Hot Stove Cool Music Celebrates 15 Years

Peter Gammons and Theo Epstein at Hot Stove Cool Music in 2012. / Photo Provided

Baseball and music team up in Hot Stove Cool Music, a beloved benefit concert series celebrating its 15th anniversary this month.

The annual concert began in 2000, founded by Baseball Hall of Fame journalist Peter Gammons and former Boston Herald sportswriter Jeff Horrigan. They later teamed up with Foundation to Be Named Later, an organization started by former Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein and his twin brother Paul—a social worker in the Brookline public school system. FTBNL raises funds for nonprofits serving urban youth and families.

Above: Scenes from last year’s Hot Stove Cool Music.

To date, Hot Stove Cool Music has raised more than $7 million for FTBNL and the Jimmy Fund. The concert, which “celebrates music, baseball, and giving back,” became a biannual tradition after Theo Epstein moved to Chicago, with one show every January in Boston, and another every June in the Windy City.

This weekend, the benefit concert turns 15 with hosts Epstein and Gammons and the show’s returning emcee, actor/comedian/writer and super Boston sports fan Mike O’Malley.

Performers include the Juliana Hatfield Three—performing their first live show in two decades—the Cavedogs, Al Kooper, and Craig Finn. Epstein and Gammons will perform with the “Hot Stove All-Stars”: Bill Janovitz (Buffalo Tom), Mike Gent (The Figgs), Kay Hanley (Letters to Cleo), Eli “Paperboy” Reed, The Gravel Pit, Will Dailey, Jen Trynin, Phil Aiken, and Len Kasper.

General admission is $40, while VIPs ($175) can attend a pre-show party from 6 to 8 p.m., which comes with food from local restaurants and a meet-and-greet with the stacked lineup of special guests.

Saturday, January 10, 8 p.m., 967 Commonwealth Ave., foundationtobenamedlater.org.

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Check out behind-the-scenes photos from last year’s Hot Stove Cool Music.