The Atlanta Braves’ Spencer Strider is a starting pitcher with an overpowering fastball and a powerful love of rock music. The 2023 All-Star, currently recovering from a season-ending elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery, is as passionate about music as he is the national pastime.
“I’m a lot better at baseball so that’s what I do for a living, but there’s definitely an alternate universe where I’m living in the back of a van playing gigs and stuff,” Strider said in an interview.
That appreciation, combined with a visit he made with Braves Director of Player Relations Franco García to Detroit’s Third Man Records on a Braves road trip last season, proved to be the inspiration for an upcoming local music-themed promotion that stands apart from more typical Major League Baseball giveaways. After a conversation with staff at the combination store/pressing plant (owned by rock titan and baseball fan Jack White), Strider collaborated with the team’s marketing staff to put his idea into motion for what is now billed as the Spencer Strider Vinyl Record Giveaway.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
On Wednesday, Aug. 7, the Braves will be giving out 7-inch 45 RPM records — once-sided “singles” pressed at Third Man — to the first 15,000 fans through the Truist Park gates. The discs are split evenly across three versions, each featuring a song by an Atlanta rock band. Lunar Vacation, Dinner Time and Trash Panda are the groups featured, and two of them will perform at a special concert in the Battery immediately following the team’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers. (Lunar Vacation will attend the game, but members had a prior later commitment.)
Strider, who will introduce the bands on stage, selected them — he’s a fan of each. “I like reading reviews, so to get closer to how artists that I respect and whose work I enjoy so much, their process behind it, is fascinating to me,” he said.
Braves Vice President of Marketing and Innovation Greg Mize said he got on Strider’s frequency about the giveaway right away. “Honestly, one of the coolest parts about this entire project is that it’s coming from his [Strider’s] brain,” Mize said. “It’s been one of the most fun non-World Series projects I’ve had the pleasure of working on here.”
Credit: Getty Images
Credit: Getty Images
Strider also loves live music and goes to as many Atlanta shows as he can. Contemporary indie rock is at the forefront of his record collection, spiked with a little bit of jazz and punk.
“One of my favorite things to do,” he said, “is to go to different cities and scout out record stores to go to, spend 45 minutes there flipping through and maybe finding one thing that I haven’t found anywhere else.”
Like most record collectors, the pitcher has a white whale: a colored-vinyl, limited-edition release of the 2019 album “Titanic Rising” by Weyes Blood. While Strider considered buying it online for two-plus years, he’s opted to continue searching for it in the wild. His discovery of a coveted release by Indian band Peter Cat Recording Co. at a small Boston record shop last year was a thrill: “I live for those kinds of finds, those moments.”
The bands Strider selected for inclusion have all been busy.
Dinner Time’s appearance is hot on the heels of the release of its album “Technicolor,” recorded at the Scottdale studio Standard Electric Recorders. It’s a piano-heavy, psychedelic wonderland, and the group is justifiably proud of it.
“I think it’s our favorite album we’ve made,” said guitarist-singer Ian Buford on a recent call. “We got really creative with it, it was our experimental record.” Dinner Time selected “Cuídate,” written primarily by Alejandro Uribe, as its song for the vinyl giveaway.
Buford and his bandmates (Uribe, London Cameron and Andrew Joyce along with touring drummer Gideon Johnston) are baseball fans, so they were particularly thrilled to be included. “We were absolutely floored and so grateful,” Buford said. “I did not think I would ever talk to Spencer Strider! He’s really nice.”
Credit: Violet Teegardin
Credit: Violet Teegardin
There’s camaraderie already built in among the bands, as members of Dinner Time have known Lunar Vacation since the latter’s origins. “Ian helped us book our first shows and really get into the scene, because we didn’t really know how to do any of that,” Lunar Vacation singer-guitarist Grace “Gep” Repasky said in a recent conversation. “It’s so crazy to be here eight years later!”
Lunar Vacation (which also includes Maggie Geeslin, Ben Wulkan, Matteo DeLurgio and Connor Dowd) is set to release its sophomore album “Everything Matters, Everything’s Fire” on Sept. 13, the promotion for which includes an in-store event at Criminal Records on release day and a performance at the 40 Watt in Athens on Sept. 14. The recent standout single “Set the Stage” has a ballet-themed video directed by “Stranger Things” actor and band friend Finn Wolfhard, while the album track “Tom” is the band’s contribution to the Braves event.
In the meantime, band members have enjoyed the experience of working with the team. “They’ve been so nice and so friendly,” said guitarist Geeslin.
“We had no idea he [Strider] liked our music,” she added. “It’s also super cool they’re getting everything pressed at Third Man Records. It’s totally iconic. It lined up well with our album release so it’s really exciting.”
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Trash Panda frontman Patrick Taylor, who grew up in the area (“Atlanta Girls” is a notable track by the band) and relocated to Florida recently, is looking forward to being back both for the Braves festivities and an Aug. 9 performance at Terminal West. The band restarted in 2022 following a lengthy hiatus and is re-pressing last year’s “Pandamonium!” album ahead of recording a new effort that the musicians hope to start early next year. In the meantime, Trash Panda (which includes Christian Pittman, Brandon Sandoval and Max Zargon) will be playing a series of weekend runs this fall.
“It launched me back to my childhood,” said Taylor about first hearing from the Braves, noting he had a Chipper Jones baseball in his possession and a signed Greg Maddux photo on his wall growing up.
The musician was struck by Strider’s sincerity. “I think it’s awesome that he’s focusing on these bands that have ties to Atlanta,” Taylor said. “It’s a very authentic move to him. This is the music he loves and he’s excited to share it with people.”
Strider’s favorite Trash Panda song is “Honey Eyes,” so it was an easy selection for their 45.
The pitcher is eager to showcase indie rock from the city, acknowledging Atlanta is better known for its legion of hip hop artists, many of them legends. “There are so many artists of [indie rock] — which is kind of a large, amorphous genre — from Atlanta that it would be cool to highlight,” he said. “The Braves are in a position right now where we’re so relevant in Atlanta, it’s awesome to try and link up with the music scene and really establish this city cultural connect.”
Strider’s hope is that the team will want to repeat the experience next year. First, though, he’s enthusiastic to be putting Lunar Vacation, Trash Panda and Dinner Time front and center for an evening at Truist Park with top musical performances set to follow the baseball one.
IF YOU GO
Spencer Strider Vinyl Record Giveaway
Atlanta Braves vs. Milwaukee Brewers. 7:20 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 7. Truist Park, 755 Battery Ave. SE. Early arrival is advised to receive one of the 15,000 free vinyl singles. mlb.com/braves/tickets.
Lunar Vacation info: lunarvacationband.com. Dinner Time info: dinnertime.zone. Trash Panda info: trashpandamusic.com.
About the Author
