Meet the Band . . TKO 2010 Ken,Tom,Joe,Caz,Chuck and Tim

Ken was actually raised on polka music.  All though he now plays a variety of tunes from every era, keeping up with the changing of time’s in the music industry.  Ken’s father, Lenny, headed the Lenny Adams and the Polka Stars Band in the early 70’s in Baltimore for many years.  Ken’s musical career began in 1970, at the age of 10 with the guitar.  Then he tried the bass guitar, which did not satisfy his need for volume.  Ken convinced his dad to purchase a set of drums, which drove his mom, Marion, crazy. After a few years of lessons/practice, Ken got his first break to play in his dad’s band in 1977, at the age of 17.  The original Lenny Adams and the Polka Stars played many well known-local venues throughout the Baltimore-Washington corridor. The band continued their success, eventually growing in size in 1979 with an 8-piece group, including musicians from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, receiving much notoriety along the way.  Additionally, the band recorded three albums, most notably a local favorite, “Polish Wedding”, which preserved both old-fashioned Polish traditional wedding customs, and a unique sound of the band. 

In 1980 Ken’s Dad was diagnosed with lung cancer and passed away on Dec 24, 1982.  Ken was given the responsibility to head the Lenny Adams and the Polka Stars Band to continue maintaining the family tradition.  In doing so, Ken tackled the taske for a few years, but decided to put the great memories and sounds of the band to rest in memory of his dad.  Ken then decided to start fresh with his own band, which was called The Class Act Band.  Class Act continued on for about 5 years, eventually evolving into the current band TKO BAND.  Over the past few years, the band has featured some of the most prominent musicians in the East Coast Polka scene, eventually leading the members to perform on the CD’s published by TKO; in 1994 “TKO Round 1” and in 1999 “Another Round”... Along with some of Pennsylvania Polka ch 44 Video’s.

Ken has been the driving force behind TKO’s longevity, coming up on there 16^th year-2010. Ken has been promoting the band to promoter’s/musicians/DJ’s and fans alike. He continues to keep the beat behind the music, and provides all the legwork for their success.  He leads the band, providing all the technical and administrative support to keep TKO working.  Although musicians have come and gone, Ken has kept TKO performing.  Whether performing with a 2pc or 6pc group Ken will give 100% to provide great musicians for a great performance to dedicated fans.

Ken has retired from Baltimore City after 23 years and landed a career in Personal Finance.He works for Primerica Financial Services www.Primerica.com.   Ken’s hobbies are playing drums, softball, karate and weightlifting.

Ken is active member in the following:

Moose Lodge, PGK Knights Of Columbus, Law Officers Association, President of The PolkaWeekanders, Polish Home Club, TKO Social Club, Rosedale Community Association.

Tom Walsh:   Flugelhorn/Trumpet/Vocals

Tom began his musical career with the Golden Impala’s at the age of 16.  He then began to study at Towson State where he played with the jazz ensemble band, under the direction of Hank Levy. After college he pursued his musical career on the road with a variety of bands. Such as Little El, a Vegas Style show band, Piney (a top 40 group) and Midnight Sensation.  Tom joined TKO in 2001 on New Years Eve as a fill-in player. He has been with the group ever since.  Tom adds to the group his vocal abilities with the Motown, Classic Rock, Country, and Latin tunes. Tom also does a great impersonation of Louie Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World”. . . Always a crowd favorite.  Tom even learned a few polka tunes to help out the band for when needed. Tom has a wide selection of jazz tunes, which we perform at weddings for our dinner sets.

Tom Walsh resides in Dundalk, MD and is currently employed with Harford County Waste Treatment Plant.  He enjoys playing with the Essex Community College Big Band in his spare time.

Dave started playing piano at the age of 3. He studied jazz/technical piano at Peabody Institute.  Dave joined TKO in 1996 at the age of 20.  In 1999 he performed on our CD Another Round.  Dave adds to the band his vocal ability and his jazz/blues styling piano playing.  He also adds to the band his accordion skills.  Dave played the midi bass along with the accordion on our polka gigs.  Thanks to his parents Jerry and Janet he speaks the Polish language fluently, which adds to the Polish styles tunes, along with the Polish vocals for the polka’s/obereks, and waltzes.  His ability to play both keyboard and accordion gives us the opportunity to perform a wide variety of tunes [Polish, Polka’s and a variety of American tunes] from every era.  Dave is recognized in the polka field for the song “Ja Do Lasu“ which he and his Mom put together.  We recorded that tune on our CD in 1999, “Another Round”.  Dave is currently in Salisbury,MD. Ocean Pines?

John Miconi: Freelance Horn Player Trumpet/Flugelhorn/Vocal

John will be seen occasionally with TKO on the polka gigs showing his talent on the trumpet.  John has played with various bands in the Baltimore area throughout his music career.  He continues to perform with various bands locally as needed.  John has recorded both CD’s with TKO in 1994 and 1999.  Along with some of the TV appearances on CH 44 in PA, John has enjoyed playing on the road with some of the polka bands in the area.  His most recent, Charm City Sound.  John is one of the original members of TKO band, which started back in 1994.  John has been mastering the trumpet since his high school days. John’s musical career started back in the early 70’s with a group called The Royal Cavaliers, out of Baltimore, MD.  John is currently active in the 229^th Army National Guard Band.  John is currently employed with BGE and resides in Baltimore County, MD.

Mike Ziemski Trumpet/Flugelhorn/Vocals

Mike is also one of the original members of TKO from back in '94.  His vocal's and playing talents can be heard on "TKO Round 1" and on "Another Round" cds.  He will be performing the polka events with the band as needed.  Over the years, Mike performed with Charm City Sound, Brass Works, Johnny Haas, Melody Sounds 1-2.  Mike also performed with the house band from Blob's Park (The Rheinlanders).  Mike is one of the hosts of Polkamotion by the Ocean, an annual four day Polka Fest held in Rehobeth Beach, DE.  Mike is employed by Carefirst as a Training Specialist.

Chuck Pendrak:accordion/keyboard/midi bass/vocal/clarinet/sax

Tim Tamassia: keyboard/piano/bass

Joe Zarzycki:trumpet/vocals/percussion 

	Gerry Adamski Bass/Guitar/Vocals
	Mike Caswell Guitar/Vocals

Copyright 2009