The Minus 5 with the Baseball Project and Steve Wynn

(Credit: Vivian Johnson)

Ever wonder what the side members of R.E.M. do in their downtime? Here’s your answer! The Minus 5 are a retro-tinged rock band led by Scott McCaughey, a longtime stage and studio performer with R.E.M. He’s joined by R.E.M. core member guitarist Peter Buck and (in the studio) replacement drummer Bill Rieflin. They just put out an album called “Killingsworth.” But it's tricky: McCaughey and Buck recently fused with another act on this bill, Steve Wynn (ex-Dream Syndicate), to form the third, dubbed the Baseball Project, which does indeed perform songs entirely about America's pastime. Wynn's wife Linda Pitmon plays drums in all three bands' touring incarnations. Got all that? Good.