Conceived within the walls of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel during a party celebrating R.E.M.’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, The Baseball Project is a supergroup featuring members of R.E.M., The Dream Syndicate and several other projects. Its core performers are Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey, Steve Wynn, Mike Mills and Linda Pitmon. When a conversation about music between McCaughey and Wynn veered into baseball, the two confessed a common dream of recording an album about the sport and all of the eccentric character studies it has to offer. Pitmon overheard the conversation and challenged the pair to finally do it. After a few weeks, the three booked studio time to record some ideas they’d been bouncing around, calling on Buck and later Mills for support. The group released its first record, Volume 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails, in 2008, and has since released four more studio albums. Opening its show in Athens is McCaughey’s band The Minus 5, which also features Buck and Pitmon.
WHO: The Baseball Project
WHEN: Friday, Sept. 12, 7 p.m. (doors), 8 p.m. (show)
WHERE: 40 Watt Club
HOW MUCH: $30
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