Teen’s Talent on Drums Helps Him Control Prader-Willi
January 23, 2018
By: Allison Ward, The Columbus Dispatch/TNS
Source: Disability Scoop
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Jake Vasiloff likes to rock.
The 18-year-old is hard-core. He feels most comfortable when pounding on his electric drum set to the heavy-metal tunes of Pantera, Metallica and other bands.
But he was more than willing to turn down the volume and set aside his drumsticks to play a tambourine, bongo and other soft hand-percussion instruments for his father’s latest compact disc, “Above the Pines,” which Jeff Vasiloff describes as “easy-listening” and “classical.” The father-son duo — the elder Vasiloff likens their musical relationship to that of Bruce Springsteen and Clarence Clemons, the late saxophonist — relish the time they spend together creating original, mostly instrumental songs.
They enjoy it all the more, though, when they do it for a good cause — one near to their hearts.
The proceeds from the sales and downloads of “Above the Pines,” released this month, will be donated to the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association of Ohio — the first of Jeff Vasiloff’s CDs to benefit the group.
Jake Vasiloff, a senior at Hilliard Darby High School who listens to heavy-metal music to fall asleep most nights, was born with Prader-Willi syndrome, a chromosomal disorder characterized by muscle weakness, an insatiable hunger and mild-to-moderate intellectual impairment…