Nearly every sporting event in America begins with the national anthem. Because “The Star-Spangled Banner” isn’t an easy song to sing — it has a wide range, lots of words, and a demanding melody — so it’s a gamble when anybody tries to tackle it.
For every excellent version of the national anthem, there are dozens of bad versions. Whitney Houston and Carrie Underwood made waves with their unforgettable performances, and Jimi Hendrix’s rendition at Woodstock is the stuff of legend. But we also remember Ingrid Andress performing it while drunk. PJ Media’s Rick Moran wrote about a jazz duo that botched the anthem at an NFL game at the beginning of this season.
Robert Goulet forgot the words to the national anthem as he sang it before the 1965 boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston. In 2003, singer Michael Bolton peeked at the lyrics, which he had written on his hand. So bad renditions of “The Star-Spangled Banner” abound.
But one of the most fascinating versions of the anthem that I ever heard came before Sunday’s game between the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons. I didn’t see it live, but a young guitarist named Chavis Flagg took to the field at Mercedes-Benz and shredded “The Star-Spangled Banner” — and I mean that in the good way, the guitar-slang way.
Wow! The more I watch it, the more he impresses me. That’s good stuff.
Side note: After the game, Falcons owner Arthur Blank got out the long knives and made drastic front-office and coaching changes. Here’s hoping they pay off.
Flagg is more than just a guitarist. He taught himself how to play multiple instruments, and he’s a singer-songwriter and producer. He looks like his star is on the rise, and it all started with his attempt to bring some joy to Atlanta during the pandemic.
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“Looking for a new way to share his sound, Atlanta-based musician Chavis Flagg strapped on a guitar, grabbed a battery-powered amplifier, and began to busk along the city's BeltLine, shredding and serenading everyone he passed,” Guitar Center wrote in a 2020 profile of Flagg. “Did we mention he did this while riding an electric skateboard? One viral video later, Flagg was national news. There's not always a correlation between view counts and talent, but this 24-year-old has plenty of both.”
He took inspiration from the street musicians along Atlanta’s Belt Line trail. They would gather crowds, and that flew against social distancing at the time, so Flagg got innovative. He put a guitar rig on an electric skateboard (watch the video below if you want to geek out about his setup) and became a rolling one-man band.
"So, I would have the Onewheel going while playing," he told Guitar Center. "I was like, 'Hey, today's my birthday. Can you listen to me play a song?' They would go, 'Okay. Play me a song.' Eventually, more and more people started sharing it on social media, and that kind of grew into something that actually went viral for me."
Someone said that Flagg reminded him of a character from the movie Mad Max. He took that inspiration and channeled it into the single “Mad Max,” in which he blends rock and hip-hop. Keep your eye on Flagg. I have a feeling he's going places — especially after that national anthem rendition.
