After 40-plus years as a polka sideman, Easthampton musician Jim Motyka is celebrating the release of his first-ever solo project.
Earlier this year, Motyka released his 16-track album, “The Way Life Should Be.” It features four of Motyka’s original songs, four traditional Polish songs, and eight country and bluegrass songs that Motyka arranged as polkas.
“When you grow up with [polka], it’s part of your life, but it’s happy music. It’s fun music,” Motyka said. “Even if the words are sad — about breaking up or people passing away and so forth — you can’t help but tap your feet. You can’t help but smile. I absolutely love playing it. To see people dance and enjoy what I’m doing — that’s the whole thing.”
Beyond delivering nearly all the vocals, Motyka showcases his multi-instrumental talents on trumpet, clarinet and saxophone. He is backed by a talented lineup of collaborators: Richie Bernier on accordion, Matt Lewandowski on drums and bass, Al Piatkowski on concertina and accordion, Randy Koslosky on piano and Rusty Danmeyer on steel guitar.
Perhaps the most meaningful collaborator, however, is his wife, Sandy Motyka, who appears on the album as a guest vocalist. Jim even penned an original love song just for her. Titled “You’re the One,” its romantic verses paint a clear picture of their bond: “You’re the one who always makes me smile / You’re the one who makes my life worthwhile / You’re the one whose love feels oh, so right / You’re the one I dream of every night.”
“It just touched my heart so much. It brought me to tears. It was just beautiful,” Sandy Motyka said.
It makes sense that Motyka would write a polka to commemorate their love: the couple met at a polka dance.
“I’d seen her from the stage many times, but I’d never had enough courage to say hi to her until finally, one day, I did,” he said.
As they got to know each other, the two discovered that they shared deep roots: both grew up in Polish-American households where polka music was a staple, and both had lost their former spouses to illness.
“We kind of never thought we would meet someone at this stage in our lives, and we met and had so much in common,” Sandy Motyka said.
Similarly, Motyka said one of the reasons he’s been so involved with polka over the last few decades is that it connects him to his Polish heritage.
“It’s part of being me. I’m an American first, obviously, but I’m Polish-American,” Motyka explained. This deep connection has drawn him to Poland twice and drives him to stay closely informed on local news there. He is also literate in the language — capable of reading, understanding and speaking basic phrases.
One benefit of an album like this, Sandy Motyka noted, is that it highlights the sheer talent within the genre. Polka is full of “men and women who can read music and play music with expertise,” she explained. “They’re fine musicians — it’s not just some little, ‘oom-pah, oom-pah.’ It’s fine musicians who could sit down and read any [sheet music] and play it.”
Motyka echoed that sentiment, noting the accessibility of the local music scene. A polka dance offers fans “a chance to talk to the musicians,” he explained. “It’s not like you’re paying $150 or $300 to sit in a stadium … You get up to talk to them and hang with them and have a drink with them. It’s a real nice give-and-take, and it’s just a lot of fun.”
Another track on the album holds a deeply personal connection for Sandy Motyka. It began as an accordion composition titled “Sandy’s Polka,” written by her late first husband, John Berestka. After finding the piece in his office, Motyka decided to arrange trumpet and clarinet parts for it, later presenting the updated version to Sandy Motyka. To honor both of the men in her life, she renamed the piece “My Sweethearts Polka.”
Reflecting on the final product, Sandy Motyka shared her pride in Motyka’s creativity. “When he’s on stage, he’s a pretty quiet guy who just does what he needs to do,” she said. “But I told him, ‘Jim, you have so much talent, and you need to share that with other people. You need to put a solo project out there.’” True to her word, she remained a close sounding board, offering feedback and suggestions throughout the production process.
“She said it was time for me to try to do something on my own, and I’m very, very pleased with it,” Motyka said. “It came out better than what I’d hoped for.”
While the album is available for listening, it cannot be found on traditional streaming services. Instead, Motyka sells physical copies at his live shows with The Maestro’s Men and The Eddie Forman Orchestra. Fans can also purchase the album directly by emailing him at jimmymocd@gmail.com.
