The scene at Deer Park Irish Pub, on the last Saturday in August, was like a birthday party. In fact, it was a birthday party, a 40th birthday party for a woman named Maureen, or Mary, or something. She wandered the room with a cardboard crown on her head, smiling and laughing with well-wishers, who, by the time I got there, had filled the small pub to overflowing. Tony Henry, Deer Park's ebullient proprietor, stood behind the bar chomping a fat cigar while managing a wide grin. Wedged into the only corner without a door or a beer cooler, beyond the bubbling crowd, the Distractions launched into another tune.

      The Distractions – Diane Groenert on bass; Molly Brogan on guitar; John Brogan on guitar, mandolin and harmonica; and Craig Itt on guitar, mandolin and slide guitar – were the reason I ventured into the rainy August night. I don't know if the Distractions were part of the birthday plan or if the whole thing was just a happy coincidence, but it got me thinking about the band and the people at the party and how people at the party seemed to know members of the band and how I felt like I had been plopped into the middle of a house party where everyone knew everyone else. It was a comfortable feeling. The music, a mixture of originals and covers, proved the perfect addition.

      The Distractions have been together since 2002, when John invited Molly along to sing at a Rockin' Docs benefit he and Itt were playing. The exact timeline seems to be a mystery, partly because it just sort of happened and partly because, well, with a name like the Distractions, you just can't, or shouldn't, expect too much. "We're not too clear on the chronology," Itt said. One thing is clear, however; despite the outward nonchalance, the Distractions have managed to pen a dozen songs, compile them on a CD and set up three separate release-date shows. The first will be from 7-9 p.m., Friday Sept. 29 at One World Café in the Three Rivers Co-op. The final one is slated for Deer Park Irish Pub from 8 p.m.-midnight on Saturday Sept. 30. But it's the one in the middle that sets this CD release weekend apart from the pack.

      The cover art for A Dozen Distractions is a close-up of a dozen Coney Island hot dogs just waiting to be devoured. In what's sure to have some Pavlovian effect the Distraction will play Coney Island on Main Saturday, 2-4 p.m. Barry White made bras unclasp. Tom Jones made panties fly through the air. The Distractions will make mouths water.

      Why Coney Island? Well, for one thing, Itt grew up with the first family of Coney Island, the Chokas. One of Itt's songs on the CD, "Coney," describes his favorite meal – three Coney dogs, a chili and a coke, sitting at the counter on a swivel stool on a Saturday afternoon.

      There is a level of comfort and familiarity with the Distractions that comes from living in the Fort Wayne community for most of their lives. The group itself is a self-contained extended family. Groenert is a well known artist and West Central inhabitant. She and Molly Brogan, who runs a commercial wall covering business, used to perform back in the 1970s as Mobrodigro. They'd open for Fred Rothert and sing songs at Mother's and The Blue Mountain Coffee Company on the Landing, though neither will claim any responsibility for the eventual demise of the those two establishments. "We were bad," Molly said, "way too nervous."

      Groenert first started playing bass after getting inspired by the Blues Brothers. Both of her contributions on A Dozen Distractions are blues songs. The bass, she said, seemed easier than the guitar. "I figured four strings in columns and rows, I can handle that," she said. Her first teacher was the late Jim Sells, another Fort Wayne legend.

      John Brogan, Molly's older brother, in New Orleans, played in a band called Wyler with his younger brother, Tim, and Fort Wayne musician Mark Smith, for half a year in New Orleans. "Six months in New Orleans seems like forever," he said. He came back to Fort Wayne and started a commercial painting company. He planned on doing that for five years. That was two decades ago. He got married to a woman he met in New Orleans, put his guitars in a closet and got them out only for family gatherings. His family soon included Itt. "He married my wife's sister," John said.

      Itt has a long history of playing music. In the early 1960s he and some high school friends started playing surf rock in a group called FBC Band. "Then the Beatles came along and we had to start singing," he said. FBC Band met with some success, playing across the Midwest through the early 70s. Then Itt got a nursing degree, and the band broke up. But he didn't stop playing. Eventually he earned another degree, this one in music. Eventually he and John started playing music together in a band called Gnarled Roots, along with some local physicians, which in turn got them connected to the Rockin' Docs benefits, which in turn led to the Distractions.

      When Itt showed up at practice one day with a song he'd written, the others figured they could write songs, too. Call it sibling rivalry. Before long they had a dozen. Each of the members sings, too, which gives them a four-part harmonic depth and variety.

      "When we get together and those harmonies start happening, it's more than therapy," Itt said.

      "I think we're interesting because with four singers we have at least 16 different vocal qualities," Groenert said. "It's easier to spend an evening with us cause there's so much variety."  

      Deer Park seems to be the Distractions home base. It's a good fit. One year, John said, the band arrived for a St. Patrick's Day gig to find the place already packed. They had to bring their equipment in through a window. Some of the variety Groenert spoke of comes from the diversity of cover songs, in addition to the originals, they play. John knows a bunch of old Irish tunes, and Itt brings a cache of singer-songwriter stuff. Even the most obscure request has a good chance of getting played. And audience participation is welcome. By the third set at the birthday party in August, audience members were contributing their vocals to the show via a spare mic. It would be inaccurate to say the embellishments improved the sound, but the extra distractions somehow seemed to fit just fine.

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