Brave Combo at Clearwater Festival

Brave Combo performed on Sunday, June 17, at the annual Great Hudson River Revival, also known as the Clearwater Festival, an event founded by legendary folk musician Pete Seeger which focuses on music and social and environmental justice.

Pictured here is Brave Combo's founding member, Carl Finch. Finch is a native of Texarkana, Texas who plays several instruments and writes most of the band's original material.

Brave Combo was founded in 1979 and perform a variety of sounds, rooted in a rock-heavy form of polka, but also exploring the diverse sounds of their home state of Texas, including a variety of Latin sounds, the zydeco of neighboring Louisiana, and all sorts of flavors of rock and R&B, and are particularly well-known for their delightfully incongruous covers of well-known rock and pop classics (from "Purple Haze" to "Sixteen Tons" to every wedding DJ's favorite "The Chicken Dance").

The band has earned two Grammy awards and a handful of nominations, has appeared in animated form on The Simpsons, performed as David Byrne's wedding band, and performed on Bob Dylan's Christmas Album, among other wild and wonderful accolades and adventures befitting this eclectic group.

Little Jack Melody Performing with Brave Combo at the Clearwater Festival

Little Jack Melody is the current bass guitar player for Brave Combo, having joined in 2009, and is shown here performing with the band at the 2012 Clearwater Festival. Little Jack Melody (a stage name, as you might've guessed) also fronts his own band, Little Jack Melody and his Young Turks, and is based out of Denton, TX.

Ginny Mac Performing with Brave Combo

Ginny Mac, an accordion player, singer, and songwriter from Fort Worth, TX, is Brave Combo's newest member, having joined the band in 2011. She's shown here playing accordion with the group at the Clearwater Festival in Croton-on-Hudson, NY on June 17, 2012.

Jeffrey Barnes Performing with Brave Combo

Jeffrey Barnes is Brave Combo's second-longest-serving member, after band founder Carl Finch himself. Barnes joined the group in 1983, and has been an integral part of the band's horn-heavy polka-rock sound ever since. Though he's an Ohio native, the University of Texas brought him to the Lone Star State, and ultimately, Brave Combo kept him there.

Alan Emert Performing with Brave Combo

Shown in this picture is drummer Alan Emert, performing with polka-rock band Brave Combo at the 2012 Great Hudson River Revival (also known as the Clearwater Festival). Emert has been, according to Brave Combo's official website, the band's go-to drummer since 1994.

Jeffrey Barnes, Brave Combo's horn section leader and second-longest-running band member, performs on several horn instruments, including at least two different sizes of saxophone. He is shown here performing on a tenor saxophone.

Brave Combo's set at the 2012 Great Hudson River Revival (Clearwater Festival) was performed in the Dance Tent, the perfect venue for a band of this kind. Dancers kicked up their heels to polkas, waltzes, Texas two-steps, several Latin dances, and even the twist.