Nashville-based Country Music artist Bryan Ruby just dropped a lively cover of John Fogerty’s classic baseball anthem, “Centerfield.” The new version is available for streaming and download HERE.
“Centerfield” was released by John Fogerty, who also penned the song, in March 1985 as the B-side of “Rock and Roll Girls.” It was also the title track of Fogerty’s comeback album about a decade after leaving Creedence Clearwater Revival. A track that combined two of his passions, baseball and rock and roll, the song has been a fixture at baseball parks everywhere, played during team breaks and in between innings. Even the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York is known for playing it. The song also garnered a 1985 Grammy nomination for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance.
Spending most of his life on baseball fields, Bryan Ruby wants fans to know he considers it an honor to record a cover of such a beloved song. A minor league professional ball player who has heard “Centerfield” played in baseball parks worldwide for years, it’s no surprise that the song holds a lot of meaning to him personally. Ruby is set to cap off his baseball playing career in the upcoming months, suiting up in one final tournament to close out the summer before officially retiring from the sport this fall.
“This song is an all-time classic and a personal favorite of mine,” expressed Bryan Ruby. “When I think of a ‘baseball song,’ I immediately think of ‘Centerfield.’ As the son of a lifelong baseball coach and a longtime player myself, this ballpark anthem has truly been the soundtrack of our lives. I’m proud to put my own personal spin on it. It’s already been a nonstop summer. I’ve been crisscrossing the country at stadiums big and small singing the “Star Spangled Banner,” “God Bless America,” and doing pregame and postgame ballpark shows. I wanted my version of ‘Centerfield’ to channel the energy and excitement we feel at the stadium every day. We bumped up the tempo compared to the original version, added a key change in the final chorus, and layered in a few extra guitars in order to really blow the roof off of it. I’m thankful to my producer Smith Curry, who recruited not one, but three current ACM-nominated finalists for Studio Musician Of The Year (Billy Justineau on keys, Miles McPherson on drums, and Steve Mackey on bass) to play with me on the song. I feel very honored to be working with such talented people at this early stage in my career.”
Rounding out the all-star cast of musicians are Smith Curry on steel guitar, Nathan Keeterle on electric guitar, and Sam Hunter on acoustic guitar. The song was recorded at Omni Studios in Nashville, with Josh Emmons serving as engineer behind the board during the session. Mark Lonsway performed background vocals and David Axelrod (Santi Sound) served as lead vocal tracking engineer on the project. The single was mixed by Bobby Holland (Pentavarit Studios) and mastered by John Mayfield from Mayfield Mastering. The cover art was photographed by Jonah Van Bemmelen and Max Gordon assisted with graphic design on the project.
Keep current with Bryan Ruby by following him on his website at bryanrubymusic.com and his social media sites Facebook, Instagram, Threads and TikTok. Also be sure to subscribe to watch videos on his official YouTube channel.
Stream and download Bryan Ruby music on Spotify, Apple Music/iTunes, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more.
About Bryan Ruby:
Bryan Ruby is a rising country music artist and trailblazing professional baseball player based in Nashville, Tennessee. As a songwriter, Bryan has penned songs that have appeared on the Texas Country Top 50 chart and the iTunes Country Top 25 (#16), and songs he has written have been featured on both Huffington Post and People Magazine. As an artist, Bryan won Season 7 of the talent-search competition Nashville Rising Song, and released his debut single “Left Field” in June 2022. The song was featured on The TODAY Show and added to rotation on SiriusXM’s Country Pride, as well as the Academy of Country Music's Ultimate Pride Playlist.
With rich vocals and authentic storytelling on follow-up singles “Two For The Road” (August ‘22), “The Standouts” (October ‘22), “Christmas With You” (November ‘22), “Baseball Country” (March ‘23), and “The Standouts (Heroes Version)” feat. Ty Herndon (June ‘23), “Bryan’s introspective and relatable storytelling‘ (The Nash News) and “expressive baritone” (MusicRow Magazine) give him a unique calling card in the up-and-coming Nashville country scene.
Bryan made history in September 2021 when he became the only active professional baseball player to come out as gay at the time. The inspirational story was featured in USA Today as well as 100+ media outlets around the world including CBS, Yahoo, Bleacher Report and Teen Vogue. He then founded Proud To Be In Baseball, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating, educating, and creating opportunities for the next generation of LGBTQ baseball players. Ruby’s nonprofit work has earned him a spot on Out Magazine’s prestigious Out 100 list, as well as the Rising Star award from the Foundation For Love & Acceptance in Nashville.
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