The athletes, artists and celebrities invited to join Jake on stage share a mix of music genres - country, rock, indie rock, jazz, blues, bluegrass, classical, Latin, and heavy metal.
Matt Williams was a five-time All-Star and one of baseball’s best third basemen after winning four Silver Slugger and Gold Glove Awards during his 17-year Major League career with the San Francisco Giants, Cleveland Indians and Arizona Diamondbacks. He was a member of the D-backs’ 2001 World Championship team and currently serves as the club’s third base coach.
Joe Nichols received new artist awards from the Country Music Association, Billboard, Radio & Records, Music Row and the Academy of Country Music after first making a name for himself in Nashville nearly 10 years ago. Since then, he has received four Grammy nominations, a CMA Album of the Year nomination and a New York Times’ Best-Albums-of-the-Year nod. Nichols’ multiple RIAA platinum and gold albums and singles include chart-toppers such as “Brokenheartsville,” “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off” and “Gimme That Girl.”
Huston Street enters his first season with the San Diego Padres in 2012 after compiling 178 saves and a 3.11 ERA in seven Major League seasons since being named American League Rookie of the Year in 2005 with the Oakland Athletics. Street originally spent $100 on an acoustic guitar and learned how to play to fight boredom while traveling on the road during his first Major League season. He later received a Taylor Acoustic 8 Series guitar as a gift and has not stopped playing it since.
Peter Gammons has covered the game of baseball for more than 40 years and is currently a columnist for MLB.com and an on-air analyst for MLB Network. He was named National Sportswriter of the Year three times and received the J.G Taylor Spink Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006. The longtime guitar player has always had a penchant for independent rock and the blues, and is active in the indie rock scene in his hometown of Boston. Gammons released his debut album, Never Slow Down, Never Grow Old, in 2006.
Bronson Arroyo has been the ace of the Cincinnati Reds’ pitching staff since 2006 and has compiled 112 wins during his 12-year Major League career. Arroyo, who was a member of the Boston Red Sox’ 2004 World Championship team, is a self-taught guitarist but sticks to only singing on stage now because of recurring carpal-tunnel syndrome from too much guitar playing. He released his debut album, Covering the Bases, consisting of 1990s cover tunes in 2005.
