Dustin Tatro | |
---|---|
Occupation | Organist • Radio Personality • Church Musician |
Organization(s) | Texas Rangers, MLB |
Title | Official Organist, Texas Rangers &
Globe Life Field
Organist/Choirmaster, St. Andrew's Anglican Church, Breckenridge, Texas OM/PD/On-Air Host, WesTex Communications Radio |
Website | TEXOrganGuy.com theRockDownShow.com |
Dustin Tatro is an American musician who was the stadium organist for Major League Baseball's Texas Rangers. He was ousted in 2024. [1]
Tatro serves as organist and choirmaster at St. Andrew's Anglican Church in Breckenridge, Texas, and is also a 20-year radio personality currently serving as OM/PD and chief engineer for WesTex Communications in Abilene, hosting middays on 106.3 The Raider. Formerly, Tatro hosted middays for Q Country 96.1 (KORQ) and a late-night rock program on KGNZ. He was also the creator and host of a globally-syndicated weekly radio show called The RockDown Show with Dustin Tatro, which features artist interviews and counts down the top ten songs in Christian Rock. [2] He also holds certification as a Texas EMT. [3]
Tatro worked for the Texas Rangers from 2020 to 2024. [4] He was the first official organist of the Rangers since Marcia Rogers left in 2001 after playing since the opening of Globe Life Park in Arlington in 1994. [3] He got the job when Chuck Morgan, Executive Vice President for Ballpark Entertainment, saw videos Tatro had posted on social media while rehearsing for a major pipe organ recital and reached out to invite him to become organist for the Rangers. [3]
Beginning with the 2020 Major League Baseball season, the Texas Rangers began playing at Globe Life Field, which, as of September 2021, does not have an organ installed. [5] For the 2020 season, Tatro recorded approximately 750 pieces of organ music on a refurbished 1951 Hammond C2 organ that he acquired from the storage of a local Baptist church. [3] He also recorded some songs on the 2,800-pipe Garland organ at St. Paul UMC Abilene, where he was the organist from 2014-2022. [3] [6] Like many other stadium organists, Tatro takes requests on social media. [7]
In March 2024 Tatro announced that he was no longer with The Texas Rangers stating he had been replaced by an electric guitar. [8] In May 2024 he hinted he would begin playing the organ for Abilene's newly founded Mid American League Team, The Flying Bison. [9]
Tatro is from Andrews, Texas, and has lived in Abilene since 2009. [3] He holds undergraduate and masters degrees in church music, with organ and choral conducting emphases, from Hardin-Simmons University. [5] He is an Episcopalian and a member of the Association of Anglican Musicians. He is married to Staci Armstrong. [5]