Darrell began entertaining at age 15 when he played accordion for his father's band, Calvin Weltin and the Merry Makers. He then merged with longtime friend Lenny Longuski and formed the Style Stix. Darrell loves to play music. His focus and willingness to excel at everything he does makes him an exceptional accordionist, pianist and concertina player. Darrell was the original leader of The Michigan Connection before he handed the reigns to Paul Romanowski to join Mark Janson's Brass Express. He played Concertina and Accordion for the Brass Express for 13 years before taking over the leadership of the band and naming it The new Brass Express in 2002.Over his 32 year musical career, Darrell has also been able to play with several of the most popular bands in the industry. He has performed with Eddie Blazonczyk's Versatones, The Dynatones, Stas' Golanka's Chicago Masters, and many many more. His talent, desire and dedication has enabled him to assemble a band that will play all types of music at any event and please every music enthusiast. In addition to being the leader of The New Brass Express, Darrell is the owner and President of Weltin Meat Packing in Minden City, MI and also owns Backroads Recording Studios in Ubly, MI.

Bob is a vocalist and the guitar player for The New Brass Express. He has been performing professionally for over 30 years. Originally from Detroit, Bob performed with the popular "Crosswinds" band for over 20 years and played several major venues and functions in the area. His talent, voice and high energy on stage ignites the crowd at every event. Bob increases the band's versatility by being able to perform several popular tunes of all categories of music that everyone enjoys. He is the owner of Caro Music in Caro, MI where he also teaches guitar and banjo lessons.

Bill has played professionally for over 35years. His first gig at the age of 13 was with Walt Cieslik and the Musical Ambasadors.  During his high school years, Bill performed with The Richard Swenskowski Orchestra and the Gold Tones.  After high school, Bill joined the Dynastics's and recorded a 45 and 2 albums before leaving the group in the 80's.  Bill has performed and recorded with several groups including The Detroit Polka Authority,Mark Ksiasek's Zug Islanders,Dan Gury and the Dyna Dukes,Lil Wally and Stas Golunka.  He joined the Natural Tones in 2008 and The New Brass Express in 2010 and continues to free lance with several Blues/Motown Groups in the Detroit and Tampa/St.Pete areas.

Jason began his musical adventures with piano lessons at an early age. He would later become accomplished on tuba, bass guitar, and pipe organ. Jason would commence his career in the polka field as an original member of Polka Riot and then with Mark Janson’s Brass Express. He would then focus on finishing his two degrees in classical piano performance from Central Michigan University while playing at bars and fraternity parties with a progressive rock/metal band.Upon graduation from college, Jason rejoined Mark Janson’s Brass Express and later performed with C.J. and The Krue. In addition to performing with The New Brass Express, he also plays with Polka Music Sound, The Dynadukes, 16-piece Jazz/Swing band The Baytones, and subs with the New Orleans/Zydeco band The Saucecats. If that were not enough, Jason also plays tuba with The Saginaw Eddy Concert Band, The Bay Concert Band, The Frankentrost Band, and subs with The Saginaw Brass Quintet. He also plays piano and organ at two churches every Sunday. The musical adventures continue. . .

Johnny has been performing professionally in the Polka Music field in Michigan for over 35 years. He began playing clarinet and saxophone with the Polka Sparks in 1974, and stayed with the band when it regrouped as the Harmony Knights in the late 70’s, adding the trumpet to his repertoire. In 1984, after brief periods of filling in with Jim Krzyzewski’s Harmony Jacs and Gene Gwizdala’s Polka Spirits, Johnny joined Tommy Reder’s PolkaTowners. In the late 80’s, after Tommy’s retirement, Johnny took over the announcing duties for the group, now calling themselves the PolkaTowners Chapter 2. In 2002, he joined Mark Janson’s Brass Express, which became the New Brass Express after Mark’s retirement from the band in 2003.

Johnny is a fantastic musician who, in addition to his three current instruments, can also fill in on accordion and drums. His English and Polish vocals and harmonies are excellent.

When not playing music, Johnny’s “day job” is at Covenant HealthCare in Saginaw, MI, where he is a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. He resides in Hemlock, MI.

