Gordon Lehrke
Hall of Fame – 1997
Gordon (Concertina Gordie) W. Lehrke (1929-2010) was born in Swanville, Minnesota. He played in various bands for 45 years and taught over 60 concertina students. Gordie started playing the concertina at the age of 17 and two years later joined the Six Jolly Fellows. They played over 300 jobs per year in the early 1950s.
Lehrke bought a concertina from Pat Watters who got Gordie into teaching. He started his own band “Gordies’ Concertina Band” and became known as “Concertina Gordie”. Through the years he played in many other bands and continued writing and sharing his music.