Behind an average wood fence here lies a yard with a dog, a picnic table and detached garage. Under the right cosmic conditions, that garage may or may not produce a band of like-minded members. However, the very last sound you’d expect to ring through this placid neighborhood is polka.

Inside the garage, a merry band of middle-aged men brought together by their kids who attend the same school rock out to their version of an ethnic genre of music tracing back to the 19th century. If their band name wasn’t enough of an indication, The Meat Rabbits play a kind of “pistol-polka” that you won’t find at any sleepy soiree.

In preparation for their German Kulturfest performance at Moorhead’s Hjemkomst Center on Saturday, Sept. 14, the band took to their run-of-the-mill garage to practice a form of polka-rock that resembles a kaleidoscope of doilies and rosemaling set to the tune of Led Zeppelin.

“We’re on the cutting edge,” says Matt “Cat-Pote” Rutten somewhat sardonically. As the current drummer and all around musician, Rutten is a historian of sorts for the band, laying out elaborate yet somewhat questionable folk tales of the band’s beginning.

Biography via 2019 Inforum Article