CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Guardians officially introduced “We Are Cleveland,” a brand new music track written and recorded locally in Cleveland. The full-length mix is now accessible on CLEGuardians.com and the Guardians YouTube channel, while versions of the track will also be used in-park and across team broadcast platforms.
Performed exclusively by local artists, “We Are Cleveland” was written in collaboration with the Guardians and produced by Sam Getz and Jimmy Weaver, two founding members of the Cleveland-based band, Welshly Arms. “It was an honor to work on this project with the Guardians and this talented group of musicians,” shared Getz. “We are native Clevelanders and lifelong fans of Cleveland baseball so there’s a lot of pride that went into creating this music,” added Weaver.
Getz and Weaver are joined on drums by Joey “Coach” Hanna, who has toured and recorded with artists such as Bootsy Collins & Gavin Degraw. Accompanying the duo on vocals are two other members of Welshly Arms, the husband-and-wife team of Jon Bryant and Bri Bryant (“Lady Bri”), alongside Stacey Richardson (“Sarah’s Girl”), who has performed with the likes of Gerald Levert and Anthony Hamilton, in addition to assisting Paul Shaffer, long-time music director for David Letterman, with vocal arrangements for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction ceremonies in Cleveland. Recording sessions for “We Are Cleveland” took place at Blakwall Studios on Cleveland’s West Side with licensing courtesy of Los Angeles, California-based Position Music.
Hear the song below:
[Bri] Bryant and Richardson are slated for separate performances of the National Anthem at Progressive Field this season (dates TBA).
Getz and Weaver also collaborated with the same group of artists to complete a second musical track, which will be released by the Guardians at a later date.
“Music is such a powerful artform for storytelling and, consistent with the core values at the foundation of our new team name – loyalty, resilience and pride - we were committed to making Clevelanders and our city’s personality the central theme of the song,” said Alex King, Guardians Executive VP of Marketing and Brand Strategy. “It was extremely important for us to assemble a diverse group of musicians and voices that reflect our community, and we could not be more proud of what this family of local artists accomplished together.”
The song is being used on WTAM and on the Guardians radio network.