From hoops to honky tonks: How one of Nashville's longtime working musicians got his start

He plays guitar and sings sad songs.

Almost every day of the year.

In the airport. In a bar on Lower Broadway. In that half-empty restaurant where you're hoping they bring bread to the table while you're waiting.

In that viral video. It's the closest he ever got to being famous.

There he was, singer Matt Marinchick, playing his guitar at the Margaritaville honky tonk, belting out a soulful version of "The Gambler."

He's in the middle of singing "you never count your money when you're sittin' at the table."

A scuffle breaks out in front of him involving former NFL coaches Rex and Rob Ryan. They're beefing with some guy as the camera rolls. A woman bumps Rex Ryan's arm, and the margarita he's holding splashes on his adversary.

One TMZ video from the 2017 incident has 178,000 views.

And in the background, there's Marinchick. He never misses a beat. His expression never changes, though he's just a few feet away from the fight. He's a professional. The show must go on. "There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done," he sings.

Marinchick, 41, is a Nashville-area staple, like I-65 traffic, like woos from bachelorette buses. For almost a decade, he has played more than 300 shows a year on a regular rotation (Puckett's, Americana Taphouse, The Stillery and Margaritaville are his main venues). He plays upbeat hits in honky tonks and sad songs in quiet restaurants.

On occasion, he plays some original material like his song "Greyhound." "This ol' heart is a greyhound bus, a couple of dents and a little rust ..."

He does a lot of his shows sitting down (like in that viral fight video).

Because when he stands, all the questions come.

When he stands, he offers a clue about what he left behind to become a professional singer in Nashville.

Tall tales

He grew up in Ohio in the small town of Hudson, between Akron and Cleveland. But his growing up was different.

Marinchick was 6 feet tall in sixth grade. By ninth grade, he was six-foot-10. He wore a size 17 shoe in high school.

His father, Dan, was an ironworker who dreamed about being a classic rock guitar player. Dan loved James Taylor, Gordon Lightfoot, Jim Croce, Cat Stevens and the Eagles.

Dan bought his son a 12-string Fender guitar at a garage sale and taught him how to play "Sloop John B" by the Beach Boys. But the lesson didn't stick.

"It wasn't in my attention span," Marinchick said.

There was a spark of country music interest in 1991 when Marinchick (he was in the fourth grade) saw Garth Brooks at the Richfield Coliseum.

"He was climbing the rafters in an American flag button-up shirt," Marinchick said. "I'd never seen country like that."

But any musical thoughts he had were drowned out by the love of his life.

Basketball.

Everybody wanted him

He could dunk a basketball in seventh grade. He played on travel ball teams against some of the best players in America — Tyson Chandler, Zach Randolph, Kevin Garnett, Robert "Tractor" Traylor (all of them played in the NBA). Marinchick was a McDonald's All-American, one of the most prestigious accolades a high school player can receive.

As a freshman, in his first varsity game at Hudson High School, he scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds. By the time he was a junior, he was averaging 20 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks per game.

The recruiting letters started to arrive. When you measure your mail in garbage bags (which Marinchick did), that's a lot of letters. He heard from Ohio State, University of Southern California, Kentucky, Clemson and too many others to remember. Legendary coaches Tom Izzo and Bob Huggins came to his practices.

Marinchick chose to stay close to home. He picked Ohio State.

Suddenly, in college basketball, he wasn't the biggest or strongest kid. In his four-year career as a Buckeye (2001-2005), he averaged less than two points and one rebound per game.

He spent a lot of time in his apartment playing guitar and wishing things were different on the basketball court. He learned to play "Blackbird" by the Beatles and "Wild World" by Cat Stevens.

"I was really awkward and shy," he said. "I was too shy to play guitar in front of people."

He got a degree in finance with a minor in economics. When his eligibility ran out at Ohio State, he thought his basketball career was over.

He learned six or seven songs (about a 30-minute set) and eventually pushed past his fear. He actually mustered the courage to play guitar at a frat house party. Then he showed up at a couple of open mic nights.

"It went really well," he said.

Marinchick put music on hold when he took a job working as a personal assistant for golf legend Jack Nicklaus.

"I would take his wife shopping," Marinchick said. "I would put out the porch furniture. I would pick up groceries."

Jack, he said, "was a super nice guy."

While he was working for Nicklaus, Marinchick said, he began to get letters from basketball agents. They wanted to know if he wanted to continue his career in Europe.

Here's the short answer.

He did.

A future in Europe

Marinchick signed on with agent Scott Woltzen, who gave him some news.

"He told me, 'You're going to Germany,'" Marinchick said.

The Bundesliga contract was great. Marinchick got a free car, health insurance, housing, meals and a Eurail pass, plus $2,500 per month.

"This is awesome," he thought.

It was great until he got hurt. Marinchick needed foot surgery.

While he was recovering, he pulled out his guitar and played a few more gigs. He started writing songs.

But the basketball dream hadn't fully left him.

When his foot was well enough, he played in Mexico.

Then he signed with a team in Germany. He played for Herford and was "dominant," he said, averaging 30 points per game for two seasons. Then he played two seasons at Bielefeld.

As he aged, however, his basketball dreams started to fade.

He signed a new basketball contract in Germany but decided to break it.

A new dream had emerged.

Hello, Nashville

"I'm going to write a hit song," Marinchick said to himself. "And I'll regret not going to Nashville."

So he did.

"I had never been near Nashville," he said.

It was 2010, and he was suddenly all-in on music. He, like so many others, moved to Nashville to become a singing, songwriting star. He cut a 10-song album.

"Somebody's going to think it's awesome, and I'm going to be on the radio," he said. "Why can't I be the guy that comes out of nowhere?"

He got a $600 per month room downstairs from Loretta Lynn's guitar player.

He would do open mic nights, writers rounds and other shows. He sold 4,000 copies of his EP. He once opened for Kane Brown at a show in Ohio.

But he wasn't becoming a star.

Slowly but surely, the "trying to get a record deal" thing eroded. His goal became to make a living as a professional singer.

He got regular gigs in restaurants and bars. That success has enabled Marinchick to buy a house. He's got a girlfriend (Kelsey), a dog (Daisy) and two cats (Pumpernickel and Glom).

"There are constant highs and lows," Marinchick said. "You're replaceable. There are thousands of people who would do the same thing."

But he's content to be a professional singer, pouring his heart out at a restaurant.

"I can't imagine NOT sitting in front of people," he said. "To stop would be taking a big part out of me."

Staying in music, for Matt Marinchick, is a slam dunk.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville singer walked away from pro basketball to play music