Radio holiday concert showcases local talent

WILMINGTON, Del.—Against the backdrop of a laser show, the band Yes Virginia took the stage Thursday night at the World Café Live at The Queen and brought its hard-rocking style to the Christmas classic "Silver Bells."

Yes Virginia and other bands ushered in the holiday season with 93.7 WSTW Hometown Heroes Holiday Bash, which showcased local acts. WSTW Hometown Heroes host Mark Rogers says he had never seen all of the band members perform together and was impressed by their show.

"They're very cool—very high-energy," he says. "I think if they had the time and the energy, they would grow beyond Delaware."

The band derived their name from the 1897 newspaper editorial column in the New York Sun titled, "Yes Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus." After an eight-year-old girl named Virginia O'Hanlon wrote and asked if Santa existed, one of the Sun's editors, Francis Church, responded that he did. As a band that plays primarily Christmas music, the members found the name fitting.

Yes Virginia began releasing Christmas music in 1997, and bassist Paul Janocha says the band tries each year to send an optimistic message.

"Each year it just kind of grew and grew and grew," Janocha says. "During the Christmas season, it's about celebrating the season and celebrating what it's really supposed to be about—spreading joy and hope."

Local bands Battleshy Youths and the Paper Janes, along with solo artist Em McKeever, also performed at the event. In October, the artists recorded an 11-track Christmas album, called "A Diner Club Christmas," in the basement of Paper Janes singer and guitarist and university senior Shane Palkovitz's home.

Junior Ben Natrin, the brother of senior Michael Natrin of Battleshy Youths, says the Diner Club originated at the Eagle Diner on Elkton Road, which was demolished last year. The Club salvaged objects such as restaurant booths and menus and placed them in Palkovitz's basement in Landenberg, Pa., where the friends gather each Thursday night to play music.

"The Diner Club is kind of the whole thing that the group of friends is," Natrin says. "They all used to meet up [at the Eagle Diner] and hang out playing cards, playing music—doing whatever."

Sophomore Harmony Mooney, who played harp for the album, says the three bands performed together seamlessly.

"Their versatility was impressive," Mooney says. "And they had a very good stage presence."

Rogers says the tight-knit group is active in developing the local music scene.

"They're all very talented—very creative and innovative, even," he says. "I think they're on par with people you hear on a national level."

Leah Sininsky contributed reporting to this article.