With 13 Grammy nominations and three wins, Walter Ostanek’s reign as Canada’s polka king is solid.
His father’s search for work led the Ostaneks to St. Catharines when Walter was in grade school. By age nine, he was playing the button diatonic accordion, and by age 12 had graduated to the piano accordion.
Four years later, inspired by both his admiration for American polka great Frank Yankovic and his love for country music, Ostanek formed his country-tinged polka band, in 1951. At 18, he was invited to join Abbie Andrews and the Canadian Ranch Boys, and quickly became a cornerstone of their three-times-a-week radio broadcasts. In 1957, his new band, the Walter Ostanek Band, made its debut at the German Village in Niagara Falls, Ontario. He went on to record more than 50 albums, host a variety show, Polka Party, for 22 seasons and perform at the Grand Ole Opry.
In addition to the three Grammys, Ostanek has won awards for song of the year, album of the year and musician of the year from the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame; multiple band-of-the-year honours from Kitchener’s world-renowned Oktoberfest; inductions to Akron’s Broadcasters Hall of Fame, and both the Chicago and Cleveland Polka Halls of Fame; and the Order of Canada.
