Bryan Ruby Covers John Fogerty's Classic Baseball Anthem 'Centerfield'

09-01-2023

(B! Noticed) Nashville-based Country Music artist Bryan Ruby has released a lyric video in support of his recent single,a lively cover of John Fogerty's classic baseball anthem, "Centerfield." The reminiscent feel of the promotional music video was the creation of Sam Swidler.

"This song is a real throwback for me, so I wanted the video to feel like the old-school baseball clips I used to watch as a kid. Sam did a great job with sourcing and putting the footage together," expressed Bryan Ruby. "I hope our lyric video both honors John Fogerty's original version of the tune and exposes the song to the younger generation of fans who follow me."

"For this video, we wanted to recapture the nostalgic "old school baseball" feeling that influenced guys like Bryan and John Fogerty. It took us a couple of strikes (pun intended) during the production and editing process, but I think we were able to knock the final version out of the park!" exclaimed Video Producer Sam Swidler.

"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.