Professional Baseball Player and Rising Country Music Artist Bryan Ruby Releases New Single, “Left Field”
“…an energetic celebration of life’s unexpected moments, the ‘curveballs’ that not only take us by surprise but end up heavily impacting our lives.”
Native of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, splitting your time between the baseball field, your family’s barbecue restaurant, and the local country radio station, 92.5 WXTU, where you worked as an intern. From there you went to Vassar College to study vocal music on a scholarship and captained the baseball team to First Team All-Conference honors. You also won a $5K songwriting prize and caught the attention of NYC-based producer and sound engineer Chris Connors who collaborated with you on several projects. Since moving to Nashville in 2019, you have more than a dozen professional cuts. You hope that your music “speaks to kids who feel like you did at 14. … baseball and country music are woven into the fabric of America; I just want to make sure that anyone who loves them like I do feels safe and welcome there.” How can schools best help future generations of baseball players so they don’t have to sacrifice authenticity, or who they really are, to play the game they love?
Schools can best set up future generations of ballplayers for success by educating their coaches on how to support LGBTQ athletes on their teams. We (Proud To Be In Baseball) have been traveling the country speaking at schools, universities, and community centers-slowly, but surely, starting to build the more inclusive environment we wish we would have when we were young baseball players ourselves.
“Left Field,” co-written with Andrew Capra and Chad Sellers. All the single’s proceeds go to your charity. The charity’s mission is “to empower and advocate for the next generation of LGBTQ people in baseball. A player-driven organization, leading with messages of love and acceptance, provides resources, educational opportunities, and raises awareness while building the LGBTQ community in America’s pastime.” How can fans best help support the mission?
Fans can support our mission by donating at proudtobeinbaseball.org. 100% of donations go towards helping the next generation of LGBTQ ballplayers. They can also support us by following and sharing our posts on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
You shared, about your latest release, “But at the end of the day, I love country music, and this is just a damn true country song that comes right from the heart and can mean whatever the listener wants it to mean. Isn’t that the point of all good music, and any aspiring songwriter’s ultimate goal? We all write songs because of what it means to us, but at the end of the day it’s up to the listener to grab hold of the song and tie it to a greater meaning in their life.” You moved to Music City with the goal of writing meaningful songs that hit people in all the feels. Which artists have most influenced your songwriting?
I have a pretty wide range of influences-everything from 90s country like early Tim McGraw to more modern stuff like Kenny Chesney’s latest record, Here And Now, even some 80s Arena Rock sprinkled in there like Queen and Aerosmith.
A number of MLB teams have agreed to host your Stadium Tour, including the Dodgers, Orioles, and Mets. You are singing national anthems, throwing out the first pitch, talking to ballplayers, and repping your charity. What have players and fans shared with you about the impact of Proud to Be In Baseball has had on the sport at all levels?
The Stadium Tour has been really eye-opening. We have received messages from all kinds of people in and around the game of baseball. It just shows me that what we’re doing is needed and that we need to keep getting out there and go as many places as possible.
Nashville hopes to be the home of a major league team. Currently the Nashville Stars work in partnership with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum to preserve the rich history of black baseball and its impact on America. How can you see the future MLB team doing the same for the LGBTQ community?
I think the future of baseball in Nashville is very bright. Actually, I just signed on as the newest Community Advisor for the Nashville Stars and am featured as their Advisor of The Month for June. I hope to help drum up interest in baseball within the Middle TN LGBTQ community, and show that the Stars can be an organization that everyone can get behind.
Filmmaker Clay Westervelt is working with you as the subject of a feature-length documentary, Out In Nashville, that will focus on your underdog path through the traditionalist worlds of baseball and country music.
Currently you are playing for the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes and continue with the goal to help others who are forced to hide their identity too. “The best way to describe the hiding as an athlete is like you’re running with a weighted vest on,” he said. “It’s on all day and you can’t take it off. I’ve been gradually taking that weight off. … But I don’t like the connotation to ‘coming out.’ Because it’s more like ‘inviting in.’ “ Your dad, Jon, shared that “When your son sits there and bares his soul, you just want him to be happy, and it hits you: what do you want for your kids? To go out into the world and be the best version of themselves. He has so much to offer the world with baseball and music. And he has such conviction …” How has your family’s support helped you navigate this path?
I’ve been super fortunate to have a supportive family back home-I know a lot of people like me aren’t as lucky. My family has always been very encouraging and supportive of my baseball career, my personal life, and now my music career. It’s a huge blessing and I want to make them proud.
Writing for other artists, including “Stranger Things” for Neil Cooper and “Free Woman” for Cassandra. Who would you like to collaborate with next?
I would love to write a song that gets recorded by one of my heroes-Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney-really anyone of that ‘living legend’ stature. In terms of collaborating, it’s a dream of mine to collab with Brooke Eden. Brooke is such a badass in that she’s living her life authentically and chasing down the country music dream every day. It’s really inspiring. It would be an honor to work with her.
