Playing from the Heartscythian

a Ukrainian/irish/klezmer/blUegrass bandby evelyn gardett

Almost every thursday night for five years running, scythian, a Ukrainian/irish/klezmer/bluegrass band based in alexandria, played to

audiences of more than 300 fans at Fado irish Pub in Washington's chinatown. these days, they perform the world over. but they never forget to come back to their hometown fans.

Front royal natives danylo, alexander and larissa Fedoryka founded scythian more than a decade ago, but have been playing together for their whole lives. the Fedoryka siblings were three of ten children of a musical mother, irene Fedoryka, who studied classical piano at the Julliard school in new york city. irene passed away after a battle with cancer on christmas

eve six years ago, but the Fedoryka family still feels her influence.

“Our mother taught us that music is a gift to give glory to god and an act of service. she always said, ‘you have to play from your heart.’”

growing up, the Fedoryka family did not have much by way of creature comforts, but their mother made sure that they were classically trained in music: dan on the piano, alex on the violin and lara on the cello. in addition to singing in the band, dan plays the accordion, alex fiddles and lara plays the electric cello and bass guitar.

irene’s family emigrated from Ukraine, and klez-mer music from that region is emblematic of scythian’s

32 | march 2017 | élan magazine

“Our mother taught us that music is a gift to give glory to God, and it's an act of service. She always said, 'You

have to play from your heart.'”

–Danylo Fedoryka

entertaining, but not condescending.” this project was conceived several years ago when the band was asked to play at a school assembly for 400 fourth-graders. everyone had a great time. as dan describes it, “by the end of that show, we were laughing so hard!” the band wants to give young people the musical childhood they themselves enjoyed. scythian’s roots festival in Front royal features a “kid’s zone,” with performances for children, arts and crafts, and horse rides.

scythian’s appaloosa Festival is heading into its third year as the closest roots festival to Washington, d.c. it rocks skyline ranch resort on memorial day Weekend with an eclectic roster of more than thirty bands. it’s a family-friendly, socially-conscious event that would make their late mother proud. last year, 10 percent of the profits went to charity: the veterans of Foreign Wars (vFW) and little sisters of the Poor.

scythian may travel the world (they’re taking a group of fans to ireland this november) but they are a dc-based band and will return to the area soon. their 2016 christmas show at the hamilton in Penn Quarter was a hit, and they hope to be back in the Washington, d.c. area for st. Patty’s day.

For concert dates, please visit www.scythianmusic.com. to learn more about the appaloosa Festival, please visit www.appaloosafestival.com.

“If I could describe our style in a few words, it would be

‘Old time, good time.' We want our music to have high energy, but

keep it acoustic.”–Danylo Fedoryka

Above: Danylo and Alexander Fedoryka

Opposite, from left: Danylo

Fedoryka on guitar, Larissa Fedoryka on

cello and Alexander Fedoryka on mandolinBoth photographs at Scythian’s Roots Music Festival

“Appaloosa” by Danielle Lussier

style: a broad backbeat, mournful violin and strum-ming guitar. even scythian’s instrumental makeup is drawn from their Ukrainian klezmer roots: accordion, fiddle, bass (guitar) and flute. dan says that his mom “loved the communal aspect of folk music; it brings people together.”

like old-time klezmer, scythian’s contemporary tunes are characterized by a capricious tempo that continually asks the listener: “Where do you think this is going?” the beat seamlessly shifts from fast to slow, like the opening and closing of an accordion’s bellows. impulsive and cheeky, it goes faster and faster, until what you thought was a mournful melody becomes a raucous display of virtuosity. as dan says, “if i could describe our style in a few words, it would be ‘Old time, good time,’” which is the title of their recently-released live album. “We want our music to have high energy, but keep it acoustic.”

scythian recently brought on seasoned celtic musician nolan ladewski to round out their sound with his wide range of acoustic instruments: flute, whistles, banjolin, guitar, as well as his soul-stirring tenor vocals. the Fedorykas see nolan as an important part of the band’s musical makeup for years to come.

scythian’s next project is a children’s album to follow their wildly popular first release, Cake for Dinner. dan describes it as a musical carpet ride around the world that was meant to be “child-like and

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