Ryan Padula really liked growing up in a musical family. 

Now 23, Padula, and his family, mom Brenda on vocals, dad Frank on drums and his two brothers, Matt, on saxophone and Aidan, also a drummer, share that love with the Franklin community, as either the Padula Family Band or as the Padula Brothers Trio Plus One. 

The Padula Brothers Trio Plus One, with Ryan Padula on keyboard, Bruce Gertz on bass, Aidan Padula on drums, Matthew Padula on saxophone

The young musicians, who all got an early start learning classical piano at the Franklin School for the Performing Arts, began playing out along with their parents and getting a taste for jazz as early as middle school at a restaurant in Plainville. 

The two older brothers would go on to complete degrees in jazz performance at UMass Amherst, with Matt continuing on to get his master’s in music. Aidan would study with Kenny Hadley at FSPA. 

“We’ve always all jammed together, but this whole band thing didn’t really start coming together until after I was done with school,” explains Ryan. “We try to play as much as we can as often as we can for anybody we can, because we really love expressing our artistic abilities for people to enjoy.”

A self-confessed “old soul,” Padula confesses he could “listen to Sinatra all day if I could. That’s my favorite era of jazz. Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson are some of my role models. We all love listening to it.”

Improvising is also a draw to the genre.

“A lot of people, when they think about (improvisation), it’s kind of scary to them, but it’s more of a free form of being able to express yourself through your instrument and listening to your peers around you. You really have to feel out the moment,” says Ryan. He feels especially lucky to have played at the Franklin 4th of July’s Mike Crandall Blues Festival for the past four years. He and his family “definitely play way easier off each other as opposed to playing with other musicians…but the most important thing, we sound great, but it’s because we have fun.”

You can join in the fun with the Padula Family Band at the Franklin Harvest Festival, from 2-5 p.m.