When immigrants settle into a community such as Toledo, they bring an energy that makes their new neighborhoods richer and more vibrant.

One of their most obvious contributions is their most noisy:

Music.

Whether it s conjunto or the blues, polkas, or Irish reels, every ethnic group has a distinctive sound that enriches the lives of its listeners, telling their stories and punctuating their lives.

With its large turn-of-the century European emigration, the music of Poland, Germany, and Hungary has long been a part of the area s sonic fabric.

Janet Gawle, who hosts "Melodies of Poland" every Sunday morning on WCWA (1230-AM), said music from Eastern Europe came over with immigrants during the World War I era and was huge in various neighborhoods until the 1950s. It was common for bands to play the music at weddings, receptions, parties, and holidays.

"It was traditional, you always had music and a band, and they would even accompany you from your house to the church" for a wedding, she said.

Richard Folta, who has played in bands that play Polish music for decades, said there was almost a birthright to playing the songs that brightened neighborhood convention halls and theaters, especially along the Lagrange Street and Nebraska Avenue areas.

"A lot of the families had musicians who carried the tradition on for years" he said. "Some of them had great-grandfathers who played, grandfathers and fathers who played, and then their sons played and it was like four generations."

Mr. Folta said the music was fast and bouncy, and even now people who hear his group play at weddings and other festivals are amazed at how fast they play.

"The people really liked that. It was a music with a good beat, and it was a lot more of the traditional type Polish music that was brought over from Poland, but they don t play that type of music in Poland anymore. In Poland you ll hear tangos more than polkas."

While you still hear polkas played at wedding receptions, festivals, and other events, when rock n roll came along in the 50s, the ethnic music started to fade in popularity, Mr. Folta said.

German music was also popular, if not as ingrained into the community, said Pete Petersen, host of the German Hour on WCWA for the last 29 years. He said vocal groups have always been popular, and they still perform at various community events.

Singing is part of what binds a community, especially among Germans, he said.

"You meet at a bar and you have two beers and you start singing. That s what we always did," he said.

Baldemar Velasquez remembers growing up in Toledo when all the grown-ups would gather and listen to Tex-Mex music in someone s home. They didn t go to clubs because the Mexicans who settled here could not afford to go out and weren t even welcome in many establishments.

The 60-year-old president of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee said the adults would push all the furniture against the wall, break out the instruments, and play music all night. "We would go to sleep listening to that music," he said. "There was one bed for all those kids, and we d climb up there and sleep in a heap while the music was blaring."

About 30 years ago, the music started moving into clubs and dance halls with artists such as Jesse Ponce playing conjunto and Latin music all over the area, Mr. Velasquez said.

Toledo is still a blues town, according to John Rockwood, who co-founded Blue Suit Records and blows the harp in VooDoo Libido.

As soon as African-Americans made their way north and started settling here for jobs in the auto industry, they started making music, he said. "There is always an audience for it," he said.

Griffin s Hines Farm Blues Club is a nationally known venue for the music. Formed in 1930, it has hosted such legendary artists as B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, and Duke Ellington. The site off Airport Highway in western Lucas County was a natural blues magnet because so many blacks settled in the area around the farm, Mr. Rockwood said.

He said land was cheap around the farm, and the area including the music reminded the people who lived there of the homes they left behind in the South. In the 70s the music started moving into clubs and became much more mainstream. Now, there are blues artists such as Josh Boyd and the V.I.P. Band and Lucky Brother playing weekly in the area.

Irish music might seem like it s always been part of the Toledo music scene, but its rise to popularity is a relatively recent phenomenon, according to John Connolly, an Irish singer and host of his own radio show on WCWA, Echoes of Ireland.

He said that when he arrived in the area in 1967, he started a band and played Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago, and Buffalo regularly, but not Toledo. "I was playing every place but Toledo," he said. "There was not work in Toledo for an Irish band."

Club owners in the 70s brought in bands from Ireland to play, and audience members watched and saw an opportunity, he said. Next thing you know, bands playing Celtic, folk, and traditional Irish music popped up all over the place.

"The Irish-Americans were sitting in the audience and saying, I can play that. So they go out and buy a guitar or had a guitar and started practicing," Mr. Connolly said. Now there are bands such as Extra Stout that play regularly in the area, and Mickey Finn s in North Toledo often features Irish music.

First Published May 15, 2007, 12:59 a.m.