Today is Opening Day for Major League Baseball, and, as with fans everywhere and in all walks of life, team loyalties run deep among Nonesuch artists (and staff members). Chris Thile wishes his Twitter followers a "Happy Opening Day!" The Low Anthem's Jeff Prystowsky offers predictions as one of the "heavy-hitting bassists who happen to be big baseball fans" featured in ESPN's 2011 "bass-ball" preview. Randy Newman tells Paste: "I love baseball ... I think that baseball fields are about the most beautiful things in the world.”
Today is Opening Day for Major League Baseball, and, as with fans everywhere and in all walks of life, team loyalties run deep among Nonesuch artists (and staff members). Chris Thile, an avowed Cubs fan, is on tour in Florida with the Punch Brothers and kicked off the day with an early morning and graciously ecumenical tweet, wishing everyone a "Happy Opening Day!"
The Low Anthem's Jeff Prystowsky, who is currently in Switzerland on a tour of Europe with his band, is among the "heavy-hitting bassists who happen to be big baseball fans" featured in ESPN's 2011 "bass-ball" preview. ESPN's Jim Wilkie says the sport "is interwoven into the life of The Low Anthem's Prystowsky," who once taught a course on the subject at a Providence high school.
Less fixed than his appreciation of the sport is his allegiance to any one team. "[W]hat I started to do is every year, I just loved the game, so every year I would pick a different team," Prystowsky tells Wilkie. "And last year I rooted for the Cardinals, and this year I'm rooting for the Orioles. (Laughs) Orioles is the short answer, but the long answer would be I'm a former Yankees (fan), so there should be like a support group for us, for former Yankees fans who are looking for a new team."
Read more of Prystowsky's explanation for his pick, find out a few of his favorites in the sport, and see some more of his predictions for the season ahead, at espn.com.
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Paste magazine was able to track down musician fans of each of the MLB teams, including Dodgers fan Randy Newman. Yes, everyone knows Newman loves L.A., but, like Prystowsky, his support for the sport runs deeper.
"I love baseball," says Newman, who won a Grammy Award for his score to the classic baseball film The Natural. "My favorite teams were the Hollywood Stars of the PCL and the Brooklyn Dodgers. What I remember best about the experience of going to a ball game is how beautiful it looked when you came through the tunnel and you saw a green field. It didn’t matter whether it was Gilmore Field (the home of the Stars), the Coliseum (which incidentally was a very odd looking ballpark) or Dodger Stadium. The thrill was the same ... I think that baseball fields are about the most beautiful things in the world.”
Read more of what Newman has to say on the subject and read other musicians' takes at pastemagazine.com.
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Emmylou Harris, another stalwart fan of the sport, recently chose a baseball metaphor for her and her band's first public performances of songs from her forthcoming album, Hard Bargain, at the SXSW Music Conference in Austin. "You're seeing our spring training," she quipped. You can watch one of the songs from that performance from the IFC Crossroads House here. Stay tuned for regular season play as Harris heads out on tour this spring; for details, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.
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