This Week in Texas Music History

This Week In Texas Music History: Lee Roy Matocha

July 9, 2012 5:00 am by: Haley Howle

lee roy

This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll remember an accordion player who squeezed a lot of music into one lifetime.

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Lee Roy Matocha died on July 12, 2003. Nicknamed the “Fayetteville Flash,” Matocha was born on August 2, 1932, in Plum, Texas. He began playing accordion professionally at the age of fourteen. In 1964, he formed the Lee Roy Matocha Orchestra, which became one of the most popular Czech bands in Texas.

Lee Roy Matocha made dozens of recordings. He also hosted numerous programs in both Czech and English that were broadcast to Czech communities throughout Central and East Texas. Because of his lifelong dedication to promoting Czech music, he won the Texas Polka Music Lifetime Achievement Award, not once, but twice. Next time on This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll meet a singer who had a minty fresh moniker.

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