Ruth Adams, the longtime accordion player at Nye’s, has passed away, the Star Tribune reports. She was one-third of the trio dubbed “the world’s most dangerous polka band.” She played at Nye’s since 1975 and her death, coupled with the retirement last month of piano-bar host Lou Snider presents a double loss of Twin Cities icons.
The Barking Dog Polka will never quite be the same.
Bob Collins retired from Minnesota Public Radio in 2019 after 12 years of writing NewsCut and pointing out to complainants that posts weren’t news stories. A son of Massachusetts, he was a news editor 1992-1998, created the MPR News regional website in 1999, invented the popular Select A Candidate, started several blogs, and every day lamented that his Minnesota Fantasy Legislature project never caught on.
Bob Collins