| THE FINNBILLYS |
| THE PLAYERS |
| Dave Tak was born and raised on "The Iron Range" in northeastern Minnesota. He is the son of Waino Takanen, 16th inductee to "Iron World's Polka Hall Of Fame" in Chisholm, MN who was the son of John Takanen, a violin maker and immigrant of Finland. You can honestly say that musical blood runs through Dave's veins. He grew up surrounded by |
| musical instruments, learning to play a little piano, mandolin, tenor guitar and banjo and even took a few accordion lessons from "The Master" before settling on the guitar as his instrument of choice. Prior to "The Finnbillys" project, Dave spent thirty plus years playing the pubs and clubs of northern Minnesota with many talented "Iron Range" musicians. Though Dave has been writing and recording music for many years, it wasn't until 2004 when he picked up the mandolin again, that the "Dave Tak & The Finnbillys" concept was created. Using the mandolin as the core instrument, Dave began writing songs with a family history theme, drawing on childhood memories along with stories passed on by other kin. Influenced by Don Henley and Joe Walsh along with "The Eagles", Hank Sr. and a whole variety of others, he wrote the 1st of three Finnbilly CDs using a mixture of Bluegrass riffs, Country harmonies and Bluesy Rock guitar lines that led to completion of a 2nd and a just released 3rd CD. The music is straight forward, from the heart and true blue. If nothing else, it will serve all the young ones with a family history lesson. But any music lover can relate to these tunes..... |
| Jayne Mahovlich grew up on "The Iron Range" in the little town of Gilbert, MN. Jayne and Dave met attending Jr. High School together and reacquainted when Jayne asked Dave to play guitar in a band she created called "Wild Angels". Jayne sang and played guitar at all school shows and eventually switched to bass guitar after graduation working in classic rock cover bands for many years. |
| Jayne's ability to belt out a rocker from Pat Benatar or croon a Patsy Cline classic to an audience makes her a valuable asset to "The Finnbillys". She plays 5-string acoustic bass and sings harmonies at the "Finnbilly " live shows and has also logged recording time on all of the "Finnbilly" CDs. |
| Ross Sarkela hails from the farming country of Iron Township that spreads across the "Iron Range" of northeastern MN. Ross was around musical talent growing up, playing ukulele in a show with his guitar playing dad at age seven. He picked up his brother's guitar and was playing talent shows known as "The little kid with the big red guitar" at age ten, already wowing crowds with his mature |
| technique. Ross and Dave met while attending Cherry High School together and jammed a little as teenagers. Ross went to aviation school and continued to play guitar in some notable local cover bands including "Idol Eyes", a band put together by Dave and himself, years after their initial meeting. Over the years Ross' style evolved after countless hours of learning riffs by classic rockers "Yes, Rush, Deep Purple" and many others mixing (their styles) with his own. Ross has recorded for many "Iron Range" artists over the years and sings and plays 6 and 12 string acoustic guitar at "The Finnbilly" live shows along with lending a few tracks to "The Finnbilly" CDs. |
| DEBUT CD |
| 2nd CD |
| The Finnbillys 4747 Chestnut Drive Gilbert, MN 55741 Phone 218-744-3570 Email finnbillys@northlc.com |
| NEW RELEASE |