Pittston-based Abilene to be inducted into Luzerne County Arts & Entertainment Hall of Fame | The Sunday Dispatch

PITTSTON — City of Pittston Mayor Michael Lombardo graciously accepted a 16”x32” black and white photo on canvas from members of the Country Rock band Abilene on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at City Hall.

The band, whose roots are formed from graduates of Pittston Area School District in the early 1970s, became one of the most popular bands to come out of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

The donation to City Hall comes about a week before the band’s induction into the Luzerne County Arts & Entertainment Hall of Fame ceremony, which will take place on Friday, Nov. 8, at the F.M. Kirby Center.

Abilene, along with Pittston native and world-renowned Elvis Presley tribute artist Shawn Klush, is among others being inducted into the hall’s second class.

Fourteen members of Abilene will be inducted at the Kirby Center with two former members posthumously, original member Leo Mancini and later band member Bob Bartoli.

Core members of the band Joe Pacuska, Mike Garzella, Jimmy Musto, Lee Calabro and Joe “Weasel” Wascavage will perform at the Hall of Fame ceremony along with former members Joe Andes and Carl Breeze.

Other former members of the band included in the induction are: John Abent, Bill Dennis, Dave Murray, Larry Zick and Jim “Bozo” Connors (sound engineer).

Abilene’s success locally took off with the country rock when no one else on the scene was performing that genre of music.

Some of Abilene’s influences were the Charlie Daniels Band, Doug Kershaw, Commander Cody, Flatt & Scruggs, Dicky Betts, the Eagles, Poco, Lynyrd Skynyrd and more.

Joe Pacuska recalled the band’s first official gig was in 1975.

“That 1975 was our first show and it was at Marywood College and then nine months after that we opened for Billy Joel,” Pacuska said.

Bandmate Mike Garzella credits Pacuska with starting the band and keeping it alive after all these years.

“Joe was really the one who got us altogether,” Garzella, who most members of the band were playing other genres of music until Pacuska convinced them to play country rock, said. “Joe played the guitar, played the violin, played the banjo and he played the mandolin. And he sold us and so we all learned to love the music.”

Late member Leo Mancini, who passed away some 13-years ago at the age of 57 from cancer, was a key member of the band in the early days.

“Leo, who was a great guitar player, Leo taught himself how to play the pedal steel,” Garzella added. “And he also played the mandolin and he played the flute.”

Pacuska recalled, “One night when we were supposed to play down in southern Pennsylvania and Jimmy (Musto) got sick and I said, well, guess we’re going to have to cancel and Leo said, ‘No, I’ll play drums.’”

Abilene eventually opened for such large acts like Billy Joel, The Charlie Daniels Band, Ricky Skaggs, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Little River Band, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Lacy J. Dalton and another home-grown favorite, Jerry-Kelly (the late Jerry Hludzik and Bill Kelly).

Another great honor for the band was not opening for The Beach Boys, but to actually play after them during the Wilkes-Barre City’s Bicentennial Centennial concert in 2006 at Kirby Park.

According to Pacuska, then Wilkes-Barre City Mayor Tom Leighton convinced the band to play at the Bicentennial for a reunion show. The band had not played much in those previous years.

“So Tommy (Leighton) wanted Abilene to get back together and play at their bicentennial and they were they were bringing in The Beach Boys and it was going to be at Kirby Park,” Garzella recalled. “So Joe (Pacuska) called us and we went for pizza and he said, what do you guys think, so we said, okay, we should do it.”

Abilene was scheduled to be the opening act for The Beach Boys but in their contract, bands opening up for them could not use keyboards or drums, according to Jimmy Musto.

“That’s why we went on after them,” Musto recalled. “And after they played their last note, there had to be an hour of silence on the stage and even before we could start setting up.”

“So needless to say, long story short, we wound up being the headliner,” Garzella exclaimed. “So they’re done, we have to wait an hour. I’m thinking like who’s gonna be here? And I’ll tell you what, the crowd stayed and they stuck around. We had a nice crowd.”

All five of the remaining core group of Abilene are excited for the Hall of Fame ceremony and getting a chance to perform one more time and according to Pacuska, this will be the last time you’ll see Abilene on a stage performing live.

“This is the last time you’ll see Abilene perform on stage live,” Pacuska stated. “This is it, this is the last.”

Weasel Wascavage is excited for the presentation and performance at the ceremony.

“We have a lot of family and friends that are going be there and they’re going to be, I think, hooping and hollering and having a good time expecting the old family. This is it for us. This is the last we will ever play on stage.”

For those Abilene fans who will miss their music, do not worry, because Pacuska announced over the last three years, they have been recording at JL Studios at Olyphant with all original music.

“The story behind the recording project is that our soundman, Jim “Bozo” Connors, was our soundman throughout all the years of the band and we all lost track of him after the band retired. I had’t see him or talk to him for 25 years. I finally got in touch with him and said let’s get together,” Pacuska recalls. “ So when we got together, he said to me, ‘I’ve been writing some songs and I’d like you to hear what I have.’ And I said, oh man, you gotta be kidding me, these are great songs, we need to record these.”

The guys in the band were hoping to have their original CD released by the time of the Hall of Fame inductions, but that won’t happen but they now have targeted the release sometime in 2025.

With the release of the album, will Abilene ever play live again even though at this point, it is not likely; there is a crack in the door.

Pacuska grinned, smiled and said, “One bridge at a time.”