
She would go to school to teach, but when she would come home at night, people would come over to the house.

My grandmother, on my mother’s side, was one of the few music teachers on the island, and she taught music there for about seven years. The only thing they really knew was The Keys! It is such an isolated place that it made for an interesting place to grow up. My mother grew up there, and my father had come from Cuba when he was a baby, basically. Ya know, early on, I was living in Key West, Florida. I wanted to go all the way back to the beginning. Icon recently sat down with Bronson Arroyo for an in-depth look at his musical roots, his evolution as an artist, and the creative process that brought ‘Some Might Say To Life.’ Afterwards, he was like, ‘Hey man – you got something here!’ “I played him the demos, some which were still really raw, and he went through every single song critiquing and adding little notes to my lyric sheets. The glass is always half full – that’s the thread that ties all the songs together.” Though he doesn’t appear on the album, Arroyo credits his friend, Eddie Vedder with playing an important role in the record’s creation. “I’ve always been about being present and enjoying the moment. The painstakingly crafted record features ten original songs filled with hard-driving guitars, powerful choruses, and vivid, observational lyrics penned and sung by Arroyo, with the same passion and intensity he brought to the field. “The theme throughout the album is my optimism for life,” says Bronson. Legendary Cars keyboardist Greg Hawkes also makes an appearance on the track, “Side FX.” The ’04 band features A-list musicians, including Jamie Arentzen (who also plays with Miley Cyrus, Butch Walker & American Hi-Fi) bassist Ed Valauskas (Juliana Hatfield, Gravel Pit), guitarist Clint Walsh (Dwarves, The Motels) and drummer Eric Gardner (Gnarls Barkley, Tom Morello). Now after his retirement from Major League Baseball, Arroyo is sharing his own music with the world for the first time.īronson Arroyo and The ’04 are ushering in this exciting new era with the release of an album of original songs, ‘Some Might Say,’ via Nasty Hook Records on February 17, 2023. Whenever he had a spare moment off the field, you could usually find him playing guitar. For the last two decades, Arroyo has regularly performed around the country, usually playing sets of cover songs to raise funds for philanthropic causes.

But a baseball wasn’t the only thing Arroyo was gripping during his downtime. Over the course of his 17 seasons in the major leagues, Bronson Arroyo racked up 148 regular-season victories, earned a World Series ring with the 2004 Boston Red Sox, and secured himself a place in the Cincinnati Hall of Fame.
