It began with JV baseball

Local music has gradually picked up a larger following. While bands from Pittsburgh such as… Local music has gradually picked up a larger following. While bands from Pittsburgh such as The Clarks and Rusted Root are making national noise, there are still some working toward those heights.One band working to attract fans is The Delaneys. You might have heard of them.

“The one quote that we laugh about all the time is, we hear people say ‘The Delaneys’ and they say ‘Yeah I’ve heard of them, but I’ve never seen them,'” guitarist Justin Dalton said.

The debut album, On Tap, from the band – which calls Center, Pa. home – has only been out for about seven months now, but The Delaneys have been working on becoming rock stars since high school.

In 1995, Dan “Zig” Zigerelli (vocals/guitar) and Dalton decided to start making music together. With the addition of high school friend and drummer Ryan Fox, as well as another friend to play the bass, the foursome began putting together music and entertaining at parties.

“We played a talent show, a Fourth of July party and a couple of festivals,” Zigerelli said. “We did that for two or three years.”

At the Fourth of July party, the band was about to take the stage, and someone introduced them as “The Delaneys” – a reference to Center High School JV Baseball coach Dave Delaney. Before that point, the band hadn’t been set on a name.

“There were a good amount of people at the party, so everybody knew us by The Delaneys at that point,” said Fox. “It was kind of funny because it was a joke, but it stuck.”

The Delaneys just played to play music through high school, and in 2001, after the addition of current bass player Christian “Captain” Caputo, the band started taking their music a little more seriously.

“We got asked to play at a local bar,” said Zigerelli. “All of our friends were 21 years old, and they were there singing along, and the bartender asked us if we wanted to come back the next month.”

The Delaneys found that they already had a strong group of fans – mostly friends and family – that would follow them wherever they played, and it was time to branch out and recruit new ones.

The time came for The Delaneys to hit the studio, and, with the help of Tripper from Buzzpoets, they recorded a 12-song album. Only a few months after it had been released, it was already becoming a big hit.

“Working with Tripper was great, because we went in with the songs the way we’ve been doing them,” Zigerelli said. “Since we were novices to the whole recording process, it was nice to have somebody say, ‘Why don’t you try a harmony part right there.'”The Delaneys had many thanks for the members of Buzzpoets.

“They helped us sound good,” Zigerelli said, “That was actually our third stab at making the CD.”

The album has helped bring more fans into the local music scene, of which the Delaneys are a part, but what the band really relies on is live performance. Like any band that is just starting out, The Delaneys know that they have to please the crowd, and that means throwing out the occasional cover song to pull them in.

“We like to stick to the classics,” Dalton said about playing covers. “We’re not out here doing stuff that you’re going to hear on 93.7 BZZ, [Top 40 radio], it’s more like Tom Petty and The Beatles – all classic stuff.”

The many live shows have helped The Delaneys get the exposure they need, and when the radio stations are helping out, it makes quite a difference.”It’s good exposure to get your name on WDVE,” Dalton said. “That’s what’s hard, is getting promotion from radio stations.”And even though you most likely won’t hear a Delaneys song on WDVE, you can hear them Sunday nights on 105.9 WXDX, during the show Edge of the X, which plays local music and new releases.Getting exposure is a difficult part of being a local band.”It’s tough getting people to come to the shows, and that’s [true for] every band and local musician in Pittsburgh,” Fox said.”A lot of the people that are watching us have their own bands,” Zigerelli said. “It dilutes the scene.”But they aren’t afraid of working hard to get people interested.”I’m full-on prepared to go to local campuses and pass out demos, stickers, and just go through the cafeteria,” said Zigerelli. “If you give 50 fliers out, two people are going to go to the website and check us out.”The Delaneys have a solid sound. They have fun onstage and great chemistry. Their enthusiasm toward making music is apparent every time they set foot on stage, and, like their forefathers of rock ‘n’ roll, they aim to please and succeed. Every song on their debut album is filled with emotion as well as fun, and they sport substantial guitar riffs and musicianship.The Delaneys are the new face of the local music scene, and, with the release of On Tap, the band is climbing the ladder of success in Pittsburgh. Constantly on the road, The Delaneys are looking to pick up more and more fans, and they plan to go back into the studio and put out their sophomore album this fall.”Some of the songs we play, we have been playing for a long time,” Dalton said. “I honestly can say we are much more talented now than when we wrote those songs. We’re really looking forward to getting the new music out there.”For touring and booking information, log on to www.delaneysmusic.com