The Baseball Project

Members of R.E.M., The Dream Syndicate, Young Fresh Fellows, Minus 5, Filthy Friends (and more!) who came together in 2007 to write songs inspired by the characters and sometimes complex stories of America's pastime - all put to the sound of guitars and drums and that cover ground from Rock and Garage, to Folk, Disco and that sweet, sweet Americana!

The band formed in late 2007 at a party for R.E.M.’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame where Scott and Steve met for the first time. Their conversation quickly ricocheted from music talk to baseball and they both confessed a longstanding desire to write and record an entire album of original songs about the game that would dig deeper into the psyche of the characters than the typical cornball songs of yesteryear. The pair immediately booked recording time two months later in Portland, OR to ensure that neither one would cop out on their whimsical idea, then set themselves to writing the songs that would become "Vol. 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails". They recorded the album in late 2007 with Linda Pitmon on drums and Peter Buck (of R.E.M. reknown) contributing guitars and were signed to Yep Roc Records who released it shortly thereafter in the summer of 2008.

In the ensuing years the group added Mike Mills (also of R.E.M.) on bass and recorded 3 more full albums of baseball-inspired material and performed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, The Baseball Hall of Fame (Cooperstown), the National SABR Convention, Peter Gammons’ Hot Stove Benefit Event, the Chicago Cubs Fanfest and more.

They've also wrangled their many like-minded baseball and music nutty friends to join them on record, such as Craig Finn (The Hold Steady), Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie), Ira Kaplan (Yo La Tengo) and Chris Funk and John Moen (The Decembrists), among others.