KB-85 - SOMA 1040

ELMER SCHEID

55

KB-85A - Miller Laendler
KB-85B - Lida Polka

SOMA 1040

Minneapolis, MN

From twincities.com  (4th May 2012)

Perhaps the best concertina player New Ulm ever had - Elmer Scheid - died at age 90 on Friday, May 4, in St. Paul. Scheid, whose polka band performed for 50 years, learned to play the concertina as a youngster, watching his father play the instrument. Scheid performed his first professional dance job at age 13 with the John Fritsche Band. He later played with the Six Fat Dutchmen and the Babe Wagner Band. Scheid managed the Wagner Band from 1949 to 1951 before creating his own band in 1951. The Elmer Scheid Band won the popularity contest at the Marigold Ballroom in Minneapolis in 1958.

At the height of their popularity, Scheid and his band played for nearly all of the dances at George's Ballroom in New Ulm. During the 1950s, more than 50 New Ulm area polka bands including Elmer Scheid and his band were actively booked. Many of the bands toured nationally and recorded for major record labels. At the time, New Ulm was known as the "Polka Capital of the Nation."

Featured in The Journal's 2003 Hometown Harmony tabloid publication, Scheid said the advent of rock 'n' roll music in the 1950s made it more difficult to make a living performing old-time music. He worked as a custodian at 3M in New Ulm for six years but traveled with the band on weekends in its later years.

Scheid produced 15 albums and tapes. The band's last recording was done in 1986. He was inducted into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame in 1995.