Valley kid goes viral: Former member of Colony High pep band earns national attention

WASILLA — Colony High School graduate William Delph’s energetic, marching band dance moves went viral on social media with over 3.5 million views, grabbing national attention after his friend and fellow trombone player, Trace Bails, posted a Facebook video on Nov. 5.

Bail recorded Delph jumping up and down and grooving with his trombone amid the West Texas A&M University marching band on the bleachers during the last pep band game of the season.

“I call him my agent…” Delph said with a laugh. “It was our last pep band game so he was like, ‘I gotta get this.’”

Delph, 20, graduated from CHS in 2016. Delph played the trombone in the CHS marching band all four years under Dr. Jamin Burton.

Delph has been to many of the CHS marching band’s most iconic trips in recent years, going to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, and even managed to “sneak” into the famous Macey’s Day Parade performance in New York City a year after graduating.

“I actually got to write the visuals for it. It was really stinkin’ cool. Then I got to go with them so I got to sneak in one more,” Delph said.

Delph said that any CHS alumni who were under 20 years old and entered a competition with the CHS marching band during senior year had a chance to join.

He said that he first picked up the trombone when he was in fifth grade.

“I actually thought it was the trumpet, but I learned the hard way. I was like ‘oh, the teacher made a mistake when she handed me the trombone,” Delph said.

Delph hasn’t put the trombone down ever since. He played viola and sang choir in high school and now, he still plays the viola and he sings for his church’s choir.

Delph’s viral video spread like wildfire and was even shared on Good Morning America.

“This dancing marching band member just pulled us out of our morning slump,” read a post on the television program’s Facebook page.

He said that it was funny that his video went viral after many years of doing that exact same thing all through high school with his friends.

“We did it for every single pep band game. We had every single and memorized. We had it all down. We did it for all the bands. We did it for jazz band, symphonic band. I tried putting visuals into like orchestra when I was playing orchestra. I kept trying to sneak it in everywhere,” Delph said.

Delph said that Burton approved his flashy antics and choreographed moves throughout the years.

“Every time. He loved them. He was so down with it,” Delph said.

Delph admitted that he could not trace back the origin, the first rehearsed dance but knows it’s become very much ingrained in his marching band routine and always will be. He said that he practiced three times before that last pep game.

“I had it ready,” Delph said.

Delph is two years into college and he’s going for his bachelors in music therapy. He said that after he gets his degree and an internship, he hopes to come back to the Valley to heal people with the power of music.

“It’s the closest thing, to me, to magic so to study it: I get to be a sorcerer,” Delph said. “It affects everybody differently so there’s got to be something to it.”

Video: https://www.facebook.com/trace.bails.1/videos/466901790501088/UzpfSTEzODQzMzQ2MTQ6MTAyMTc3NDY4MTg4MDcyNDk/

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com