Ed Guca was born on August 7, 1944 to a
very musical Polish family in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His uncle played
clarinet in a popular wedding band and was of particular influence in
Ed’s love for Polka music. It was in his youth that Ed learned how to
play the accordion from a teacher who showed him how to play from the
heart.
Ed
formed his first band, The Polka Aces, in high school. He also took up
clarinet and sax, which he mastered as his favorite instruments. After
university, Ed, along with fellow musicians Joe Banel and Ed Grzesik,
traveled to Chicago where they became acquainted with Li’l Wally. Wally
was a great inspiration for Ed and suggested a new name for the band,
The Polish Canadians. Ed Guca & the Polish Canadians soon became one of
the most celebrated Polka bands of the 1970s and 1980s, performing at
all the leading Polka festivals of the time.
During his heyday, Ed also engaged in a
number of other exciting ventures. He hosted a show called "The All
Night Friday Night Polka Party" as a DJ on CHIN-FM radio. He established
RAM Records to record Canadian Polka talent. He ran the Canadian Polka
Carnival on the first Friday after every Easter for 25 years, and
promoted various other Polka dances, bringing top Polka bands from the
USA to Canada. One of the greatest highlights of Ed’s career was to
perform at the 1977 World Polka Festival in Poland.
In the early 1980s, Ed stepped away from
the stage to raise two beautiful daughters, Weslie and Karen, with his
wife Wanda. However, it was not long before he was recruited back onto
the Polka scene by the Canadian Fiddlestix, touring with them until the
group disbanded.
Come the 1990s, Ed formed a Polish pop band
called Major Music, but soon reunited The Polish Canadians by popular
demand from his Polka fans. With a desire to record his music once
again, he constructed a modern digital studio and started POLANCA
Records.
Ed has recorded eleven LPs on the RAM, Jay
Jay, PolkaTone and Bel-Aire labels and three CDs on the POLANCA label.
Ed’s biggest hit was "Ej Mamusiu Moja," which has been recorded
by several other Polka bands.
At 65, Ed Guca is still performing,
recording, and is currently in charge of the entertainment committee for
the Roncesvalles Village Polish Festival in Toronto, promoting polka
music to over 100,000 people each year.