Members of Zansa went to the Ivory Coast of Africa and found a stimulus for songwriting.

The five-piece Afropop band based in Asheville, N.C., had a personal tour guide for the trip as lead vocalist and djembe player Adama Dembele is a 33rd generation musician from West Africa.

"We listened to what was happening to the music there and listened to Adama play with his friends," said bassist and vocalist Ryan Rearson. "We got inspired to use a lot of the songs that Adama learned and knew growing up.

"We wanted to write songs that people in the U.S. could relate to. We started translating these songs for western ears a little bit."

Dembele and Reardon are joined in the group by Patrick Fitzsimons on guitar and vocals, Sean Mason on drums and Matt Williams on violins, guitar, and vocals.

Their first album, "Djansa," is ready and Zansa will host a CD release party at 9 p.m. Saturday at Isis Restaurant and Music Hall in Asheville.

Zansa is unusual in the Asheville music scene, as the number of African-pop bands is limited.

"It's, uh, well, mainly us," Reardon said.

The songs are based on ideas from traditional songs.

"It's like the house is already there and it's an older house," Dembele explained. "Now everyone comes in and puts a new coat of paint on it to make it beautiful."

Mixing African instruments with Appalachian style provides a combination that's tough not to dance to.

They spent a year recording the album and worked toward making the music more song oriented, instead of jam based. Even when some songs are sung in a different language they know music fans will understand the meanings.

There's loose translations of the lyrics in the album booklet and they try to explain the songs before performances.

"I don't think it will be a problem for people to enjoy a different language and a different cultured song," Dembele said.

Reardon said they chose its title with purpose. The word, Djansa, means a celebration.