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Hank Haller
Living Category -
Inducted 2003
Hank Haller (Westlake, OH) Musician, Vocalist,
Bandleader, Deejay, Numerous Recordings, Traveling Band.
Mention Hank Haller and visions of oompah music and
“leder-hosen”-short leather pants, come to mind. But Haller is more.
He is a very prolific recording artist in the polka field with seventy
albums and three videos to his credit, with over one quarter of a
mullion albums sold.
 While
he is a leading proponent of German style polkas, Haller is a big fan of
the Oberkrainer music of Slavko and Vilko Avsenik of Slovenia and
Cleveland style polkas. He has recorded many albums which feature
Slovenian and English lyrics sung to these polkas and waltzes.
His parents, Henry and Katherine, emigrated to
Cleveland from a German settlement in the former Yugoslavia, seven
decades ago. Haller started playing the piano accordion at age eight,
but his teacher doubted his talent, so he switched to clarinet. He
picked up the accordion again at age 16 and joined his uncle Jake
Haller’s band in 1952. Within five years, Hank became the leader and the
Hank Haller Band has had a non stop run for fifty years.
Haller started playing on a regular basis for his
friend Steve Bencic at the Sachsenheim Club in 1958. A few years later
at the opening of Bencic’s “Hofbrau Haus” Restaurant in Cleveland, he
was the house band. The Hank Haller Band was in on the ground of the
Berman beer festival “Oktoberfest”. Haller numbers among his musical
career highlights his annual performances for 15 years at the Bavarian
Festival in Barnesville, Pennsylvania (near Allentown). He said the
first time he saw the festival, it was the biggest festival he had ever
seen. He quickly became accustomed to playing for the 110,000 people in
attendance.
Another highlight for Haller was the nomination of
this album “Thank You Dear and Give Her Roses”, for a Grammy award in
the polka category in 1987.
For thirty years he was joined on stage by his wife
Maryanne, who sang with the Haller Ensemble. Haller sings on many of his
recordings as well as featured vocalists Jerry Krocek and Ken Umeck.
As an indefatigable polka promoter, Haller is a
travel tour leader too, inviting fans and friends who, to date, have
joined him on thirty four cruises and trips to Europe and Hawaii.
Another facet of Haller’s energy and popularity was
exhibited by the 200 appearances the Haller Band made on the weekly
“Polka Varieties” television program, during its 27 years on the air in
Cleveland. He also found time to host a German radio show in recent
years.
Like many musicians, Haller had a day job. He
earned a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from Case Western
Reserve University. He worked at NASA for twenty years and fifteen years
for the US Department of Defense.
Haller also has branched out into the polka music
of other nationalities, including Bohemian, Slovak and Austrian. One
thread is a constant factor in his recordings. Haller plays it
authentically or as he says “authenticity is paramount.”
He and Maryanne reside in Westlake, Ohio. The
couple has four children, daughter Hillary and sons Henry Jr., Peter and
Conrad. |
