival, we try not to be in their face, and we play a bit faster.”
She adds that there is usually an interactive aspect to Das Ist Lustig shows where audience members might find themselves onstage adding some vocals or plunking/beating on an instrument.
So, it seems that a Das Ist Lustig playing Irish songs might not be any more culturally crossover crazy than, say, Houston’s Stout Irish Rockers The Blaggards adding some oompah music to their Shamrock-shaded setlist.
“I’ve known [Blaggards singer/guitarist] Patrick Devlin for a long time. And I’m glad you brought that up!” she laughs. “They played an Oktoberfest show last year, so they need to learn more German songs if they want to go back!”
Finally, for this one St. Patrick’s gig only, might Valina Polka consider switching her stage name to something more appropriate like Valina O’Polka or Valina McPolka?
“We’ve never actually thought about doing that!” she laughs. “We’ll still wear our lederhosen and German outfits. But we’ll just put a lot of green on!”
The Saint Arnold’s St. Patrick’s Day Celebration is 4-9 pm. on Tuesday, March 17 at 2000 Lyons in the Beer Garden. For more information, call 713-686-9414 or visit SaintArnold.com. Jared Gibb and Clann Kelly Irish Folk Dancers also perform. Free.
For more on Das Ist Lustig, visit ProstYall.com