Web posted
September 28, 2006
Zahasky Family Values
Juneau group dishes on their influences, passions
By LEO HELMAR
FOR THE EMPIRE
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| Korry Keeker / juneau empire |
 All for one: The Zahasky Family, left to right: Paul, Melissa, Abby, Laura and Quinn, will play Sept. 30 at Resurrection Lutheran Church. |
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Musicians are often asked who they listen to, as if a musical group can be boiled down to the sum of its influences.
One could examine the Zahasky Family Band this way, and discover a potluck of folk, bluegrass and rock. The parents are fans of national acts such as Eric Clapton and Alison Krauss & Union Station, as well as Alaska Folk Festival imports, such as Katie Henry and the Hot Club of Cowtown.
The Zahaskys - parents, Paul and Melissa, and children, Laura, 15, Quinn, 12, and Abby, 8 - are a reflection not only of genre or taste, but also of family.
"We have no illusions of making any money or being anything other than a family having fun," Paul said. "Doing the music together, we're not trying to be a famous bluegrass group."
The Zahasky Family Band has played in most venues in Juneau, from Centennial Hall during the Alaska Folk Festival to nursing homes to the recent Mountain Music Festival, which was partly organized by Paul.
After playing a concert Saturday, Sept. 30, at Resurrection Lutheran Church, the family will board a 40-foot bus, which was purchased on the Internet, and embark on its first-ever tour of the contiguous United States.
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Concert
Who: The Zahasky Family Band.
When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30.
Where: Resurrection Lutheran Church, 740 W. 10th St.
Cost: $10 for adults, children are free.
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The band will play a Mexican restaurant in Decorah, Iowa, the town from which Paul hails, to help his parents ring in their 60th wedding anniversary. The family will then visit the Fireworks Coffee House in Moline, Ill., and the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vt., named for the family in "The Sound of Music."
Other engagements include various churches, television and radio programs, the Andy Griffith Playhouse in Mount Airy, N.C., and a family tour of Washington, D.C.
Eventually, they will find themselves in Florida, a state boasting sunshine and old people, two things the Zahaskys, and especially Paul, have much love for.
"To go into a room and light somebody's day up is incredible," Paul said. "You can't put words to it. On one occasion this summer, I remember we were playing (at the Mount Roberts Tramway), and this woman was wheeling her husband in on a wheelchair, and she wheeled him right up to us. He was just looking pretty miserable with a grimace on his face. His face just lit up. He just started smiling and tapping his foot. I thought, you know, that's it."
What's on tap for the Zahaskys after they have finished traveling? Melissa said they want to spur an interest in music in Juneau children.
"We would like to play in the schools, which is not something we've done much," she said. "Just knowing how that has lit a fire for us as young people, we would like to be able to contribute to this generation of kids in Juneau and throughout Southeast."
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