Nashville,
TN – (January 24, 2017) – A host of music row insiders, songwriters and
friends joined Barry Zito at ASCAP in Nashville, TN on Monday evening
to celebrate the release of Zito’s debut EP, NO SECRETS, which
streets on January 27. The retired major league pitcher is finally
pursuing his lifelong dream of writing and recording music. Zito
performed a solo acoustic set, showcasing several songs from his new
release. He thanked all of the songwriters who have welcomed him into
Nashville’s songwriting community, as well as Robert Filhart and Michael
Martin of ASCAP for all of the support and encouragement they have
provided to him since he started realizing his dream. He also expressed a
touching heartfelt thanks to his wife Amber, whom he said serves as his
“inspiration” for his songwriting.
“I
am so excited to finally get the chance to share my music. When I moved
to Nashville to play ball, it just seemed like home, I love it here and
I’m so thankful for the opportunity to work on my music career, ” says
Zito.
Zito
has been playing guitar since his early 20’s, while on the road in the
minor leagues, and he began dabbling in songwriting for fun a few years
later. Born with a natural athletic ability, he’s also always possessed a
love and talent for music that he comes by quite naturally. Zito grew
up in a household surrounded by music. His father Joe worked as a
conductor/arranger for Nat King Cole and eventually an artist manager,
and his mother Roberta had been one of Cole’s backup singers in the
Merry Young Souls. Barry recalls having a fascination with music pretty
early on.
After
retiring from his baseball career in 2015, Zito immediately turned his
full attention to that second love and began crafting the songs that
would fill his first album. You could almost say it was fate or kismet
that brought the World Series winner full circle to a Triple A team in
Music City right before he retired, and for Zito, it was definitely a
long, winding journey full of interesting twists and turns that landed
him there and ultimately inspired the songs on NO SECRETS.
This
week Zito travels back to California’s Bay Area where he tonight he
will gather a host of fans at AT&T Park where his former team The
Giants will host a Facebook LIVE stream of Zito sharing his new music
and talking about his songwriting. Tomorrow Barry will perform to a
SOLD-OUT house at Sweetwater Music Hall and while in the area he will
make appearances on Sports ByLine USA and KNBR’s popular talk show
“Murph and Mac.”
Next
week Zito travels to New York where he will make appearances on
SiriusXM’s MLB Radio Network and Fantasy Sport on Monday afternoon
before his Tuesday morning guest spot on MLB Network’s “Hot Stove” and
“Intentional Talk.”
