KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — Most are used to hearing "I Will Survive" playing on a loud speaker, but very rarely do you hear that catchy song coming from a live organ.
What You Need To Know
GreazyKeyz plays the organ at all Kannapolis Cannon Ballers home games
The team wanted a live organist at the games
GreazyKeyz also plays the organ for Charlotte Checkers home hockey games
For those who attend Kannapolis Cannon Ballers games, they will hear Gloria Gaynor and a little bit of Lauryn Hill.
“I’m always looking for real fun hip-hop hooks, real fun rock and roll hooks that people can hear instantly and be like 'oh I know that song,'” Jason Atkins said.
Baseball brings large crowds to Atrium Health Ballpark, but a man known as GreazyKeyz is the one who brings the nostalgia back to the game.
“Having a live organist was something that the general manager insisted upon having,” he said.
The team purchased an organ and soon contacted Atkins, who was playing the organ for the Charlotte Checkers.
“When I showed up here for the job interview, I knew it was a shoe-in because I had already owned this same exact organ, so it was a destiny kind of thing,” he said.
Atkins grew up in a musical family.
“I played keyboards, another cousin played guitar and another cousin played drums, and so we would get together and have jam sessions on the weekends,” he said.
Now every home game GreazyKeyz is the man you just can’t miss.
Stadium organists were popular in the 20th century but started to decline by the early 2000s.
But keeping a baseball tradition alive was important to the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
“It adds an element that people, whether they realize it or not, they love to hear it,” Atkins said.
It’s something you don’t find at every stadium, so Atkins plans to make the most of this experience.
“GreazyKeyz will do this until GreazyKeyz dies,” he said. “I’d be happy to do this until I’m a ripe old age.”
Atkins got the nickname GreazyKeyz thanks to the internet.
He picked out the catchy name 20 years ago while trying to create a new email address.
GreazyKeyz will be performing at the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers last home games from September 10-12.
If you are interested in purchasing tickets for the game you can find more information here.