Local artists team up to re-imagine Blues playoffs intro

Do you hear the horns?
Do you feel the blue blood pumping?
Those are the words of Fallout, aka Larry Morris, a St. Louis-area rapper who wrote and performed a re-imagined version of When the Blues Go Marchin' In for the team's Stanley Cup Playoff games at Enterprise Center this season.

After that goosebumps-inducing introduction, Morris lends his voice to an original rap that gets more than 18,000 screaming hockey fans on their feet and fired up for the intense action that playoff hockey always brings.
Nothing less than the CupSo buckle up for the rideRed light, 'cross the linePower plays on the sidePick a hole, slapshot,Let's shake the bowl
"This is really an honor as a St. Louisan to write a song for such a storied franchise," Morris told stlouisblues.com. "The history of the Blues, how they've been in the playoffs more than most teams - I knew being part of this was big. It's not every day a major sports team calls you up and asks you to write a song to pump everybody up and hopefully help get us another Stanley Cup."
The song was produced by Tim Gebauer of Electropolis Studio, a St. Louis native who has worked around the music industry since the mid-90s when he first released songs with a group of childhood friends. Since then, he's worked for more than 15 years creating music in TV commercials for a variety of clients ranging from coffee shops to major corporations.
When the Blues reached out to Gebauer to pitch the idea for a new playoff open, he immediately started to think about local artists that could make it happen. He tabbed Morris to write and perform the rap, then selected St. Louis native Bryan Roach for the rock vocals to finish off the track. The Saint Boogie Brass band provided the instrumentals.
We work togetherShoulder to shoulderTime to make our next standWe're going to push you backCome at you like a packThis is our command…We're marchin' in
"Every single person we brought in for this project felt like it was cool," Gebauer told stlouisblues.com. "I don't know how to describe it, but it was like we were being called upon for our civic duty. It was cool to see how everyone pulled together to live up to the legacy.
"(We had) a common goal, we all dug in and did the work," he added. "That became the core message of the whole thing. Like the team and the city, we're all in it. These types of moments are ones where we are at our best, when everyone comes together with a singular vision and singular goal. That's what we did."
Morris was selected for the project due to his work with iLLPHONiCS, a local hip-hop fusion band that released its first album in 2009. The band consists of entirely St. Louis-based musicians, many of which attended Webster University. iLLPHONiCS has released eight albums and more than 85 songs by Morris' count, all of which are available on streaming services such as Spotify and YouTube Music.

"Larry is as cool as cool can be," Gebauer said, explaining why he was the best pick to front the project. "He also is super approachable and uses music to work in the community and is very proud of his city. Knowing the way he would rap about St. Louis, and while a lot of rappers have that kind of hometown pride, his is infused with a positivity that I thought would be a really good fit."
Morris and another member of the iLLPHONiCS band saw their performance played for the first time in the stands for Game 3. Gebauer expects to see it for the first time before Game 4.
"I had high hopes (for this project) and it has exceeded them on all accounts really because of the specific and particular talents of Larry and Bryan," Gebauer said. "They both brought the emotion and the intensity that a thing like this needs. It's a daunting task, you know you're going to be playing it in a sold-out room, but everybody on the team just really brought it and it has exceeded (expectations) in every way."
"There's no words. There really aren't," Morris added of amping up the energy before Stanley Cup Playoff games in St. Louis. "I don't know, it feels like I'm a part of this team now with the song. It's like a war cry. I'm giving them something that hopefully energizes them so they can carry it to the next level. My words are inspiring folks. What better feeling is that?"