Delta Del Rio - Travelling along the banks of folk

We got in touch via video call with Gianleonardo Gentile, Ester Sampaolo and Miriam Sirolli, aka Delta Del Rio, to hear them tell their story, the meaning behind their new songs and their various musical influences. A pleasant chat with the Rome-based trio just ahead of the release of their second album, “As My Eyes Do”, which gathers nine folk tracks with a bucolic feel, enriched by the angelic vocals of Ester and Miriam.

How did you meet?

Gianleonardo: Even though we went to the same high school in Rome, for a long time we only ever crossed paths, partly because of a four-year age gap. We got back in touch through Facebook in 2017 to write a song together. The project picked up again after Covid-19, when I had a flash of inspiration that led me to ask Ester and Miriam to try making something together.

Why Delta Del Rio?

Gianleonardo: It came from an idea of mine. Our music flows like a river whose tributaries are Ester and Miriam's voices. It came to me after thinking about bands with an appeal similar to ours, and it immediately struck me as the most fitting name.

Your music also has a cinematic appeal - would you like to compose a film soundtrack one day?

Miriam: That would be amazing, because our music fits really well with a cinematic idea, but it would also work for a TV series, where songs often play a key role.

Gianleonardo: It has to be said that it would also be a great personal challenge for all of us - it's never easy to position yourselves as original composers for a film's music, which is very different from using or picking already existing tracks.

How did “Dewdrop” come about?

Gianleonardo: It's a preview of our new direction, but also a statement of intent and an invitation to embrace one's own fragilities and turn them into opportunities for rebirth, which is always an inner process, one in which every falling tear should shine like a drop of dew, thus also symbolizing the ability to be reborn every time we suffer.  It's no coincidence that “Dewdrop” was written at dawn, facing the sea, in a moment of reflection.

There's a strong echo of American new folk in your songs — where does this fascination come from?

Gianleonardo: Although I'm a big fan of American and European folk music, the influences we draw on today are very fluid and travel fast. Our approach crosses polyphonic choral music with very open, simple chords, setting us apart from other projects that lean toward country music.

Three records or musicians each that changed your life.

Miriam: I feel very close to Italian singer-songwriter tradition, so I'll say Dalla, De Gregori and Battiato. “Buonanotte Fiorellino”, for instance, was a daily listen throughout my childhood. Ester: My background is classical-leaning, among other things, so off the top of my head I'd say Claudio Monteverdi, “Abbey Road” by the Beatles and “Ok Computer” by Radiohead. These are the different macro-experiences that have shaped my musical path.

Gianleonardo: “Astral Weeks” by Van Morrison, “The Black Album” by Metallica, and “Bon Iver, Bon Iver” by Bon Iver — three records that have shaped my life and my approach to music.

How did “As My Eyes Do” come about?

Gianleonardo: It's a song I'm particularly attached to, since I wrote it for my wife. It's a kind of manifesto for how a relationship should be, in particular an invitation to see yourself through the eyes of the person you love, and thus see yourself as the “best person in the world”.

How much have you changed over the last two years?

Ester: What's changed first and foremost is the relationship between the three of us. These days we're more at ease and we're always experimenting with new things — in short, we feel less bound by Gianleonardo's already-finished songs.

Gianleonardo: The arrangement process has become faster and more convincing, and that too is down to the greater solidity of our relationship.

Is the choice of vocal harmonies a nod to gospel music and a certain spirituality?

Ester: Partly, yes. Miriam and I have been singing together since primary school, so we experimented early on with different rounds and countermelodies. Our voices were later refined in the “Musica Nova” choir, which helped us better understand chords and dissonances. There's also the idea of going full band live, and we can't wait to do it.

Would you like to sing in Italian one day too?

Gianleonardo: While I'm not closed off to Italian, it's more natural for me to write in English given my musical influences. Besides, Italian is a difficult language to write in — but if Ester or Miriam brought in a song they'd written in Italian, I'd certainly consider it.

(23 November 2025)

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