Growing up, Carmen DelPlato got to know just about all of the 200 or so songs his older brother John wrote, which he describes as very Beatlesque.
"John used to sing me when I was a kid frequently so I could sing along with him," DelPlato said. I'm a bit biased but I think the songs are pretty good."
They're good enough, DelPlato thinks, that more people should hear them, so he's created a Kickstarter campaign to raise $1,800 to pay for studio recordings of eight of the songs. For a contribution of $10 or more, you could own a bit of Batavia's rock music history.
"We're doing this to share his music so it can be heard because when he goes the music goes with him," DelPlato said. "We're not out to make money. You can't make money in the music business unless you have a lot of money and we don't have a lot of money."
The DelPlato family is a musical family. Carmen's maternal grandfather, Francesco Marcello, was a musician and composer who wrote marches. One of them, family legend has it, was played for Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
His mother, Mary, was also a songwriter. Some of her Christmas songs have been featured on The Batavian the past couple of years, such as this one.
Carmen is the youngest of nine children -- John, Charley, Danny Jr., Joe, Vincent, Mary Ellen, Michael and Carmen. Carmen professes to no musical talent. John, Charley, Mary, and Vinny all played music. Mary Ellen is also a songwriter.
The boys in this large family often had to share rooms, two and three to a room, in their house on Hutchins Street, but there was still space for a music room with drums, guitars and keyboards. There was also a piano in the living room.
The musical talent has been passed down to Carmen's nephew, Anthony, who will produce and play on the recordings of John's songs. He has a degree in recording.
"He can play many instruments," Carmen said. "He can sing, which makes it easier and cheaper than otherwise to pay other musicians."
To make your contribution to the recording effort, click here.
