{"id":130276,"date":"2025-06-25T15:48:18","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T15:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/130276\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T15:48:18","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T15:48:18","slug":"its-bigger-than-a-bucket-list-thing-shaw-local","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/130276\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s bigger than a bucket list thing\u2019 \u2013 Shaw Local"},"content":{"rendered":"

DIXON<\/a> \u2013 A Dixon native says singing the national anthem July 2 at Wrigley Field will be one of the most special days of her life.<\/p>\n

Gina Venier<\/a> has been building her career as a Nashville-based alternative country music artist for the past 15 years. The die-hard Chicago Cubs fan will perform her acoustic version of the national anthem at Wrigley Field on July 2 during the Cubs vs. Cleveland Guardians game, which starts at 7:05 p.m.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a lifelong Cubs fan family, this is a dream come true, especially for Gina,\u201d said her father, Mike Venier. \u201cWe got to hear her rendition Sunday for Father\u2019s Day and all four of us were brought to tears.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gina, a local music favorite who moved to Nashville in 2013, auditioned for \u201cAmerican Idol\u201d<\/a> the following year, making it to Hollywood and the top 48. Since then, Venier has continued to chase her dream.<\/p>\n

The national anthem opportunity came up while she was performing at The Listening Room Cafe<\/a>, a live music venue in Nashville where Gina\u2019s held a spot as a featured artist for the last couple years. During her round, she was talking about her love of baseball and the Cubs, Gina said.<\/p>\n

\"Dixon<\/p>\n

Dixon native Gina Venier will perform the national anthem at the Chicago Cubs game July 2, 2025, at Wrigley Field. (Photo provided by Ari Lyon)<\/p>\n

After her set, Gina was approached by someone in the crowd who connected with her music and worked for a Major League Baseball team in San Diego. As they were talking, the person told Gina that she knows someone who works for the Cubs and to send her a video of her singing the national anthem, which was then sent on to the Cubs as an audition tape, Gina said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t believe that happened. It really was like the stars aligning in that moment,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

It took her about a week to put together her own version of the song and she heard from the Cubs almost immediately after she sent them the clip, Gina said. <\/p>\n

In it, Gina\u2019s playing guitar and takes \u201ca singer-songwriter approach to such an iconic song,\u201d she said. It\u2019s been a fun challenge, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited about the version that I\u2019m presenting,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen you get asked to perform our country\u2019s song and add that it\u2019s the greatest stadium, it\u2019s one of my favorite places so it\u2019s a lot to even try to process that this is happening. It\u2019s bigger than a bucket list thing. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s intense for me. It\u2019s deep for me,\u201d she said, explaining that she \u201cloves everything about the Cubs\u2019 culture.\u201d <\/p>\n

She watches every game and keeps up with the team. <\/p>\n

\u201cAll I\u2019ve been doing is thinking about it and preparing for it. I\u2019m hoping to create a special experience for everyone there,\u201d Gina said. \u201cAs an independent artist this has led to so many more opportunities.\u201d <\/p>\n

One of them is an endorsement deal with Taylor Guitars, she said. <\/p>\n

Taylor Guitars, founded in 1974 and headquartered in California, is a very prestigious brand and a leader in the music industry, Gina said. <\/p>\n

During her performance at Wrigley Field, she\u2019ll be using a customized Cubs guitar from the brand and will be featured by the brand as an official \u201cTaylor Artist,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also led to her being noticed by other MLB teams, including the Texas Rangers. She\u2019ll be performing the national anthem at the Rangers vs. California Athletics game July 22 at the Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, Gina said. <\/p>\n

Tickets to the Cubs game start at $47 and can be purchased at mlb.com<\/a>. The game can also be watched live on the Marquee Sports Network. Visit marqueesportsnetwork.com\/providers<\/a> for channel numbers. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DIXON \u2013 A Dixon native says singing the national anthem July 2 at Wrigley Field will be one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130277,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2399],"tags":[5,138,24,4245,161,26843,4,1785],"class_list":{"0":"post-130276","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-cubs","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-cubs","11":"tag-chicagocubs","12":"tag-cubs","13":"tag-dixon","14":"tag-mlb","15":"tag-music"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/114744793971712081","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}