Since first learning to play the piano at four years old, James William Sturr Jr. has been marching to a different drummer (primarily one that can keep a 2/4 beat).
Before he became the most celebrated Polka artist in the world he was just a small town Irish kid that grew up in a very rural farming community near the Hudson river where most of the residents were Polish. As such he was exposed to a great deal of Polka music.
He started his own band "The Melody Makers" at the ripe old age of eleven which led to, not only a full time musical career, but the blossoming of a career in concert production. As a teenager young Jim booked acts like Woody Herman, Buddy Rich, Bobby Helms, Hank Williams Jr and many more. The experience not only proved financially beneficial to the budding entrepreneur but taught him the art of promotion and the proper way to put on a show. Both skills that proved beneficial to his future endeavors as he continued to make a mark on the polka scene throughout the world.
He would go on to become one of the most successful entertainers of his genre, winning eighteen Grammy awards and numerous gold albums. That's the same amount as Paul McCartney, Tony Bennett and Aretha Franklin. Ray Charles only received seventeen.
Adhering to the old adage that you're only as good as the people you surround yourself with, the dynamic band leader has always worked with some of the best musicians in the business including the likes of renowned saxophonist and vocalist Johnny Karas, ferocious fiddler Frank Urbanovitch and Chris Caffery the guitar virtuoso of Trans Siberian Orchestra fame. Over the years Jimmy Sturr and his Orchestra have recorded with such luminaries as Arlo, Guthrie, Willie Nelson, Bela Fleck, Alison Krauss and many more.
Sturr and company have performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Yankee Stadium, The Palace of Culture in Warsaw and continue to tour all over the world to this day. His television show can be seen on RFD -TV and his syndicated weekly radio program can be heard throughout the nation as well as on SiriusXM
With a resume like that, we're pretty sure that even James Bond would have to agree that he prefers his polkas "Sturred, not shaken"