HEY! Welcome to Twenty Top 5s. I (Tyler) have been sending out questionnaires to some of my favorite musicians and asking for their top 5 in every category. I’ll be publishing them every Thursday for the foreseeable future. Hopefully this lets you get to know some of your favorite musicians a little bit better, and I hope it distracts you in these trying times.
Today's Twenty Top 5s participant is Hal McDonough. They are the lead singer, ukulelist, and songwriter for Pittsburgh's own Baseball Dad. Baseball Dad released their first full-band EP, January, in January of this year. All three songs are beautiful, country-tinged, twee-pop jams, characterized by lo-fi instrumentation that allows the lush vocal harmonies to take center stage. Hal released another EP on their own at the beginning of this month entitled Quarantine Diary, providing more intimate, somber songs for these intimate, somber times.
Hal has one of the best voices in Pittsburgh music right now. Last year, they fronted perhaps the best Halloween cover set I've seen since I started playing shows when Baseball Dad performed as the Dixie Chicks. In addition to writing phenomenal original music, Hal was a pre-quarantine karaoke regular at Sonny's, performing memorable renditions of everything from Fleetwood Mac to No Doubt. Without further ado, I give you Hal's Twenty Top 5s.
recording artists when you were in high school
One Direction (lol)
The 1975
Foster The People
Grimes
HAIM
Instrument influences
(I don’t rlly consider uke my instrument, I consider voice to be my main instrument)
Kate Bush
Stevie Nicks
Linda Rondstadt
Debbie Harry
Mitski
Songwriting influences
Joni Mitchell
Michelle Branch
Florist
Frankie Cosmos
Sheryl Crow
Karaoke songs
Just a Girl - No Doubt
I’m Like a Bird - Nelly Furtado
Stay - Lisa Loeb
Wide Open Spaces - Dixie Chicks
Silver Springs - Fleetwood Mac
Junk foods
Oatmeal Creme Pies
Crunchy Cheetos
Double Stuf Oreos
Mango Sorbet
Ruffled Chips + French Onion Dip
Places to eat in Pittsburgh
B-52
Thai Gourmet
China House
Spak Brothers
Onion Maiden
Movies
Girl, Interrupted
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Empire Records
Chicago
Disney’s Tarzan (thanks Phil Collins)
Role models
Kathleen Hanna
Frank ‘SJP’ Proctor
Sofia Sparks
Sam Treber
Tim Glorioso
Baseball dad songs
January
Roots
Ivy
Saltwater
Just Saying
Pittsburgh bands
Short Fictions
String Machine
Merce Lemon
Tap Shorts
Shin Guard
Scratchy Blanket
Vireo
Drauve
Afternoon Tea
(lol too many faves, sorry)
Productive ways to pass time during corona
writing songs
baking for my loved ones
writing letters
stitching patches
cleaning
Unproductive ways to pass time during corona
online shopping
rewatching Community for the 3rd time
contemplating shaving my head
smoking copious amounts of w**d
cryin :/
Songs right now
Colder & Closer - TOPS
Hardest to Love - The Weeknd
Out of It - Drauve
Heavy Lifting - Palm
Circle the Drain - Soccer Mommy
80s pop jams
Automatic - The Pointer Sisters
Catch Me (I’m Falling) - Pretty Poison
I Wonder if I Take You Home - Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam
Eternal Flame - The Bangles
Invisible Touch - Genesis
Dixie chicks songs
There’s Your Trouble
Wide Open Spaces
You Were Mine
Landslide
Goodbye Earl
Albums that changed your life
Blue - Joni Mitchell
The Spirit Room - Michelle Branch
Visions - Grimes
Songs About Jane - Maroon 5 (don’t make fun of me it’s actually really good)
If Blue Could Be Happiness - Florist
Pizza toppings
Mushroom
Green Pepper
Pepperoni
Banana Pepper
Jalapeno
Cities you’ve visited
Pittsburgh, PA :) (visited in 2016 for the first time and then moved here in 2017!)
Seoul, South Korea
Chicago, IL
Savannah, GA
Charlston, SC
Condiments
Cholula Hot Sauce
Hot Mustard
Honey Mustard
Sriracha
Dijon Mustard
Fictional characters
Steven from Steven Universe
Hal from Malcom in the Middle
Mabel from Gravity Falls
Elaine from Seinfeld
Maria from The Sound of Music
Written by Tyler Gallagher (@TylerGallagher8)