Olivia Downs
Vocals and Guitar
Olivia is a music business graduate with a love of performing. She studied at HACC where Jay was one of her professors, which is how she got involved with the band. For as long as Olivia can remember, music has been the most important part of her life. From growing up in a musical family, she had dreams of singing in a band from a very young age. In her free time, she enjoys writing, songwriting, being a dog and cat mom, and traveling to go to concerts with her friends. The [Sum] is the first band Olivia has been involved in and she enjoys every minute of it.
Ashley Smith
Keys, Vocals, and Saxophone
Originating from a family legacy with music as a cornerstone, Ashley began playing saxophone in middle school; was in her first cover band through high school, and continued on to study jazz at Lebanon Valley College. Music has been a continuous vehicle for adventure in Ashley’s life inviting her to perform nationally and internationally. Beyond the music, Ashley is a great spirit and better "hang" who fits like a glove with the band! Ashley also plays in the band The Bad Toupees with Bill and Toad.
Jay Kirssin
Bass
Jay is a musician, recording engineer, business owner, and Music Business professor. He and Bill have been in various bands together over their career including Rosie and the Naturals, and Switch Fu (which is still active.) Jay coined the name for The [Sum] in reference to how music is the sum of many different parts. He is also almost entirely responsible for bringing this crazy group of people together in the first place.
Bill Wasch
Guitar and Vocals
Bill is originally from just outside of Philly. Some of his early influences were the Delfonics, the Stylistics, and other Philly soul bands. However, Bill wasn’t only grooving to the soul rhythms, but studying the guitar parts. If anything, Bill has always been a “student of music”, learning to play guitar, bass, banjo, piano, and studying how best to mic the various instruments for each sound. Bill can’t remember a time when he was not in a band and had a great run with a well-known regional favorite, Rosie and the Naturals. Between his three current bands, The [SUM], SWITCH FU, and the BAD TOUPEES, his guitar teaching responsibilities, the guitar lessons he still takes from people like Johnny A, you can usually find Bill with a guitar hanging from his neck...and he could not be happier about that!
Ralph "Toad" Carfagno
Drums
Toad grew up listening to his older siblings’ 45’s, like Lloyd Price “Stagger Lee” and the Coasters “Yakkity Yak.” It was a short slide from those classics to the Stones, Beatles, Zeppelin, and at age 12, the Jimi Hendrix Experience. From his first drum acquired with S&H Green stamps, Toad cobbled together a complete kit and began playing in a band called Initial Command in Jr. High. Going to Milton Hershey School in 9th grade gave Toad the opportunity to be in bands like “Flashback” and "Mythical Maze", while also learning a little about jazz music in the school’s Spartan Jazz band. Besides some fill-in gigs, life, work, coaching, children, and living overseas meant the drums were put on hold. Toad didn’t play seriously again until he and some friends decided to jam in the early 1990s. So was born the “Bad Toupees”, with Toad as one of the founding members. Toad is currently fortunate to be in both the Bad Toupees and The [SUM]. Recently retired from anything resembling "real" work, Toad concentrates on band "stuff" and found a quote by Hunter S. Thompson to which he aspires every day; “Life has become immeasurably better since I have been forced to stop taking it seriously.”