Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients

Joe Grkman, SR 1925

Joe Grkman, Sr., is the patriarch of a polka family dynasty in Western Pennsylvania. He along with his sons Joe and Steven and grandson Mike are members of the band. Joe,Sr., was the youngest of six children born into the Grkman family, who emigrated from Slovenia to Yukon, Pennsylvania. Joe admired “Smilin’ Joe” Koracin, a button accordionist, and purchased his first Mervar accordion from

Smilin’ Joe. Joe married Elsie Lazar in 1948. He worked in coal mines as did his father and brothers. His life changed dramatically in 1950 when he bought an Italo-American piano accordion and took lessons to learn to play.

He started a band, the “Slovenian Sound Masters” in 1967, with his son Joe, Jr., and two nephews. The band changed its name to the Joe Grkman Band, and recorded four albums in the 1970s. Many of the compositions were Cleveland-style originals by Joe, Sr. Joe and the band limited engagements to local venues in the 1980s, but returned to the national scene in 1990. The band recorded two more albums and became known as the Joe “GRKMANIA” Grkman Band.
In 1997, Joe received a Fellowship Award from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, as one of Pennsylvania’s distinguished musicians. He was invited to represent musicians from the State of Pennsylvania, the same year, to perform at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The recording “Great-Grandpap Grkman Sings Traditional Slovenian Favorites” features three generations of Grkmans: Joe, Sr., Joe, Jr., Steven, and Joe, Jr.’s son, Mike. At recent performances, another generation was added with the debut of great-grandson Benjamin.

Inducted 2006