Jerry Sleger's One Man Band

by ANN Correspondent Rose Dorcey

Twenty years ago, Paul Poberezny heard one of Jerry Sleger's cassette tapes and said, "I've got to get that guy on the stage for a little act." That's how the tradition began.

Jerry Sleger, Sturgeon Bay (WI), is a traveling one-man band. He's been setting up on the same busy corner for nearly two decades, welcoming AirVenture visitors in an incomparable way. If it hadn't been for a life-threatening illness several years back, this would be his 20th anniversary appearance.

His act is unique, to say the least. It's a homebuilt, you might say. It's a conglomeration of fiberglass and keyboards and wires and dials and switches. It has 1265 solder connections.

Oh, I forgot, it's all connected to an accordion. Try as I may, it's hard to describe. Sleger can't describe it, either. It's something that must be experienced.

"It's so hard to explain," said Sleger, when asked to describe his music machine. "I wouldn't even know where to start. Everything you see, I built. The accordion I built, and fiberglassed it, and inside of there I've got four keyboards running into the accordion. The other keyboards I work with my right hand and with foot expressions. There is not another like it, no place."

This is easy to believe. Along with the musical instruments, is a revolving speaker, an organ, Sleger told me, and the organ is triggered by the accordion. To add a little visual interest, he added some toys-a dancing hula girl doll, a drum-pounding circus monkey, and a barking dog in the tip box.

Sleger's repertoire is restricted; he knows what he wants to play-big band, old-time music. No rock, no country. AirVenture attendees stop to listen. Some sing, some dance in the street, some point and laugh. Most are appreciative of his talent. It's one of the most familiar, and unmatched, traditions at Oshkosh.

"Oh, the people love it," Sleger said. "When they come in, they hear it way back. They tell me 'Oshkosh wouldn't be the same without it.'"

His wife LaVern sits in a lawn chair nearby. For nineteen years, she's sold his CDs. It turns out; Paul Poberezny is a big fan.

"He waves everyday when he comes by," said Sleger. "He's got all of 'em," referring to the CDs.

If you're not at AirVenture this year, you must come in 2007 to experience the talent of Jerry Sleger, with his "totally new designed sound." He plans to keep on coming to Oshkosh as long as he lives. Besides, there's an airplane or two to check out, and I heard there's a daily air show, too.

FMI: www.airventure.org