History

There once was a little boy who grew up in Fairmont , Minnesota and had his roots deeply embedded into the family tradition of old tyme music. That little boy, Adam Sandhurst, was born on May 24th, 1983. Adam’s mother often thought that bringing Adam to a lot of dances in the womb may have contributed to Adam’s love for music. Adam grew up listening to polka music so, in his words, his love for polka music was “in his blood.”

His mother (Karen Muehlbauer Sandhurst) came from a musical family out of New Ulm, Minnesota - the Muehlbauers. His father (Ron Sandhurst) came from another musical family out of Fulda , Minnesota - the Sandhursts. Adam went to quite a few dances at a young age. With Mom and Dad playing on Vince’s Concertina Band (Adam’s great-uncle), this was convenient and entertaining for Adam. Adam would always marvel at the concertina players on any band. It got to the point where Adam would stand by Vince and fake playing along side of him. Mom and Dad decided to make Adam a cardboard concertina. Adam would bring it along to his grandpa’s (Delmar “Boots” Muehlbauer) and play next to him. (A picture of this is featured on Adam’s first recording)

So when it came time for Adam to choose an instrument for band in 4th grade, he picked up trumpet, just like Dad. Adam continued with trumpet and went on to play the 2nd trumpet book for Vince’s Concertina Band (Adam’s great-uncle). He also played a couple dance jobs with the Peter & Paul Wendinger Band (Adam’s distant cousins).

In the year 2000 Adam decided to start his own band “Adam Sandhurst & The Jolly Jammers”, featuring the traditional Czech, German, and Dutchmen style. Starting out as a five piece band, the band progressed and put out a recording in 2002 called “Keeping the Tradition.” As time went on the band grew to a six-seven piece band and put out another recording in 2004 called “Memories Are Precious.” Since the band has completed three more albums, one in 2009 “Premium Old Tyme Music”, one in 2012 called “Going Back To My Homeland”, & the most recent in 2016 called "Lost & Found". With influences that include Earl Schmidt, Jerry Schuft, Ivan Kahle, Ray Dorschner, Elmer Scheid, etc…“Adam Sandhurst & The Jolly Jammers” continues to perform throughout the Midwest .

Adam is really thankful for the success of his band, which is due to the great musicians that have been involved in his band: Ron Sandhurst (Adam’s dad), Karen Sandhurst (Adam’s mom), Brent Sandhurst (Adam’s brother), Randy Sandhurst (Adam’s uncle), Myron Muehlbauer (Adam’s uncle), Kimberly Malek (Adam’s sister), Eric Malek (Adam’s brother-in-law), Nancy Buckentine, Frank Melmer, Bill Rasmussen, Jerry Kahle, Steve Moran, Mike Cielecki, Marty Nachreiner, Lisa Moldan, Chris Langen, Jeff Langen, Crystal Malek, Gary Schroeder & Linda Schroeder, just to name a few.