Ted Lange - Accordion, Bass, Vocals, Band Manager
Ted Lange got his start in Polka Music at a very early age with his parents’ band, "The Buckeye Polka Band", a Polka/Variety Band in Northwest Ohio, and at age 5, started playing drums with them. His parents' band was quite popular in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan, and performed nearly every weekend, and Ted enjoyed traveling with the band, and at that age, really enjoyed packing up the equipment. (GRIN) As he grew older and more experienced, he began filling in on accordion and drums with many of the local Northwest Ohio Polka bands including The Maumee Valley Polka Band, The Happy Times Polka Band, Bette's Polka Band, and The Polka Brats, to name a few.
Ted was also very active throughout his school years with numerous musical groups. He was a member of The Junior Choral Society of Northwest Ohio, a select treble ensemble of students ranging in age, from 5th grade to 9th grade. While a member of “JCS”, Ted and two classmates were selected to perform lead roles in “The Magic Flute”, with the New York City Metropolitan Opera with Renee’ Fleming as the female lead in the production. Also while a member of JCS, Ted had the honor to perform with the Bowling Green State University Chorus, the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, and attended the Interlochen Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan. Additionally, Ted formed his first band in Junior High, performing for school concerts.
While in High School, Ted organized an Accapella contemporary Christian group named “The Unknown”. This group performed for school concerts, athletic events, corporate parties, youth camps and at many churches across Northwest Ohio. While in the high school marching band, Ted even played a halftime show featuring polka music, with Ted playing accordion along with the marching band.
He graduated from Archbold HS in 1994, and began playing accordion for Marv Herzog and the Bavarian Polka Band from Frankenmuth, MI from 1994-1995. While a member of the Marv Herzog Band, Ted took over the bandleader responsibilities and filled in for Marv while Marv took some time off due to illness, and continued performing at all the band’s commitments, keeping that “Herzog Sound” alive with his interpretation of Marv’s unique Cordovox playing and rich German vocals.
After Playing with Marv, Ted moved on to the Grammy Nominated Toledo PolkaMotion from 1995-2001, and recorded 6 albums with TPM. While a member of TPM, Ted appeared in the Warner Brothers movie entitled "Welcome to Collinwood", (2000), and appears on the movie soundtrack. He was also a recipient of the Great Lakes People's Choice Awards with TPM 4 times for Ethnic Musical Group of the Year.
After leaving TPM, Ted performed 2 years with previous Grammy Award Winner Eddie Blazonczyk's Versatones, (Chicago, IL), and the following year joined another Grammy Nominated Polka Band, "John Gora and Gorale' " (Burlington Ontario, Canada). While a member of John Gora and Gorale', he was nominated for a Grammy award for his work on “Pangora’s Box” released by the band in 2004. Ted received his second Grammy nomination also with John Gora for his work on “Bulletproof Polkas” in 2007. In addition to performing with John Gora, Ted also performed with a Toledo based Polish Style band named "Change Of Pace from 2004 through 2006 and recorded 2 CD's with them. Lastly, in 2007, Ted performed and traveled with the award winning “Polka Family Band” from Bloomsburg, PA.
Most recently, Ted has kept busy by filling in with various bands across the US, and performing with his own band called “SQUEEZEBOX”. He currently performs over 100 dates a year in 20 states a year, covering all areas from the West Coast to East Coast and from Florida to Canada. In “SQUEEZEBOX”, Ted plays accordion, sings, and plays bass in addition to his duties as band manager. In his free time, Ted enjoys spending time with his 10 year old daughter, Alli, and relaxing at home on "off weekends."
Mollie Busta - Trumpet, Sax, Piano, Button Box, Vocals
Mollie Busta has loved music for as long as she can remember. Music always filled the Busta house between the Jim Busta Band (her father’s band) practices and recording sessions, her sister and Dad playing piano, her brother practicing drums, and the records that were played nearly non-stop. Mollie had the beat in her at a very early age. Her mother always says, “Mollie was dancing the polka before she could walk.” Before Mollie started school, she started plunking notes on the piano. And by time she was 8 years old she had enough music knowledge that her Dad put her on stage to chord along on the keyboard with the Jim Busta Band.
