during the 1930s, welk led a traveling big band that played dance tunes and "sweet" music. at first, the band traveled around the country by car. they were too poor to rent rooms, so they usually slept and changed clothes in their cars. at an engagement at the william penn hotel in pittsburgh, a dancer said that welk's band's sound was as "light and bubbly as champagne," which is where the term "champagne music" came from. welk described his band's sound, saying "we still play music with the champagne style, which means light and rhythmic. we place the stress on melody; the chords are played pretty much the way the composer wrote them. we play with a steady beat so that dancers can follow it."