Most US National Anthem Performances In One Year

Thanks John!

Most US National Anthem Performances In One Year

Thanks Raymond!

Most US National Anthem Performances In One Year

ONE DAY, Alan St. Louis of Nashua would love to sing the national anthem before a Boston Red Sox gameat Fenway Park. For now, he’s content singing the “Star- Spangled Banner” at what seems like every athletic venue in this state and other parts of New England. St. Louis is on a quest to get into the Book of World Records for the most performances of the national anthem in a 12-month period. He started July 8 when he sang before an American Legion baseball game at Holman Stadium in Nashua, and he currently has 107 dates booked. He has sung for a handful of people at elementary school games and for 14,000 people before a New England Revolution game at Gillette Stadium. He has sung before baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer and lacrosse games. Of course, there is no official category for this, so setting the record won’t be difficult. The trick will be to get the people to recognize the record and make it an official category. To document his claim, St.Louis has to have a witness statement signed by an official from every event at which he has performed. We caught up with St. Louis when he was singing before both ends of a basketball doubleheader at Keene State College last Tuesday.

Those were his 78th and 79th performances. St. Louis is an assembler at the Raytheon plant in North Andover, Mass., and has to be at work by 5 a.m. He spends many nights traveling around the state to sing, so there is not much time at home.

“I’m married to a wife who is very understanding,” St. Louis said. “She knows I like to sing.” St. Louis is a member of the Granite Statesmen, a Nashua based barbershop chorus, and has a pleasantly melodious and simple style to his delivery of the anthem. He said it irks him to watch singers try to embellish the song and make it their own. “I try to sing it the way it was written,” St. Louis said. St. Louis has had to deal with colds and a sinus infection over the past seven months, but has not had to cancel a performance. “I know my voice and what to do to keep it healthy, thanks to some great vocal training and years of witnessing what happens when the vocals aren’t cared for,” he said. “It is not a pretty picture.”St. Louis said he once sang before a Fisher Cats baseball game a few years ago in Manchester and would like to perform there again this summer. He said he also talkedt o the Manchester Monarchs about singing at Verizon Wireless Arena before one of their games. Since this article printed, I have sung at Fenway Park twice and I am getting ready to sing at my largest crowd ever at The New Hampshire Motor Speedway for over 100,000 people.

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