It was August of 1972 when Ed and his parents attended their first International Polka Association convention held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This, he will tell you, was a "monumental" experience. Seeing and hearing bands perform "live" at this national venue was very exciting and after hearing a Chicago based group called "The Tones" (Eddie's long time favorite band) he knew that playing Polka music would become his passion. At that time, Ed had just been recruited by professional polka drummer Tony Kempinski to join his new band called The Dynasticks (Dynastics). According to Eddie, this group provided the "real training ground" where he was able to perfect not only his playing proficiency, but also develop a skill for arranging music and for writing original musical passages and lyrics. Eddie was featured on clarinet, sax, vocals, and he taught himself to play the trumpet in order to expand the group's musical capabilities. This talented and versatile group of youngsters gained national exposure after releasing their first recording in 1976. It was a 45 rpm record of two original songs: Lost Your Love Polka and an instrumental called Shoeshine Polka. This led to playing on the national Polka scene and the group recording its first album called Detroit's Spirit of Polkas. This recording featured all original material, a noteworthy achievement for such a young group. At that time, Eddie was attending Henry Ford community College and found time to co-host a polka radio show over the campus radio station. The Dynastics went on to record a second album called Take Another Look which also featured a number of original songs and unique arrangements. The Dynastics disbanded at the end of 1979 and a new decade of musical opportunities began. Eddie had already established a fine reputation among Michigan based bands and was often called on to do both fill-in work and studio recordings. However, his desire to perform on a national level led him to join well-known vocalist Stash Golonka and his Chicago Masters. Eddie had no problems adapting to Stash's polka style and would spend the next seven years entertaining fans nationwide with his "tight" harmony vocals, smooth solos, exemplary harmonies, and would contribute greatly to Stash's hit recording Hooked On Honky. In 1987 Eddie returned to the reformed Dynastics where he would again become a major catalyst. Their WRS recording Back On Track remains highly regarded by many musicians to this day and Eddie's arrangement and vocalizing on Always polka quickly became his signature song. Eddie would continue his pursuit of musical excellence in the 90's. First, by becoming band leader of Prime Drive (Detroit's Musical Answer) and recording Prime Drive – Overdrive, and later accepting a new challenge by joining polka icon Eddie Blazonczyk and his Versatones. After three years on the road and three Grammy nominated recordings, he decided to slow down a bit and "freelance". Eddie welcomed the opportunity to again play with a variety of bands, learning and adding to his vast experience with musical style and interpretation. He seized the opportunity to work with the famous Polka Family Band in 1997 and learned yet another challenging repertoire of material. Then in 1998 he joined the popular Toledo Polkamotion band, which provided him another golden opportunity to showcase his talents and creativity. Eddie made 3 recordings with TPM and was featured on vocals, trumpet, clarinet, alto sax, tenor sax, and notably the soprano saxophone, which hadn't been used for decades in Polka music. He remained with TPM until the group's retirement in 2004 and then was asked to join the time honored Brass Connection headed by IPA Polka Hall of Famer Frank Liszka. After 3 years of living in the Cleveland area, Eddie and his wife and former Polka DJ "Polka Shirley Panczyk" moved back to Michigan in October 2007 and are currently residing in Dearborn. Ed is again performing primarily with Michigan bands including the Natural Tones, and the New Brass Express. He is also a representative with Diversified Sales and Service, Inc., a firm specializing in solar energy systems and other energy saving products. Eddie can be heard on 43 recordings to date including the recent Grammy nominated "Bullet Proof Polkas" by Gorale. He has performed with numerous bands over the last 39 years including: Marion Lush, Lil' Wally, Wanda & Stephanie, Lenny Gomulka and the Chicago Push, The Sounds, Bruno Mikos, The Beat, Ray Jay and the Carousels, Jan Levan, the Dynatones, Jimmy Sturr, Jersey Polka Richie, and many more. Other career highlights include: induction into the International Polka Assoc. Polka Music Hall of Fame in 2005; appearing on the soundtrack and in the movie Welcome to Collinwood; attending, by invitation, the Cannes Film Festival, performing at the movie's premiere in Cleveland and attending the Hollywood premiere; performing at the American Folklife Festival sponsored by the Smithsonian Institute in Michigan and Washington D.C.; performing over public radio; promoting and running a successful polka dance. His pleasing personality, professional attitude, and tireless dedication to musical excellence have earned him the respect of the polka community at large.

Jeff began playing drums at the young age of five.  Well, not technically playing drums.  Ask his grandmother Loraine and she will tell you that is when it all started.  She would baby sit Jeff and that was no easy task.  To keep him busy, she would set pots and pans in front of him in the kitchen.  Add a couple wooden spoons and jeff would sit for hours playing his make shift drum set.  Only grandma knows how many wooden spoons Jeff went through.  Jeff has over twenty years of experience.  Jeff's first started in polkas playing with his first band C.J. Lackowski and Polka Magic before he was old enough to drive.  He then was the first drummer for a new band called Jeff Mleczko and the Dynabrass.  In the early nineties Jeff turned his focus to his true passion which is country music.  He then became the drummer for John Patrick who had two singles reach the billboard charts.  The two of them put together a band called Most Wanted.  They enjoyed much success playing across the United States and opening for Martina McBride, Patty Loveless, Joe Diffie, Pam Tillis, and Waylon Jennings just to name a few.  This is the part of the story where the woman comes in (no book or movie is complete without one).  He met his wife Heather (she completely shot him down the first night they met and wanted nothing to do with a drummer in a band) OUCH!  She finally came to her senses and they were married and now have three kids living in Swartz Creek,Mi.  He played in one full time band after happily becoming a family man.  In 2004, Jeff began playing with the country band Young Country.  In 2005,  Jeff and lead singer Kevin Chamberlain broke away from Young Country and formed the Kevin Chamberlain Band playing many casino gigs.  They did the after shows for Keith Urban, Martina McBride, Alan Jackson, Reba, Lynard Skynard and a New Years Eve show with Gretchen Wilson.  He also played drums for Tim McGraw during an impromptu casino perfomance.  Jeff has logged many hours of recording studio time both in Michigan and in Nashville. Jeff currently works for UPS. Jeff is happy to be aboard the express.