Milwaukee Native Warns Of 'Too Much Christmas Kielbasa' In Song

MILWAUKEE COUNTY, WI — A man consumes a large amount of Polish sausage to the point of dying. After his death, his wife empties his wallet and o single $1 bill falls out. The tragic tale is sung by accordionist Mike Schneider in his song, “Christmas Kielbasa.”

The underlying message is: Don't eat too much kielbasa.

The Milwaukee native, who now lives in Clinton, has played the accordion since he was 6. His father, also an accordionist, would bring out the musical instrument from time to time when Schneider was a tot.

"It planted the early seeds of appreciation of the accordion," he told Patch.

Schneider's love of polka music was cemented at the age of 5, after his folks took him to see polka musician Frank Yankovic play in Milwaukee.

His band, The Mike Schneider Band, has been around since 1996. The band has appeared numerous times at Oktoberfest in New Ulm, Minnesota, plus Summerfest and Rainbow Summer in Milwaukee and the Motongator Music Festival in Wallace, Michigan.

"It has been a lot of years but also a lot of fun," he said.

Polka and the pandemic

In 2008, Mike Schneider created the Pint Size Polkas project. His goal is to bring polka music to a new generation of fans while educating them on several core curriculum topics. Over the summer, he was scheduled to do an event in Oregon and 120 shows.

"COVID-19 came around, and all but one library canceled their in-person visits," he told Patch.

He was able to schedule virtual programming for libraries and was able to salvage a chunk of his gigs but admits it was "different."

For Oktoberfest in the fall, he was surprised at the number of gigs offered, although many were last minute. Schneider said people were apprehensive about scheduling too far out due to the pandemic.

'Polka lifts the spirit'

Schneider has written 25 polka songs as an artist. He tends to focus on how the chords sound and not so much on lyrics. However, with the title track of The Mike Schneider Band's Christmas album, “Christmas Kielbasa," he wanted to paint a picture or movie, he said.

"I wanted to take a person through the torment of a person who couldn't get enough of kielbasa," he told Patch.

His wife and kids star in the music video for the song. Schneider's young son has started to play the accordion, and his daughter plays the violin. Schneider said they loved seeing the end product.

He admits that he has limited experience with the Polish dish. Schneider said he ate it as a kid but not so much as an adult.

"I thought if I could tie something from the Polish culture to a polka song, it would make some fans in the Milwaukee area," he said.

Schneider felt the humor was important this year due to the ongoing pandemic.

"Polka music lifts the spirit. Add something as funny as Christmas kielbasa is and, hopefully, it will bring a little laugh," he said.

The song, "Klaus the Yodeling Reindeer" is also meant to make people chuckle.

The album is not just silly songs but also has sentimental songs such as "Toyland" and "Auld Lang Syne."

"It was a fun project for me, creatively," he said.