VICTORY - First, Michael Marinelli bought four violins. Then he bought an accordion, and then a set of drums. Finally, he bought an organ. Miraculously, members of his family learned to play all of them. The breadth of the purchases may have daunted others. But Marinelli had faith.

“I bought them thinking the Lord wanted us to play,” said Michael, of Victory. “It was a premonition.”

The Marinellis - wife, Debra, and children, Krista and Lee, got so good at playing their instruments, the family started a band “Repercussion,” in 2003. This year, they've released a Christmas CD, titled “Seasonings.”

Daughter Krista, 21, had attempted to play the piano before she tried the small accordion her father bought her. She was frustrated that although she could read music and play it on the piano, she was without flair.

“I never really learned how to improvise,” she said.

The accordion became Krista's new awakening. She taught herself without any lessons, as well as keeping busy playing keyboard, piano and the pennywhistle.

“I took it up to my room and learned how to play ‘Silent Night,' she said. “It just came a lot more naturally.”

Debra also tried to teach Lee, 17, the piano as a child.

“I was really bad at it,” he said. Then he, too, leapt at the chance to play another instrument, the violin.

“It made a lot more sense to me than the piano did,” Lee said. “It just really grew on me. It clicked.”

In addition to the violin, Lee plays the guitar, mandolin and bass guitar.

Even Michael switched instruments. He had played the guitar in a Boston band in the 1970s. But when his burgeoning family band didn't need a guitarist, Michael switched to drums and percussion.

“I've always had a sense of rhythm,” Michael said.

Art Wenzel, a local music promoter who is working with the family, said he would like to book the band at large venues around the region, such as the State Theatre in Ithaca, the Stanley Performing Arts Center in Utica and the Palace Theatre in Albany.

“That's where they belong,” Wenzel said. “They've got a big sound. A little coffeehouse isn't going to do them justice.”

Wenzel describes the family's music as an “energetic blend of a steamroller from Mannheim and an orchestra from Trans-Siberia.”

Repercussion will be playing at Carousel Mall throughout the holidays, and in the spring, they hope to do a Celtic music tour throughout Central New York. The band has played at fund-raisers, including one for Casey's Place, a refuge for children with multiple disabilities in Syracuse.

The family isn't all about music. They are committed to charity and have supported causes both local and global. The proceeds of their Christmas CD, recorded at SubCat Studios in Skaneateles, go to the Golisano Children's Hospital of Central New York at University Hospital.

In 1998, they traveled to Croatia to visit children in hospitals and orphanages.

“We brought 1,000 presents over to two places in Croatia,” Michael said. “We got to see a couple hundred children.”

The family, with costumes purchased on the Internet, also bring cheer to children in hospitals dressed as “The Grinch” and the “Whos” from the 2000 movie “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

Like their charity work, the Marinellis bring God into their music.

“I believe there's a spirit in the music,” Michael said. “God made all things living.”