When Julia King was a little Mets-loving kid growing up in Southampton, she dreamt of singing the National Anthem at a game one day.
Now, that day is here.
On Thursday night, the popular Greenport-based musician and singer will take to Citi Field to sing the National Anthem before the first ball is thrown out in this week’s bat-and-ball battle between the Mets and the Braves.
“I come from a big baseball family and we’re all Mets fans,” she says. Indeed, their super fandom seems to follow the King family everywhere. “[Former Met] Keith Hernandez lives up the street from my parents and my mom has been his cat sitter for the past 17 years.”
As luck would have it, King’s cousin got a job as a data analyst working for her beloved baseball team. When she asked him last year what the odds were of getting an audition he found the talent booker and made an introduction for his chanteuse cousin.
The audition process took a few steps to complete, but King aced them all.
“The first thing they wanted was a recording of me singing the anthem, so I sent that. After that, they ask for a video of you singing the anthem, because people can edit audio recordings on a computer,” she recounts. King sailed through with flying red, white and blue colors. “They emailed me back with dates and I was like: Oh my god!”
King is bringing along her band’s lead guitarist, Joe Ciampa, to accompany her. As to style, will she go traditional or unique in her interpretation of the 211 year old tune?
“I’ve always loved Chris Stapleton’s version – It’s the most beautiful one I’ve heard. But I think the song is the way that it is – I don’t want to change it too much,” she says. “My guitar player and I talked over and I want to stick to a very traditional version, but I’m going to make it my own.”
The first ball will be thrown out at 7 p.m., and King will go on just beforehand. Unfortunately, the anthems aren’t televised, but King will be provided with a recording from the Mets that she can bring home to her baseball loving family.
“I’ve kept this dream in my heart. My grandfather was a World War II vet and very patriotic. The National Anthem meant a lot of him and being patriotic was big in my family,” she says. “I was always like, ‘I’ll sing the National Anthem at a Met game one day! And now I am.”
