Punch Brothers strike out
Well… the vote is in and Punch Brothers were defeated in the ESPN Baseball Tonight band competition by country singer Gretchen Wilson.
The contest was in honor of the 100th anniversary of the venerable Take Me Out To The Ballgame, written by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilze in 1908. Several popular musical acts were invited to submit their interpretations of the song, and though Punch Brothers made it into the final three, they were unable to overcome the 9th inning rally by Gretchen Wilson fans in the online balloting.
Unfortunately, there is controversy brewing as Punch Brothers banjoist Noam Pikelny has suggested that a “swift boat” attack had been launched against them on the ESPN web site.
As he posted recently on the Punch Brothers site…
There has been a lot of buzz in inside circles that this campaign might go negative. The first round victory of Punch Brothers, the undisputed underdogs, with their primitive acoustic instruments and piecemeal wardrobes, sent shockwaves across the nation. People’s fears of negative smear attacks were unfortunately realized the morning of Tuesday July 7.
The first “Swiftboat” Style attack on Punch Brothers first surfaced on the ESPN.com messageboard:
“I remember the first time I heard about this… I was watching baseball tonight and the Punch Brothers came on. I remember thinking “man, who hired these circus freaks”… No offense too Punch Brothers fans, but do you really think you picked the right band????????? It isn’t that hard to do what they did. I mean I could probably pull some people off the street (”Hey homeless guys, do you have instruments, and also, do you know the lyrics to `Take Me Out To The Ballgame’?”) and no one would know the difference (again, no offense). ” -hockeyplyr99
As of 3:30 PM, EST, neither the Wilson or Ozomatli campaign have denounced the smear.
Major news outlets are scrambling trying to come up with any ties between the Punch Brothers and “Circus Freaks.” An image of Punch Brothers banjoist, Noam Pikelny, has surfaced online where he is seen performing in a Chicken Suit.
Pikelny immediately issued a statement: “I will not apologize for my misspent youth. I also will not allow Carnies or Circus Freaks to become the new scapegoat of American Society. I believe Americans will see right through these vicious smear tactics, and the good name of Punch Brothers will be restored.”
Folks, this is not over.
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Brance posted a few weeks back about the online fan poll on ESPN's Baseball Tonight web site to choose among nine new versions of the venerable diamond classic, Take Me Out To The Ballgame.
The competition was arranged to mark the 100th anniversary of the song's first appearance, and the show's producers...
While we're on this bluegrass/baseball theme, here is the video of Punch Brothers performing Take Me Out To The Ballgame on ESPN's Baseball Tonight show on June 18 which Brance posted about on Tuesday.
Their take on the song is part of an ESPN effort to mark the 100th anniversary of the song's debut....
Punch Brothers fans can check out three live cuts from the guys posted at Daytrotter.com.
There are live versions of Punch Bowl and the first movement of The Blind Leaving The Blind, both tracks from the band's current CD, Punch. They also cut a version of Wilco's Poor Places which they have been...
Mandolin master Chris Thile has had a long love affair with America's favorite pastime. Thile's great-great-grandfather is Baseball Hall of Famer, Sam Thompson. Thile himself, at one time, hoped to be a ball player. His first solo CD, Leading Off, featured a baseball diamond as part of the graphic content...
Punch, the debut CD from Chris Thile's Punch Brothers, is among the nominees in the Best CDs of 2008 listener poll at NPR.com. The band is encouraging their many fans and friends to register at the NPR Community site, and cast a vote for them in the poll.
Punch is certainly high on my list of 2008...
Tonight (2/29), Punch Brothers will be the musical guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. No doubt but that they will perform something from their just-released Nonesuch CD, Punch.
The show airs at 11:30 p.m. (ET) on NBC, and the musical segment is usually the very last before the show concludes...
Video from a Punch Brothers Concert for Folk Alley has been posted online. The show was recorded on April 2 in Kent, OH and both sets of music can be viewed at FolkAlley.com
The concert contains a complete performance of The Blind Leaving The Blind, split between the two sets. This is Chris Thile's...
We posted last week that Punch Brothers would be appearing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on 2/29.
The video from that program will be available online for a few more days. The Tonight Show keeps each full show up for web viewing for a week after it airs, so until Saturday, you can catch this one...
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