Nashville, often called Music City, is a place where dreams are chased and where talent finds its stage. Among the many stories that unfold in this vibrant city, the intertwined careers of Chad Sellers and Bryan Ruby stand out, blending the worlds of music and baseball with a shared commitment to authenticity and inclusivity.
Bryan Ruby: From Baseball Diamond to Country Stage
For Bryan Ruby, growing up in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, his twin passions were baseball and music. When he wasn’t working at the family BBQ restaurant and listening to WXTU on the radio, he was hearing his dad’s kind of music as they drove to and from Bryan’s baseball games. Away from the diamond, he interned for a while at 92.5 XTU, known as “Philadelphia’s Country Station”, before heading to Vassar College in the Hudson Valley on a vocal music scholarship and captaining the college’s baseball team to First Team All-Conference honors. He went on to play baseball professionally in the USA and overseas.
While still at college, Bryan won a songwriting contest - and a $5,000.00 prize - and the encouragement to continue developing his writing skills. Since moving to Nashville in 2019, he has more than a dozen professional cuts.
Ruby explained, “I grew up playing baseball,” he said, “And baseball is a game where you fail a lot. Say you get a hit three out of ten times. Well, you still failed seven out of ten times but you’re considered a pretty good player.” He said it’s a similar situation when it comes to writing songs. “We write so many songs that only a small percentage of them are actually good,” he admitted.
Bryan Ruby has just released a new single, titled “Baseball Country.” He believes this single is his best project to date. “I think we’ve put more effort into the production of ‘Baseball Country’ and getting the sound right on this new single than I have with any of with my other singles. We dialed in the band, we spent a lot of time in the studio making sure we got it right. It's a rockin’ uptempo spring-summer jam and I’m hoping people like it.”
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Bryan has been described as a “trailblazer”. In 2021 Bryan became the only active professional baseball player to come out as gay at the time, and his story was featured in USA Today as well as 100+ media outlets around the world.
The sport is still part of his life, serving as Community Advisor for the group planning to bring a Major League Baseball team (with the working title The Nashville Stars) to Music City.
Bryan Ruby is definitely a country artist on the rise, already working on an EP titled Diamonds Are Foreverplanned for release later in 2023.
He hopes that his 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.”
Bryan Ruby Interview by Big Al Weekley for Country Music News International Magazine & Radio Show
Proud To Be In Baseball
He has founded a 501 (c)(3) called Proud To Be In Baseball. “Proud To Be In Baseball is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization, a charity, that I started about a year and a half ago with two of my friends that supports LBGTQ kids who want to play baseball,” he explained. “It’s a really positive organization and we do a lot of events with different baseball teams spreading the message that anyone can play baseball and helping to inspire people.” The project is dedicated to providing resources, advocacy and creating opportunities for the next generation of LGBTQ baseball players.
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“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.”
Fans can support our mission by donating at proudtobeinbaseball.org. 100% of donations go towards helping the next generation of LGBTQ ballplayers.
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.
Musical Influences
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.
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Chad Sellers: Nashville Producer
After meeting with a few producers in both Texas and Nashville, Neil decided to record his new album with Nashville producers Chad Sellers and Smith Curry. Neil started recording his album “Palomino” in late 2019 at the historic Benchmark Sound Nashville (formerly Emerald Sound Studio).
“Left Field,” co-written with Andrew Capra and Chad Sellers.
“It’s a co-write with two other writers, Chad Sellers from Iowa and Shane David Smith who’s a great guitarist and bass player here,” he explained.
The Standouts
“The Standouts is all about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. This is for all the good people who haven’t got the recognition they deserve. I am dedicating this song to my Pops and my sister. Pops is a proud US Army veteran who raised a family of 5 kids-he’s still inspiring us today, even at 84 years old. His hard work and can-do attitude are the reasons my family is here today. This is also for my sister-who teaches middle school math at one of the poorest school districts in the country. It’s a thankless job but it’s inspiring to see how passionate she is about helping those kids.”
The Intersection of Baseball and Country Music
Bryan Ruby is not alone in his dual passion for baseball and country music. Many artists have found a connection between the two. As Bryan mentioned, "If you’re ever at a ball game, listen to the music that’s being played on the loudspeakers at the stadium,” said Bryan. “It’s usually country music. So, being a baseball player, I grew up with it. I would bring my guitar with me on the road, on the team bus, all the time. I would play at the hotel and after the game. There’s a lot of down time because we play at night and I would write songs during the day. Now here we are years later and maybe I’m not a Major League Baseball player but I get to be a country singer, so that’s cool!”
Nashville Stars and the Future of Baseball
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. Bryan hopes 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.
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