Trustees Honor Roll

Kovacic, John "Evie"

Button Accordionist and Bandleader (1907-1942)
Inducted on November 30, 1996

John Kovacic was among the pioneers of Cleveland-Style polkas in the Penn-Ohio area before a tragic accident cut his career short at the age of thirty-four. Standing before a mirror as a teenager, the right-handed John learned to play button box left-handed (i.e. upside down) by watching his fingers on the keyboard. Mastering Croatian, Italian, polish and popular American standards to bolster his Cleveland-Style repetoire, John was soon playing for weddings, dances and parties. John was the first accordionist to play over the airwaves of Youngstown’s WKBN in 1931, and later had his own program. Using the stage name of Evie Kovac, John performed six nights a week with his trio in the Penn-Ohio area and traveled to Cleveland, Akron, Detroit and Pennsylvania emulating Matt Hoyer on his Mervar diatonic accordions.