Meet Julianna Zobrist, the Rays' rising pop star wife

  

In the occasionally hectic world of a big-league ballplayer, music can be a calming influence, so some players put a lot of thought into the songs that are played when they are introduced.

B.J. Upton loves a good beat, so he’s using Day 'n’ Nite by Kid Cudi. Carlos Peña loves the festive Latin sound of Como Yo. 

Then there’s Ben Zobrist, who picked his song, The Tree, because he — aww — loves the singer, his wife, Julianna.

As Ben has been establishing himself as a big-league player with the Rays, Julianna Zobrist has been working to establish herself in the music business.

She released her first album during the offseason, and Ben has been using the title track, The Tree, as his walkup music.

“As soon as she put the CD out, I knew it was something I wanted to do,” Ben said.

“I was so thrilled that he did,” Julianna said. “It’s hard to compete with all the great artists out there.”

Julianna’s work — available on iTunes and cdbaby.com — is considered in the Christian rock/alternative genre, but she has a broader sound. Her style and voice have been compared in reviews to Sarah McLachlan, Imogen Heap, Bjork and Regina Spektor.

(Click here to listen to an mp3 of The Tree.)

“I’ve heard people say her voice sounds like Sarah McLachlan but the sound is a little more electronic that it’s a little more produced, kinda funky, that it’s got a little bit more alternative to it,” Ben said.

With a newborn son, Zion, and two careers, the Zobrists have a lot to talk about, learning about and sharing each other’s business. “It’s been really fun and exciting,” Julianna said.

They’ve crossed paths a few times, Julianna twice singing the anthem at Rays games, Ben, also a Christian, addressing church crowds before she sings. They’d like to arrange it so she could perform in the same cities the Rays are playing, as she did Tuesday in Cleveland. “That way we could kind of do it together, and not have to travel in the offseason,” Ben said.

Given how Zobrist is producing — such as his two-run pinch-hit homer in the ninth last Thursday, setting up Carl Crawford’s winning hit — the Rays already consider the song a hit.

“That song is working,” reliever Joe Nelson said. “Put it this way: If Carl didn’t win it and (Evan Longoria) made it up, he was coming out to Zobrist’s song.”

-- Marc Topkin, tbt*