For the next 10 years, Mollie played several instruments both in the high school band and her dad’s band. She also composed songs for the piano (some compositions were award-winning), arranged songs for her high school choir and band, and arranged songs for the Jim Busta Band. In addition, she served as the student-director for her high school band both in rehearsals and in concerts. She also held roles in musicals at the Ye Olde Opera House in Spring Grove, Minnesota (her home-town). Her favorite role was “Maria” in the Sound of Music.
The summer Mollie graduated from high school, she joined Karl and the Country Dutchmen out of Trempeleau, Wisconsin, while still playing full-time with the Jim Busta Band and taking on any additional gigs as vocalists for ceremonies, receptions, etc.
Mollie received a Bachelor of Arts degree in music (trumpet and voice) from Luther College and a Master of Arts degree in instruction from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota. While in school, she continued performing music of many genres in the jazz bands, the concert band, the orchestras, the choirs, and in the traveling polka bands on the weekend.
In 2007, Mollie relocated to Ohio and joined SQUEEZEBOX, formerly known as "The Bratwurst Boys." She continues playing and recording with SQUEEZEBOX, showcasing her versatility on several instruments, complimented by her talented vocals.
Beyond performing for various events with different ensembles, Mollie enjoys her “day-job” as a teacher. She has taught in schools (elementary though university level), in churches, and out of her own private music student. And in her free time, she enjoys dancing and traveling.
Since Mollie’s mid-teenager years, she has enjoyed performing with many bands; some of those include Jim Busta Band, Karl and the Country Dutchmen, Bruce Bradley Band, Gary and the Ridgeland Dutchmen, Music Connection, Brian and the Mississippi Valley Dutchmen, the Out-of-Town Czechs, Ray Dorschner and the Rainbow Valley Dutchmen, and SQUEEZEBOX.. In addition, Mollie has been a guest vocalist with award-winning bands, such as Toledo Polka Motion, John Gora and Gorale, Polka Family, Klancnik and Friends and Kevin Solecki.
Some of Mollie’s most note-worthy performances include: Iowa Governor Culver’s Inauguration Gala (Iowa City, IA, 2007), American Folk Arts Festival (Bangor, ME, 2006), “Big Joe Polka Show” (National RFD-TV program 2005-2007), Library of Congress (Washington, DC, 2002), Kennedy Center of Performing Arts (Washington, DC, 2002), Caribbean Cruise (2003), playing the role of “Maria” in the Sound of Music (Spring Grove, MN, 2003), “Polka Passion” (National PBS special, 2001), the President’s Palace in the Dominican Republic (2000), and Handel’s “Messiah” & Mozart’s “Requiem” soprano soloist (Decorah, IA, 2000).
Dave Burner - Drums, Vocals
Dave Burner was born on February 7, 1961 and grew up in the small town of Deshler, Ohio. Somewhere around the age of 6 or 7 he decided that he wanted to be a musician when he grew up and the instrument of choice was the drums. He began drum lessons in the 5th grade and enjoyed playing along to his Bachman Turner Overdrive albums and also to his parents’ Marv Herzog albums. Around the age of 14 he started playing a few songs with the Marv Herzog band when Marv’s band came to the Ohio area. At the age of 16, Dave’s music career started when he joined his first band. From there several years later at the age of 21, he went on to join the Marv Herzog band full time traveling the country and abroad. For about 13 of the next 20 years, Dave would be working with Marv and his band.
Dave also had the opportunity to play music and travel with the Polka Nuts band from Brighton, CO, the Walt Groller orchestra from Whitehall, PA and the Dave Slivinski band from Frankenmuth, MI. For the past 5 years, he has been working with Ted Lange when they were the Bratwurst Boys and now with Squeezebox. Through the years of playing music, Dave also had the privilege of recording numerous albums/discs with Marv Herzog, the Polka Nuts, Dave Slivinski and Squeezebox.
Other areas of musical interest include playing bass guitar and drums with the praise band at his church. Dave’s wife and children are also very musically inclined and they have their own family praise band that occasionally plays at churches in the Toledo, OH area.
Dave has lived in Toledo for the past 19 years with his wife Lynette. They have 3 children; Jessica, Nicholas and Keegan. Dave works as a Computer Systems Administrator for a medical device testing laboratory in Northwood, OH. His hobbies include vacationing with his family, recording music at home with the family band, watching movies and the Ohio State Buckeyes.
