Catching up with Delaney

By Cathy DeDe, Chronicle Managing Editor

When Queensbury grad Delaney Silvernell takes the stage at the Times Union Center on Friday night, June 28, it’ll be a heady moment.

“It’s my childhood dream venue,” Delaney told The Chronicle on Monday afternoon, speaking by phone from her home in Los Angeles.

She’d delayed the interview because she was called in to her regular gig — behind the counter at a pizza place.

“I feel like Hannah Montana sometimes,” she says — with her regular life as an incognito L.A. woman, and the occasional bouts of super-star performing gigs coming in the wake of her high-profile turn on NBC’s The Voice last season.

She’s opening for Madison VanDerburg, the Latham teen who just made it to the Top 3 finals on American Idol, and Moriah Formica, also of Latham, from the 2017 edition of The Voice.

“The fact that it’s three young female artists is also especially exciting to me.”

Delaney says, “I had had tentative plans about doing a show like this with just me and Moriah, but it never came through. Then when Madison got so far on American Idol, it solidified.”

Delaney is scheduled for a half-hour set. She said she’ll be joined by fellow Queensbury grad Ben Rowley on keyboards, plus musicians from the Glens Falls-Queensbury band Hasty Page, including Zane Agnew on guitar, Josh Morris on drums and James Paolano on bass.

“I might throw in a cover that everyone knows,” Delaney said, but mostly she plans to perform her own original music — including “Bow and Arrow” that’s gotten air time locally, she notes, another called “Nobody’s Home,” and a new song she’s about to release.

New song in the works

Delaney says that one, “Do It For Me.” co-authored with her writing partner Peter Chun, “was very easy to write.

(Like her, he’s a grad of Berklee College of Music in Boston. “The network in L.A. of Berklee alumni is very good,” Delaney adds.

Of the new song, she says, “It was definitely inspired by some new artists I’m listening too, more an electronic pop kind of track, something like Ariana Grande might do.”

Delaney has another show booked in L.A. on June 30, so it’ll be a whirlwind visit here.

“I’m flying home June 26, rehearse on June 27, show on June 28, flying back the 29th for a show on the 30th. It’s pretty crazy, but all in a good way. There’s a lot happening, a lot of momentum suddenly.”

She’s got a new PR agency based in London.

She also just sang on “Let it Go,” the latest collaboration by hip-hop-rap artist Anth, with English singer-songwriter Connor Maynard.

“They just reached out to me on Instagram. They’d seen my music and asked me to sing on the hook. They called and asked, ‘Can you come do a session today?’”

Delaney says, “I didn’t really know who they were, but both of them have a pretty big following.” She added, “I was there when they filmed the music video. It’s weird watching an actress lip sync for my voice.”

A gig like that? “It pays way better money than my pizza job,” Delaney says.

“It’s amazing, coming home to my childhood dream place, and then I’m working at a pizza place. It’s kind of crazy.”

The show: Madison VanDenburg and Moriah Formica, with special guest Delaney Silvernell, Saturday, June 28, 7:30 p.m. at the Times Union Center. Tix: $25-$35 reserved, $55 general admission pit including pre-show meet and greet with Madison. Tix: At the arena box office or online at ticketmaster.com.

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