Polka Beats and Fresh Eats at Duke Farmers Market Oct. 9

Hear William Dawson, Duke Hospital’s Musician in Residence, lead the North Carolina Polka Time Allstars in a lively Oktoberfest tribute

William Dawson plays drums and accordion as a one-man band.
The last few years, William Dawson has played as a one-man band outside Duke Cancer Center on a random October day to brighten the mood of patients going in and out of the building. Photo courtesy of William Dawson

When COVID-19 lockdowns and social distancing shut down much of the world in 2020, William Dawson found himself with a calendar free from music gigs for the first time in his adult life. Faced with so much spare time, he decided to finally master a hobby.

Dawson, who plays a dozen instruments and is the Musician in Residence for Arts & Health at Duke University Hospital, had long been confounded by the accordion and never really focused on improving.

“It’s by far the hardest instrument I’ve ever tried to play in my life,” he said.

So, he practiced six hours a day for two months, got really good at it, and then wondered: What could he do with this newfound expertise?

“I’d better make a polka band,” he told himself.

North Carolina Polka Time Allstars is the result, and the polka band will perform at the Duke Farmers Market as an Oktoberfest tribute on Oct. 9 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Duke Medicine Pavilion Greenway.

A wide shot of a nine-member polka band
North Carolina Polka Time Allstars was founded by Duke Hospital's Musician in Residence, William Dawson, after he got serious about playing accordion. Photo courtesy of William Dawson

“I have so much respect and have been so impressed by LIVE FOR LIFE’s Brian Zelanko and his team at the Duke Farmers Market that I wanted to offer my polka band as a gift to everyone,” Dawson said.

Most weeks, Dawson DJs at the farmers market as DJ Parkside, spinning '90s hip-hop and '60s girl-group records.

But since founding North Carolina Polka Time Allstars in 2021, Dawson has learned of the thirst for polka in North Carolina. Dawson is from Pittsburgh, where polka is a standard genre throughout the Rust Belt city, but he has little competition for Oktoberfest performances in the South.

“It was a wild success from the jump,” Dawson said. “Instantly, it was the best idea I’ve ever had in my life.”

North Carolina Polka Time Allstars is comprised of a rotating cast of musicians who can balloon to nine members. For the Duke Farmers Market, three musicians will be on hand: Bill Newton, who works as an Arts & Health bedside musician as “the only good harmonica player I’ve ever met,” Dawson said, but plays saxophone for the polka band, and Dan Eason on banjo.

They join Dawson, who is the group’s one constant and performs simultaneously on the accordion and drums as a version of a “one-man band.”

“It’s really a spectacle,” said Dawson, a former sideman for the band Squirrel Nut Zippers.

Duke staff and faculty can catch the display on the last weekly farmers market before a bonus “Spooktacular” market on Oct. 30. Dawson says it’s worth it just to see an accordion up close – something that doesn’t happen often.

“My favorite is when people come up and say, ‘What the heck is that?’ They have no idea what it is. They’ve never seen one before,” he said. “It’s actually kind of a delightful magic trick that you can share with people.”

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