As a member of Pearl Jam, Mike McCready has played in front of huge crowds in famous venues all over the world. As a Seattle native and sports fan, McCready has also played a Jimi Hendrix-inspired version of the national anthem at several sporting events over the years, including Seahawks and Mariners games.
But despite all of that, the longtime Pearl Jam guitarist admits he is a little nervous about playing the anthem before Wednesday night's opener, which will kick off the regular season.
"It's way scary in a way, because I want to do it right and I don't want to mess it up, so that's going through my head every time," McCready said during a recent visit to the Virginia Mason Athletic Center. "I've done it a bunch of times, I just want to do it how I do it, and hopefully it means something and I do it right, so there's pressure there."
McCready, wearing a Washington Innocence Project T-shirt, was at Seahawks headquarters to record a promo video that will be played during the game to promote the local nonprofit and the weekly 50/50 raffle that benefits the Seahawks' Spirit of 12 partners. The Washington Innocence Project, which provides free legal and investigative services to help free people wrongly convicted of crimes, is one of the 12 local nonprofits the Seahawks will be supporting this year through the Spirit of 12 partnerships, which focuses their efforts on five pillars of youth empowerment, social justice, military, future of football and community response. McCready's wife, Ashley O'Connor McCready, is the Washington Innocence Project's board president, and as a member of a band that has a long history of philanthropy and social justice, McCready appreciates seeing a local team use its platform in a positive way as well.
"We're very humbly excited about it, because it sheds a light on the Washington Innocence Project, and it gives it another level of legitimacy being tied in with the Seahawks, so we're super stoked about it," McCready said. "It's great. If you have a spotlight, and you have stars—musicians or a star quarterback or whatever—people will listen to them, or you'll get some press because of who you are, so why not do something to help? I think it's fabulous that the Seahawks are doing that. Growing up, that's what I learned, and I think our band learned that early."
After McCready performs the national anthem, his day will not be finished. He is also performing with Soundgarden, a fellow pioneering Seattle rock band, during halftime. Members of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden have been close going back to the 1980s before Pearl Jam's founding, and McCready describes himself as Soundgarden's biggest fan, so it is an honor for him to play with them again, having also jammed with the band on a few occasions and performed with them at Soundgarden's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Taylor Momsen from the band The Pretty Reckless will be on vocals, as she was for some of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame performance, filling in for the late, great Chris Cornell, who died in 2017.
"I'm kind of like Soundgarden's biggest fan," McCready said, adding that when Soundgarden would rehearse in Seattle, "I went down there and brought them pizzas just so I could hang out. I love those guys, I love all of them. So being asked to do this by (drummer) Matt (Cameron), I love playing with those guys, and Taylor kills it, she's got a great voice. You're going to see something cool at halftime.
"It's incredibly special, it's incredibly poignant. It's intense, you want to do it right. It's Seattle, we want to play as well as we can for Seattle, because we're from here, this is our home. It's a big deal, and that's an exciting pressure to be part of. And I know how good it's going to sound because of our over rehearsing. Hopefully people will love it, we're looking forward to it. I can't wait. I'll play with those guys anywhere on the planet."
