Brandon Hachkowski was born in St. Catherines Ontario and raised throughout the Niagara region. Since he was knee-high, Brandon always had the liking to Western Canadian Ukrainian music and developed the passion after watching his father play on Tysmbaly and fiddle.

 

To  encourage Brandon's interest in music, Brandon's parents  started Brandon on fiddle. After a year of taking fiddle lessons, Brandon's interest switched from the fiddle and grew towards the Accordion and Tsymbaly. Throughout the next couple years, Brandon continued to play Accordion and Tsymbaly and he always played along side Ukrainian Records to learn new songs.

 

In 2017 at the age of 12, Brandon and his family took a trip to Winnipeg Manitoba to attend a Zabava dance by the Ukrainian old-timers band. The accordion player of the band Nestor Shydlowsky was Brandon 's Idol on accordion. Brandon adored Nestor's Style. During the zabava Nestor invited Brandon to do a couple tunes on stage with the accordion. This inspired Brandon's passion to playing further and excelled his love of Ukrainian music.

 

In January of 2022 Brandon and his family took a trip to Edmonton Alberta and that's when they met Dwayne and Irene Pankiw. After one impromptu jam session on this trip it was like they were family. This is when the Hachkowski family fell in Love with Alberta and decided to move there in August of 2022.

 

Brandon is now taking his music hobby to the next step and is now playing gigs in Vegreville and the surrounding area. Brandon was also able to aquire Nestor Shydlowsky's Accordion after he passed in 2020. Brandon cherishes that deeply.

 

Brandon quotes. "It is my job to promote and preserve the Western Canadian Ukrainian music for generations to come just like Nestor did." Brandon's passion for Western Canadian Ukrainian music comes from his blood and that will never stop.