15 Facts About Louis Bashell

Louis Bashell was an American polka musician from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Louis Bashell began playing accordion as a 7 year old, and soon began playing it at his family's "Bashell's Tavern" in the Walker's Point neighborhood.

Louis Bashell played accordion and he hired a drummer and saxophone player.

Louis Bashell formed a five-piece band in the late 1940s; their recording of the Slovenian folk song, "Zidana Marela," was successful.

Louis Bashell wanted to be close to his wife and children.

Louis Bashell later did tours through the "polka belt" in northern United States from North and South Dakota through New Jersey.

Louis Bashell performed at his family's bar for 50 years, as well as house parties, weddings, anniversaries, ballrooms, halls, clubs, bars, and other community-based events in Milwaukee.

Louis Bashell's albums sold around the United States and worldwide.

Louis Bashell was a trustee in the Wisconsin Polka Hall of Fame in the 2000s.

Louis Bashell stopped performing in the 2000s after his health began declining.

Louis Bashell died on December 17,2008, from complications of pneumonia.

Louis Bashell had been fighting Alzheimer's disease for two years at his death.

Louis Bashell was inducted in the Wisconsin Polka Hall of Fame and received a lifetime achievement award from the National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame.

Louis Bashell was nominated for six Wisconsin Area Music Industry's polka awards between 1996 and 2001; he won the award in 1999.

Louis Bashell was a recipient of a 1987 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.