Dad, daughter, son-in-law, rhythm section: Meet Ruff House
Lacey Thurner fronts Ruff House, a band started by her father, Paul Kazior.
Bass player Dave Balzama, a Canon-McMillan High School graduate, sings lead on the Door's "Roadhouse Blues."
Lacey Thurner has been belting out songs with Ruff House since she was a teenager.
Paul Kazior doubles on harmonica.
Paul Kazior takes a solo while Lacey Thurner watches.
Matt Thurner plays his Gibson electric guitar.
Paul Kazior plays his Fender Stratocaster.
A night out for Lacey Thurner and husband Matt usually means her father joins them.
Paul Kazior joins them onstage, that is.
Dad and the married couple of six years constitute three-fifths of Ruff House, a band that is wowing audiences with an eclectic mix of material, instrumental versatility and Lacey’s undeniable stage presence as frontwoman.
Harry Funk/The Almanac
From left are Dave Balzama and Matt Thurner.
“She rolled right in,” Paul said about her joining the band, “and she’s the everything of it now.”
Well, she does a dynamic job as lead singer, and she definitely is photogenic. But let’s not overlook the guys who play the instruments: Matt on Gibson guitar, Dave Balzama on bass, Rob Capozzolo on drums and Paul mixing it up with his Fender guitars, harmonica and tenor saxophone.
A Castle Shannon native and Keystone Oaks High School graduate, Paul had been playing in various bands for a few decades – a bass player going by South Side Gordy often was a fellow member – that primarily were based in the blues.
“Stevie Ray Vaughan got me hooked,” he recalled, along with local guitar heroes including Glenn Pavone and Warren King, both of whom have passed away since.
Of course, his daughter grew up listening to music, and that prompted her to sing quite a bit. Lacey remembers Paul telling her:
“You know, you’ve really got a pretty good voice. Maybe we should add you to the band.”
She was 13 when she took him up on the offer.
“We did a friend’s sister’s 40th-birthday party, and she sang a couple of songs with us. People really liked that, so then I started taking her with me,” Paul recalled. “She’d sing the first two sets, and then she’d be out of there before it got too late.”
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Paul Kazior takes a turn on tenor saxophone.
Dave joined the band a few years later, at first playing rhythm guitar before switching to bass. The Cecil Township resident also takes the lead vocal on some numbers – the Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues,” for example – to spell Lacey.
Rob came aboard in 2019 as the personification of powerhouse percussionist, providing a steady beat to whatever genre Ruff House is tackling at the moment, from blues and classic rock to alternative and country, or maybe pop with a rock ‘n’ roll bent to it.
As for Matt, he grew up near the Kaziors near Finleyville, graduating from Ringgold High School with Lacey.
“He was always into music, always played the guitar and was really talented,” she attested.
During high school, he honed his talents by performing in the jazz band, plus in various groups with his buddies.
“I kind of put it away for a little while. Then I started hanging out with Lacey again after high school, and I went to watch her play in a band with her dad,” Matt recalled. “After we got married, I was like, ‘I can play some guitar. Let’s see what happens.’ So I jumped in, practiced with them for a little bit, and the rest is history. It turned out great.”
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Paul Kazior’s longtime bandmate is daughter Lacey Thurner.
That goes for marriage as well as music for the former Bethel Park residents, who now live in North Fayette.
“We talked about how busy we are on the weekend, and if it were just one or the other who was that busy with the band, the other one would get upset about it,” Matt said. “But because we do it together, it’s a lot of fun.”
With the Ruff House membership spanning two generations – Rob and Dave slot in between Paul and the Thurners – the band’s repertoire draws from all kinds of influences.
Vaughan’s “Pride and Joy” or “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” the latter by way of Buddy Guy, could be interspersed with songs by Elle King, Alanis Morisette, Miranda Lambert. Lacey does a stellar tribute to Janis Joplin with “Piece of My Heart” and “Me and Bobby McGee,” and also nails vocals usually associated with men on tunes like Kaleo’s “No Good” and the Black Keys’ “Gold On the Ceiling.”
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Rob Capozzolo lays down the beat.
For the Ruff House cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Bring It On Home,” Dave and Lacey alternate lead vocals while Paul doubles on harmonica for the intro and outro, and scorching guitar with Matt during the hard-rocking middle section.
And for audience members who like to dance, the band has a lot of material to get people moving to the music.
No matter what the genre, Lacey is grooving right along with them, at least when she’s holding a microphone.
“I do financial planning and advising for a living. That’s what my day job is,” the University of Pittsburgh graduate said. “People always laugh at me. They’re like, which one’s the real you? Finance or band? It’s such a weird transition.”
But it works.
Just ask her dad, her husband, her bass player, her drummer and anyone who enjoys an afternoon or evening of prime entertainment courtesy of Ruff House.
For more information, visit www.facebook.com/Ruff-House-191690804185901.
Harry Funk/The Almanac
From left are Paul Kazior, Lacey Thurner, Dave Balzama, Rob Capozzolo and Matt Thurner.