Category Archives: 30 Clubs in 30 Songs

Aahh, good ol’ Colorado. When I got to this one, I was stumped. What bands came from Denver? I had no idea. I turned to the interwebs for an answer… “The Fray?! Oh, hell no.” So, what now? After a little more research, I discovered that Denver is considered a hotbed for the jam band scene. With that in mind, I tried my best to condense the essence of Phish into less than 2 minutes. Little unison licks, the first piano part in this project, a solid groove, a guitar solo, and the “David Bowie” (The Phish tune, not the guy) / “Dinner and a Movie” style of lyric writing. This song turned out better than I expected and I hope you enjoy it.

Colorado

Next up: Detroit (Next Friday), Florida (The following Tuesday)

Well, folks, here it is – the musical (insert your favorite off-speed pitch here) that had to happen at some point. I’ll get back to ridiculously loud and uptempo music, of course, but this was too good of an idea to pass up. The iconic symbol of the Cleveland Indians – besides perhaps Major League – is that grinning Chief logo. Sooo… why not REALLY make him an icon? I set about doing so the only way I knew: I gave him Chuck Norris-like qualities and set it in a rambling country-style musical backdrop. The result was pretty spectacular and I hope you enjoy it. Y’all come back now, you hear?

Cleveland

Next up: Colorado (Friday), Detroit (next week)

This tune is a classic case of “the first idea isn’t always the best.” My first thought for Cincinnati was “Hey, Reds – Communists!” However, I think we can all agree that’s a dumb idea, so that found the scrap heap in a big hurry. The second time around, I started to think about The Big Red Machine, the team that dominated in the ’70s… and decided to make it an actual thing – The Machine! Emerging from the nearby river and running roughshod over everything. Musically, I knew where to go from there. Enjoy! Bask in the heaviness! And try not to hit your keyboard while headbanging (can’t say I don’t look out for you people).

Cincinnati

Next up: Cleveland (Tuesday), Colorado (Next Friday)

Going into this project, I knew in the back of my mind that I would have to cover every team… including ones I don’t particularly like. Stemming from the fact that the minor league team that plays in my hometown is a feeder for Minnesota, this is one of those times. But even still, I have to admit their manager is fun to have around.

Musically, I opted for a shuffle groove mainly for a change of pace. I further accented this change with what I like to call Gratuitous Use Of The 5-String Bass. Lyrically, I wasn’t sure what to do, so I asked the Twitterverse. The suggestions I received were: a) Shorts, b) Ozzie Guillen, c) Ron Karkovice, and d) Gentrification. Well, three out of four ain’t bad, right? Also: While I was writing the lyrics, I noticed that it sounded like a bad ad campaign, so that’s why the talking part at the very end was thrown in. ALSO-ER: There’s a somewhat obligatory reference to The First Fan. Your job? FIND IT. Have fun and enjoy!

Chicago, Part 2: SouthSide

Next up: Cincinnati (Next Friday), Cleveland (the following week)

I like Chicago. That’s a cool city they have there. I saw my first live major league game in Chicago… in Wrigley Field, no less (Bob Uecker did the seventh inning stretch, which was AWESOME)! I have to hand it to them – that’s a great crowd and one hell of a baseball town. Year after year, there they are, cheering for their team even though they haven’t won anything in forever (As a lifelong Buffalo Sabres fan, I can sympathize with that to an extent). Sure, they probably won’t win this year, either, but they’ll still be there. Wrigley Field has always struck me as The Home Of The Eternal Optimist – There’s always next year.

The last line in the second verse is a reference to this brilliant line of thinking chronicled here (tip o’ the cap to Walkoff Walk for it). Partake and enjoy!

Chicago, Part 1: NorthSide

Next up: Chicago, Part 2 (Friday), Cincinnati (Next Friday)

When I set out to make this tune, I decided to go for a classic/hard rock vibe. I guess I was thinking of Aerosmith, which is kind of odd since I’m not really a fan of them. It still sounds like me, though, mainly because I can’t sing like Steven Tyler without killing my vocal cords. Also, I may be making it a point to avoid parodying actual songs in this project, but I couldn’t resist the bit at the end. Enjoy, comment, share, and until next time: fear the monster, respect the nation… but not necessarily in that order.

Boston

Next up: Chicago (Part 1 – Tuesday, Part 2 – Friday)

Aaahh, Baltimore. The once-proud baseball franchise that’s now the scourge of their division. I feel bad for a team like that, despite the not-so-friendly end to the Rochester-Baltimore affiliation. But at least they can take comfort in that cool retro-style ballpark… especially since they beat everybody else to that trend (Sing along to the chorus! “Our retro ballpark was first”). That warehouse looking over the park is pretty cool, too. And “The Wire”…ok, I haven’t seen “The Wire”, but if multiple people said it was worth name-checking, then it was worth name-checking.

Baltimore

Next up: Boston (Next Friday), Chicago (The following Tuesday and Friday)

When the idea was hatched for this project, there was only one musical direction for this tune to go: Mastodon! In order to really capture what I like about them, I aped one of their tunings (low to high: B A D G B E), went ape on the drums, and wrote about a big lurking animatronic thing in the city’s ballpark (not an ape). This one was fun to put together and I hope you enjoy it. After the mp3, some extracurricular nonsense.

Atlanta

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