UPDATED -- after the jump, the just-released video for the Ryan Michaels Band song "Torture."
You might be asking, "Why is the Deep Dish doing a post about a song dedicated to the San Francisco Giants by a band from Nashville?"
That's a very good question and it has a logical answer: because the bandleader and keyboard player for the Nashville-based Ryan Michaels Band is a Chicago-area native, Peter Spero. In fact, Spero is a high school classmate of mine, though I did not know him well in our high school days.
The Ryan Michaels Band today released "Torture" -- referring to the emotional torture any fan goes through when his or her team is thisclose to a championship. White Sox fans know that feeling well. Someday, Cubs fans will get their chance.
Here's what the band writes about the song:Ryan Michaels of the Nashville-based Ryan Michaels Band and sports artist Ben Teeter have teamed up to convey their experience of being die-hard Giants fans through a particularly grueling post-season this year. A song and painting, both aptly named “Torture” releases Monday on the Ryan Michaels Band website with an accompanying music video.
The creativity poured out of Michaels and Teeter while watching the final games of the playoffs. Michaels notes, “When Ben and I were kids, I used to sing and write songs while he would paint our favorite athletes. Since then, he’s achieved success in the world of sports art, and I have moved to Nashville to live out a music career. Wherever we go, we take the Giants with us. Our lives went on hold when they made it to the World Series!”
Teeter’s painting personifies Giants pitcher Brian Wilson with an expression that Giants fans are all to used to seeing. Teeter shares, “Wilson exemplifies the “torture” adage; this image was inspired by his series-ending performance in Game 6 of the NLCS against the Phillies.”
The song was released yesterday and is available as a free download at this link until the end of the World Series.
And if you like it, you can see the Ryan Michaels Band live at their CD release party this Saturday at the House of Blues in downtown Chicago. Finally, here's the just-released video for the song: