Taran Makes Mark on Cultural Landscape

 By Olena Wawryshyn

For a century now, Ukrainian-Canadian bands have playing in Western Canadian towns and cities. As a result, Ukrainian folk tunes have become part of the musical fabric of the Prairies.  Taran,  a band  from Winnipeg, is continuing this tradition and making a unique mark on the Canadian cultural landscape.

The energy and youthful enthusiasm of Taran’s members are among the characteristics that set the group apart from other Ukrainian-Canadian bands playing today. 

“We’re fast and powerfully passionate,” says band member and acoustic guitarist Dobryan Tracz during an interview at a coffee shop in the heart of Toronto’s Bloor West Village on the weekend of the annual Ukrainian festival.  Taking a break before setting up for Taran’s evening performance on the festival’s main stage, Tracz found time to talk about the band and its music.

Taran’s members are influenced by a lot of different musical styles ranging from reggae, jazz, rhythms and blues to classical music.  “There’s also a lot of hard-rock influence,” says Tracz.  Their repertoire consists of traditional tunes, some historical songs with modern arrangements, as well as re-workings of some contemporary standards.  “We do a lot of Vasyl Ivasiuk songs,” adds Tracz.

When asked to put a label on their sound, Tracz says: “Our music is somewhere between that of [British band] The Ukrainians and zabava music.”

“The name Taran means ‘mallet’ or ‘battering ram,’” says Tracz.  “My brother and two friends stumbled upon it one day while reading a Ukrainian dictionary. They do that for fun,” the Winnipeg native jokes.

In many ways,  Tracz  is the group’s linchpin.  He’s the one who generally organizes and coordinates the band’s  operations,  and he’s the one who got the group up and playing.  As a student at the University of Alberta, Tracz enjoyed playing in a band called UB. When he moved back to Winnipeg,  he felt there was a “niche market in Winnipeg for a young, exciting band.”

Tracz and his younger brother discussed the proposition and the two came up with a list of local friends, many of whom they had known from childhood, who might be interested in joining the band.   “Our violin player Katrusia Basarab (who is also one of the lead vocalists) and I went to elementary school together,” says Tracz. Two other members of Taran,  lead guitarist Andriy Michalchyshyn and singer Mark Shawarsky, Tracz knew from his involvement in Plast, the Ukrainian youth association.  “It’s all connected to various Ukrainian youth groups,” says Tracz.

The  other three who make up the seven-member band are bass-player Taras Babiak,  Steven Sirski, who brings years of drum and percussion experience to Taran, and Nancy Sedo, whose accordion-playing is central to the band’s melodic sound.

In some form or other, says Tracz,  all of Taran’s members, over the years, been involved with the Ukrainian National Federation in Winnipeg.   “Almost all of us have danced with the UNF School of Dance” says Tracz.  Katrusia Basarab still teaches at the dance school.

This year,  Taran played at the UNF school recital.  “There were 1,000 people there, and they included us as alumni.  We were a big hit,” says Tracz.

Compatibility is often crucial to any band’s success so it’s a good thing that Taran consists of good friends, especially given how much time they spend together on the road touring. “When you’re travelling across the country with gear, there are a lot of close quarters in vans,” says Tracz.

During the summer months, “we’re playing pretty much every weekend, whether it’s a wedding or a reunion or festival,” says Tracz.  This year,  in addition to their Toronto appearance,  they’ve  played at the Vegreville and Dauphin festivals.  On the rare weekends when they’re not performing, they practise on Sunday nights.

In between touring, the band has had time to put out a 12-track CD, called Moonlight, which was released this past spring.   After the CD’s launch, CBC Radio aired an interview with Tracz and Basarab and played some of the new tracks.  Features on CTV Newshour and in the Winnipeg Free Press have  also focused on Taran and spread their music to the wider  Canadian public.

Taran’s accomplishments are certainly impressive, especially since none of  the members are full-time musicians.  Ranging in age from 20-27, they are either students, just finishing university and looking for jobs, or working  in professional fields.  There are accountants, lawyers and scientists among them. “We’re a very well-educated polka band,” quips Tracz.

Tracz, who is the oldest member of the band, works full-time for Health Canada. He admits that juggling a day-job with his music isn’t always easy.  “You work all day, get in the van on Friday night, drive to Calgary, play there, drive home on Sunday and go back to work – and you probably haven’t slept all weekend,” he says.

But Tracz isn’t complaining.  Instead, he and Taran  are already getting excited about next summer’s festival season in Canada and hope to expand their reach beyond the country's border. 

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