Displaying items by tag: Lake Local

SARATOGA SPRINGS — In the ol’ music talent evaluation game, certain rules of thumb apply. Of course, you learn to trust your own instincts, but beyond that – I don’t care how good you tell me you are, even though you are nice, clean cut and polite.

And I certainly don’t care what your parents say! Even though I know most of them in this case, and they are solid citizens all.

No, I care about what these guys say: “The first thing that impresses me about the members of Delphino is that they are very smart,” said Jeffrey Halstead, musician and music teacher extraordinaire at Saratoga High School. Jeff has had most of the six members of Delphino – all now going into their senior blue streak year - as students in his various classes. “They all have a keen awareness of music history – both rock and pop,” Halstead continued, “I expect that they will continue to work hard and be creative.” Jeff said he expects to attend Delphino’s Album release party at Lake Local (details below) next Thursday.

That alone is good enough for me, and should be for you too. Jeff is about as close to the Underwriter’s Laboratory seal of approval as it gets on the local music scene. But wait, there’s more:

“Awww, Delphino. Now this is a pretty cool thing to see,” said Rick Bolton, local music legend and esteemed host of Gaffney’s open mic on Tuesdays for more years then he cares to admit. “They first came to the open mic, two or three years ago, with a smaller configuration,” Bolton continued. “They waltzed in like they had been there before. I remember getting them up right away because they were so young. They came back again last spring, and you could see a lot of progress.” “But even that first time - the stuff that they were putting out was structured and creative. Moreover, they approached and presented their original music very seriously. Another thing I like is how they get support from their families to reach for more – the best thing in the world is to have the opportunity for talent to flower at a young age,” Rick concluded.

That’s hitting the daily double, but let’s go for the trifecta. For my part, the members of Delphino (we’re on a first name basis, meaning: Max, Emma, Adam, Sam, Jeff and Aaron) all bring a unique level of talent to the table – but the synergy is much greater than the individual parts. You can see they enjoy each other, and it’s reflected in the music.

I asked each of them one of my “pick your favorite parent” questions, in this case – tell me your ONE top musical influence – only one. Here was the scoreboard:

- 2 for Velvet Underground – Adam and Aaron

- 2 for Cage the Elephant – Sam and Jeff

- 2 for The Strokes – Emma and Max

And the mix works. Photographer Mark said he heard They Might Be Giants, which got knowing nods from most. Me: I said I hear The Kinks in some numbers – which got some smiles, though I think Emma was just being nice to me. In any event, Jeff Halstead is right for giving them an A in music history. This may be one to follow – and not just for the music. They took great pains to acknowledge the recording engineering efforts of Brian Miller of the Capital Area Music Project (and also the head of Cutting Edge Martial Arts), thanked him for his donation of time and effort on Delphino’s album. That says a lot about the quality of the young adults we are dealing with here.

It may be overkill, but we end with my intern - and recent Blue Streak graduate Allie Capasso, who said. “Oh, Delphino! Yeah, I know those guys… you’re doing a story on them – cool!” That, my friends, is a cold pick six.

Delphino

Album Release Party 

Thursday, July 7 at 4 p.m.

Lake Local

550 Union Avenue at Saratoga Lake

518-886-1373