The opening song on "Refuge" shows that this recording will be a tough one to pigeonhole.

The song, also called "Refuge," begins with leader Steve Pappas' melodic, classical-style guitar, then adds other instruments until the band is kicking behind a rock god-style guitar solo by Scott Campbell.

Mixing solo guitar pieces and band songs, the all-instrumental album by the Steve Pappas Project covers Latin beats, Mariachi-inflected trumpet, Kenny G-style saxophone and an Irish jig.

"What category do you put us in?" asked Randall Surface, the woodwind and reed player.

The diversity is what drummer and percussionist Dennis Hritz likes about "Refuge."

"Everything I've done before was just one style," said the sixth-grade teacher at Musser Elementary School, Sharon. "There's a lot of breadth to the music."

The band members have long histories of playing music, from the classical training of Pappas and Surface to the rock and heavy metal bands Campbell and drummer Chuck Kountz played in.

They came together at Victory Assembly of God Church, Coitsville, Ohio. All the musicians are members of the church, and all but Pappas play in the church's praise band.

The Steve Pappas Project is not a wholly Christian-motivated endeavor, but the band members' beliefs infuse the music.

"Basically, we're a bunch of musicians who happen to be Christians," said Kountz, 31, of Campbell, Ohio.

"Refuge," was inspired by Pappas seeing his wife, Mary, comfort a child in the church nursery. It got him thinking that all people need comfort at some time, and mindful of the Psalm: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."

"Pilgrim's Progress" features snippets of well-known hymns.

Even with those overtly Christian influences, the songs were not created for the same purpose as a praise song.

"The church usually has its own agenda for what it wants to play to set the mood and the spirit to prepare people for worship," Surface said.

Other songs had much less profound inspirations.

"Lady Zoe's Dance" was written after Pappas watched his dog chase birds. "The Irish tune is just my love of Irish music," he said of "Star of the Country Down," a traditional piece and the only one on "Refuge" not written by Pappas.

"New as the Dawn" was about Pappas' mother dying.

"It's a musical pictorial of my life," he said of the album.

But Pappas said he doesn't want his intentions to distract the interpretations of his listeners. That's why he likes to play instrumentals.

"Lyric-driven songs take you where they want you to go," said the 42-year-old resident of Boardman, Ohio.

Instrumentals "allow the listener to go where they want to go," he said. "It's like having a blank canvas. Everyone fills out that canvas themselves."

Pappas wanted other musicians to help fill that canvas.

"It appeals to a wider audience," he said. "Even some young people like it."

And, in the person of Campbell's 16-year-old son, Scottie, a Wilmington Area High School sophomore and a bassist and guitarist, a young person played on "Refuge."

"The color of the piece just multiplies" with the contributions of the other musicians, said Surface, 53, of New Castle.

But it's hard to spread those colors around in live performance.

"We're not looking to play bars," said Campbell, 45, of New Wilmington. "We're coffeehouse-type guys."

There are few coffeehouse settings that can handle a six-person band. The band has broken into smaller units for gigs, and Pappas has done solo shows.

Hritz, 36, of New Castle, added the musicians' schedules limit the opportunity for playing out.

"We're fully committed to other things," he said. "Playing out once a month would be reasonable."

Pappas said most of the CD's