The organ is not his only expertise as Atkins frequently plays the guitar, bass, accordion and harmonica. He took to music at a young age but says he still wants to continue to learn and improve as life goes on. Fans are even treated with a few notes to accompany rap songs over the speaker system. Funk, blues and roots music are his forte. He’s also scheduled to play organ for the Charlotte Hornets during their Class Night games to celebrate their 30 seasons as a team. Jason AtkinsĪtkins is a 25-year music veteran who also plays with several Charlotte bands and teaches piano lessons on the side when he’s not scheduled to work Checkers games. Atkins gets set to play in front of Checkers fans. “I was walking towards the entrance when a person yelled ‘GREAZY KEYZ’ from his card,” recalled Atkins. In a city that’s hard to stand out in, Atkins gets noticed in bars, at grocery stores and even while walking into a hardware store. The nickname stuck and Atkins thinks it represents his taste and style of music. “I came up with it about 15 years ago as a clever email handle,” said Atkins. Borings decided not to continue with the Checkers and Keyz moved into the role of primary organist with the team.Ītkins’ nickname or persona of Greazy Keyz came as any nickname does: naturally. COO Tera Black first reached out to keyboardist Jessica Borings to play, but she wasn’t able to commit to all the games during the first season, so Atkins was approached to help with the load. When the Checkers moved back into Bojangles’ Coliseum after spending a few seasons in Time Warner Cable Arena (now Spectrum Center), Atkins wasn’t the first person the Checkers called. Atkins is in his fourth season with the Checkers. He’s the coolest man in the Coliseum during every home game and the Checkers source of in-arena entertainment. He receives a loud round of applause that sets the energy just right in the building to begin a hockey game. He hits every note of the song with precision and even adds flair to different parts of the song with a few extra notes. “And now, for the performance of our national anthem.Greazy Keyz!”Ī man with long, flowing black hair, a hockey jersey and jet black sunglasses proceeds to glide his fingers of the organ positioned along the corner of the rink. The voice of Charlotte Checkers and Carolina Panthers public address announcer Brian Stickley comes over the speakers to address the crowd. The players line up along both blue lines and look up to the left hand side of the Coliseum where the Canadian and American flags hang from the rafters. The horn sounds at Bojangles’ Coliseum to signal that the game will start soon.
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