Braves Report

The TitoandtheGunShow was recently kind enough to answer a few questions for Braves-Report. Here it is we hope you enjoy.

Q: How surprised were y’all at the success of the Mark Teixeira song?
A: Very surprised! This just happened to be a product of us goofing around one night. We were watching Mark’s first game with the Braves (the one where all he did was walk in the dugout in the 6th inning or so) and when we saw how he was received we couldn’t help but be excited about him being in a Braves uniform and the prospects of how much better he would make us. We had been talking about writing a song of some kind but we didn’t know what it would be about…well, at that moment we got our inspiration, Tyler looked at me and said, “that’s it! we have got to write a song about Mark Teixeira!” So after about 30-45 minutes of laughing and coming up with things that rhyme with Teixeira we had our lyrics. After that we put some chords to them and our song was done. It took us a total of 45 minutes to an hour. A week or two later the video was on youtube and the rest is history. We had no idea it would be as popular as it has been. It turned into some fun experiences for us and we’re very greatful for that. It still kind of funny to think that people are buying our songs to put on their ipods. It is amazing that so many people have gone to our website ( www.TitoandtheGunShow.com ) and bought those and there have been just as many get our t-shirts. The whole ride has been a blast!

Q: How did the Braves contact y’all to come to Atlanta to perform the song?
A: They actually contacted us on youtube. I remember checking our youtube account on the third or 4th day and we had been contacted by SportSouth, the Atlanta Braves, and Jeff Francoeur. They all messaged us withing about 6 hours of each other. That day was so much fun. I called Tyler and told him he was never gonna believe this…I said the only way you’re gonna believe me is to get at a computer and I gave him our login info and he checked it for himself. I’ll be straight up honest with you, WE ACTED LIKE GITTY TEENAGE GIRLS! It was so exciting. We had jokingly talked about the Braves having us play at the 7th inning stretch one game but never thought anything close to that would actually happened. Turns out, we got to play on TV numerous times and got to play at Turner Field in front of hundreds of people that came solely to watch us. We signed autographs 30-45 minutes before our performance and 30-45 minutes after. If you watch the video of our performance at Turner Field most of the people in the crowd weren’t there until about 15 minutes before we went on. They were there in full force. There is even a Tito and the Gun Show fan club on facebook, haha.

Q: Whose idea was it to bring the couch to Atlanta?
A: That was actually mine. People had joked about our nasty couch and the night before we went to perform in Atlanta I asked Tyler if he thought it would be a good idea to take the couch with us. He said it sounds good but I don’t know if the folks in Atlanta will go for it. Well, I called them and I asked them what they thought and they absolutely ate it up. They loved the idea and really worked with us to make it happen. It was not easy to transport either…that thing is also a recliner which makes it extremely cumbersome.

Q: How was the reaction of the players specifically Mark?
A: They were really cool. Mark treated us well and signed the Teixeira jerseys the Braves had given us. He thought it was really cool that we wrote the song about him and it received that attention it did. Francoeur and McCann each talked to us for several minutes they said that they thought the song was hilarious. They asked us all about it– WHen did y’all write it? Why did you write it? How did you even think to do it? We enjoyed joking around with all those guys very much.

Q: Has life been any different for you guys since the release of the song?
A: Not a whole lot. We do get recognized around town some now. If we are ever in Atlanta it seems to be alot more common. I guess that’s understandable. We do have added responsibilities now with answering folks that email us and shipping out all those t-shirt orders but we enjoy it. We do get asked all the time when we’re gonna put out some new songs. Let me tell you it’s hard to follow a success like the Teixeira Tribute but we are going to try.

Q: How has the Tim Hudson song been received?
A: Although it doesn’t have near as many hits as the Teixeira Tribute people seem to really like it. They email us asking when we’re gonna sale Timmy Hudson Song t-shirts so they can get one to go with their Mark Teixeira ones. We didn’t expect it to be anything like the Teixeira Tribute but we are happy with the success it has had.

Q: What did you guys think of the Johan Santana song?
A: We thought it was pretty funny. They did a pretty good job imitating us. We’re glad to see that they’re able to get some attention off of it. They’re having fun with it and that’s what its all about. They have put up several videos but this is their most popular so if they want to use it to get noticed that’s fine. Tyler always talks about how unfair it is that musicians who are trying to make it as musicians try anything they can to get the kind of publicity we received and it just so happened that we write one song, put it up on youtube and it turns into all this. It just doesn’t seem fair…so if someone wants to gain a little from what we lucked into so be it. A lot of folks are really mad that they did it but I guess its like they say… “imitation is the highest form of flattery.” However, we did write a song about the Mets choking last year but decided not to post it but since these guys are stirring up some of our fans we’ve decided to reconsider and we may post it very soon.haha.

Q: Are any new songs going to be released by y’all this year?
A: We hope to post 2 or 3 new songs sometime in the next month or so. We are working on songs for Bobby Cox, Hank Aaron, as well as some of the other big names. Hopefully we can find time to sit down and write them. With school and work for both of us its hard to get together. As soon as we record them they can be seen on our youtube channel and our website.

Q: Is there any thing you want to say to all your fans?
A: Let us just say this our fans are hilarious!! Let us just share some of our favorite posts from youtube…

“I havent seen anything this cool fanwise since they startet The Chop and The Chant! Excellent guys! –lfp6
“Exactly what my buddies would have done in College… if we had any talent.” –charanis
“You guys are my heroes…plan and simple…” –theherd25
“you guys are men amongst boys” –getup2nite

We have been amazed at the amount of support and feedback we’ve received from people all over the country. Even fans of other teams have commented…

“the braves are my least favorite team in baseball but i couldn’t help enjoying this song” –anemini70
“I’m a dbacks fan and yet I still can’t stop watching this video. ” –armonition
“i just heard about you on baseball tonight! and i love mark teixiera but i am a yankees fan! this is amazing! good job guys!” –lesage
“I Hate the Braves– BUT u guys r GREAT!! LETS GO METS!!!” –booker1441
“even though im a reds fan…and will always be…i find myself routing for Mark Teixeira, solely cuz i had no clue who he was until i saw this video and now i try and follow him….” –ucguy0485

There have been fans from all over email us or message us saying how much the loved the song. Not to mention getting over-flooded with friend invites on facebook. We appreciate those who have said they liked our songs and without all their interest we wouldn’t have gotten to experience all of the things we had a chance to do so a very BIG THANK YOU to all of them!!!

Q: So what do you guys expect from the Braves this year?
A: The Braves are definitely going to make a run and the NL pennant. There are a couple of questions like is Hampton going to stay healthy and who is going to win the everyday job in the outfield but even with those uncertainties we should be fine. I think we’re probably going to see some youngsters come in and contribute everday. Hopefully Escobar will continue his solid play in his first full season and we’ll get some contributions from some guys that aren’t really expected to do much (i.e.- Peter Moylan last year). It is a very exciting time to be a Braves fan, We just can’t wait for the season to start!
We would like to thank TitoandTheGunShow for doing this interview. We look forward to the 2008 championship season and any songs that these guys produce.