Singer with local ties to perform National Anthem for MLB game
Published 3:02 pm Tuesday, May 30, 2023
- Contributed Photo Hannah Blanton
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By Lynn J. Richardson
A woman with local ties has been tapped to sing the National Anthem on Saturday, June 3, at the Minneapolis Twins – Cleveland Guardians baseball game in Minneapolis.
Kingsport native and Sullivan South graduate, Hannah Lawson Blanton, learned she had been selected for the honor shortly after replying to a Delta Airlines email announcing a call for singers who were interested in singing the National Anthem at an upcoming Twins baseball game.
“Delta sent out a few emails throughout May about seeking a Minneapolis-based employee to sing the National Anthem at the Twins game on June 3rd — “Delta Day” —so I sent in my audition video,” Blanton said. “I got the “Congratulations” email about a week later.”
Blanton currently lives in Minneapolis and is an airline flight attendant for Delta Airlines.
Delta has a major presence at Target field in the form of the Delta SKY360 Legends Club, a club-level space at the field.
Blanton is married to Luke Blanton, an Elizabethton High School graduate and the son of Jeff and Sandi Blanton, Elizabethton. She is the daughter of Christy Harris and Gerald Lawson, both of Kingsport.
Blanton received a bachelor’s degree in vocal music education from East Tennessee State University in 2020.
“My entire family has always been very musical, and I’ve been singing for at least as long as I’ve been talking,” she said. “I am incredibly excited and very honored. It’s also sort of funny, because I sang the National Anthem at a few Elizabethton Twins games back home as well. I feel very lucky for the opportunity, and hope to make everyone proud.”
The game will be televised Saturday, June 3, on TV-Fox at 7:15 EST and streamed on MLB Extra Inning, FOX and MyNetworkTV.
