“Anyone can play,” Piscitella said. “All they have to do is show up.”

The open-microphone night is part of Windber Hotel’s college night.

Pitt-Johnstown senior Kelsey Jones said she is glad there are places where college-aged people can display their talents.

For the past few months, a Pitt-Johnstown band has participated at the open-microphone night.

The band, made up of mostly Sigma Tau Gamma brothers, is called the Deep Vs.

The band formed when Pitt-Johnstown junior Randall Penn collaborated with senior Mike Cerveris.

“We started freshman year (Spring 2011),” Penn said.

“We started playing acoustic at the Johnstown Inn,” Cerveris said.

Penn plays the guitar and sings for the band, while Cerveris also plays guitar.

Since formation, Pitt-Johnstown senior Drake Watters has joined the band as bassist, and Pitt-Johnstown junior Tony Raco has joined as a drummer.

The name the Deep Vs came from Cerveris’s former roommate, according to Penn.

“He was coming up with funny names, and that one took the cake,” Cerveris said.

Members of the band said they don’t agree on the style.

“We improvise every cover we do,” Raco said.

Cerveris said the band has a range of influences, such as punk rock, blues and reggae.

“It’s a hodgepodge mix of different backgrounds,” Watters said. “Somehow it all comes together, and it sounds original.”

As a whole, the band members said they can be classified as rock.

The band plays a variety of cover songs, as well as some originals.

They played their first booked show at the Windber Hotel Feb. 16. Penn said, for their set, they played 30 songs total, including 22 covers and eight originals.

Piscitella said a majority of the Deep Vs fan base is college students.

Piscitella said they are to play at the Winder Hotel two more times before May.

The Deep Vs have also been featured on Pitt-Oakland’s radio station WPTS-FM. The band played a set on the station earlier in February, according to Watters.

- See more at: http://www.upj-advocate.com/features/2013/02/26/microphone-attracts-upj-band-crowd/#sthash.TWgg7X9N.dpuf

February 26 2013: NEWS: Microphone attracts UPJ band, crowd Tags: Sigma Tau Gamma "Deep Vs Band"

Nathan Bottiger, Sports Editor
February 6, 2013 
Filed under Sports

Pitt-Johnstown fraternity Sigma Tau Gamma members have made it possible for a team of Conemaugh Township kids to play basketball this season.

A maintenance worker, whose son plays on the team, propositioned fraternity member Christian Woo to sponsor the YMCA youth basketball team.

Woo said he presented the idea to the chapter, and that the fraternity members and alumni members were supportive.

“We raised the money shortly after, sent it to him and that was pretty much it.”

According to Woo, the money came from fraternity member donations and from last year’s leftover fundraiser money. The fraternity donated $250 to the team.

Woo said he hopes to plan a time when fraternity members all can go to a game to support The Knights, a team name based on the fraternity’s crest.

Fraternity member Matt Ziance said he would like the fraternity to attend a game, and then also buy pizza for fraternity members, players and the players’ parents to show their gratitude for allowing Sigma Tau Gamma to sponsor them.

“We are a fraternity, and get a bad (reputation) for some reason,” Ziance said, “All of the things we do for the community and philanthropies really get overlooked.”

Ziance said the reason they agreed to the sponsorship was not to further their image, but that it was something generally nice that they usually do.

Ziance said the decision to sponsor the young athletes came from the childhood memories of fraternity members, who were also young athletes at one time.

“We were all talking and talked about how cool it was when we got a sponsored for our youth basketball and baseball teams, and we wanted to share that experience with this new generation.”

- See more at: http://www.upj-advocate.com/sports/2013/02/06/fraternity-sponsors-ymca-league-team/#sthash.L8iPcue5.dpuf

February 6, 2013: NEWS: Fraternity sponsors YMCA league team Tags: Sigma Tau Gamma, Philanthropy