Eddie Day Pashinski

Edwin A. Pashinski, commonly known as “Eddie Day,” was born in 1945, the perfect year for a budding rock and roll enthusiast and performer. He began his musical journey as something of a local teenage icon in the early 1960s, and his career path and public service has helped expand music education to thousands of Pennsylvania children. This selfless spirit has made Eddie Day one of the most important figures in Luzerne County’s long history of musical excellence.

The first band Eddie Day joined was the Starfires, who used the juice of Eddie Day’s powerful vocals to become one of the first great music groups from Luzerne County. Despite their notability in the area, the Starfires had a humble approach to performing, hauling their own equipment from show to show in a Packard hearse. Teenagers from across the county flocked to see the Starfires, and they’d often play for hundreds of local fans at a time.

Eddie Day used the money he earned from his time with the Starfires to pay off his college tuition. He stuck close to home by earning a degree in Music Education from Wilkes University, and followed that up with a Master’s from Penn State. This background in educating young people on the value of music would be the first step in Eddie Day’s pursuit of service through the arts.

Eddie Day continued to perform with the Starfires throughout his college-aged years, and the group even brushed with rock icon Chubby Checker in 1965. He switched groups in the mid-1960s, this one bearing his name at the front. Eddie Day and the Nightimers became a sensation in similar fashion to the Starfires, and picked up a particularly strong fanbase in the Back Mountain region of Luzerne County.

Gigs with the Nightimers and, later, the Eddie Day Groop became staples of musical entertainment at important Back Mountain meeting places Sandy Beach and Hanson’s Amusement Park. Eddie Day grew his influence in the area while continuing his performing and recording career with another group, T.N.T., throughout the latter half of the 1960s and into the 1970s.

While most of his bands were more well-known for their magnetic live shows, the prime voice of Eddie Day was thankfully preserved on wax. The Pashinski-penned single “Summers Gone” was recorded alongside the Nightimers, bringing their stage show and Eddie Day’s croon to living rooms. Later on, with T.N.T., Eddie Day was back in the studio to record “Smiling Phases,” a psychedelic departure from the doo wop roots of his earlier work.

In addition to his incredible run in the Back Mountain, Eddie Day was an important figure in the Nanticoke area as well. He used his vast knowledge of music and business to become a teacher, choral director and union leader in the Greater Nanticoke Area School District. Hundreds of students were inspired by Eddie Day’s passion for performance, allowing him to pass on the lessons he learned onto multiple generations of young people.

When his teaching career came to a close, Eddie Day ramped up his devotion to public service and was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. As a true representative for Luzerne County residents, Eddie Day has been a strong advocate for the expansion and conservation of music programs in public schools. A real rock star in Harrisburg, Eddie Day has often been asked to kick off formal Capitol business by belting out “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

It has certainly been a long, musical journey for Eddie Day Pashinski, the vocalist, teacher and advocate. Many artists are committed to their craft for only a short time before moving on to other endeavors. By contrast, Eddie Day has devoted nearly his entire life to improving the arts and entertainment of Luzerne County.