Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses

Ryan Bingham wasn't really on my radar - until recently. I'd heard of him but hadn't paid much attention to his albums. And then I was told he had a new one on the way. For some reason it seemed to mean more. Scratching my head as to why Bingham's name meant more now than it had a few years earlier, I realised that I had been enjoying his songs/presence as part of the Crazy Heart soundtrack.

So, that made me interested in this new album by Ryan and his band The Dead Horses. That new album, Junky Star, is out in New Zealand this week.

It's rare - seemingly - for record companies to get an advance copy of an album these days; certainly rare for them to send it on to a reviewer (well, so I've found - I can't speak for other reviewers here).

So the songs from Junky Star have had time to grow. I've enjoyed the album, the way I enjoy the acoustic Bruce Springsteen albums; the way I liked where Steve Earle was at in the mid-90s; there's possibly a trace of that other country-crooning Ryan - possibly.

Bingham doesn't sound like a guy still in his 20s; he's got a good old man voice - definitely a bit of Steve Earle in the pipes. And he's got a world-weariness in the worldview that doesn't seem forced, never seems false.

I don't know if I'll love Junky Star forever, but it feels like one of the strongest releases I've heard this year - and I like that the artist has a body of work I can now go back to. I still haven't listened to his 2007 debut, Mescalito, or last year's Roadhouse Sun. But I'll dip back to those albums when I've given Junky Star even more of a run.

Do you remember that is how it used to be? Record labels would take time to let an artist grow - to let an artist discover exactly where they wanted to head. And the fans would dip back in the earlier work they didn't know about the first time around after making their own discovery, choosing their own point of entry.

That's all changed, of course, and for the last few years we've had people announcing that record companies - major labels especially - are dead and just need to be buried. We've had labels acting desperately, pushing whatever they have, not giving the artist the chance to work out how to shape things, no reprieve is given. If the artist wants time off the label rushes out a bonus-disc, a tour edition, a "deluxe edition" and sometimes - just two albums in to a career - some sort of greatest hits package.

It's sickening. Don't you think?

So Ryan Bingham was offered to me - early - on an off-chance: the email asked if I was interested at all. And I twigged that he had that Crazy Heart connection - and had heard others talking about him and his earlier albums. And slowly, surely, Junky Star made itself known. I like the feel and flow of the album. There are no embarrassments, no duds. It's an album that's been built - shaped, edited. It's an album that the artist has created. And sure, maybe the only reason the label is backing him now is because there is a connection with a film that was nominated for (and won) some Oscars. But it's a good album.

Have you heard any of it? Or will you check it out? Are you a Ryan Bingham fan already? Or did you not think a lot of his earlier albums?

Here's a  live version of the opening track from the new album.

I think what I like most about Bingham and his sound is that he feels like a guy who cares about songs, who cares about songwriting.

Here's a live solo version of the new album's title track. And here's a live rendition of Bingham's song, Hallelujah.

What do you think?

» Join Blog on the Tracks on Facebook

Newest First

Oldest First

Debbie   #1   09:05 pm Sep 06 2010

Oh yes, BIG fan. Simon, you NEED to hear Mescalito and Roadhouse Sun.

Brett   #2   09:08 pm Sep 06 2010

Saw him on Letterman and like him. Will keep more of an eye out for him after reading this.

sludgie   #3   09:23 pm Sep 06 2010

Simon - have got both the last two RB albums and am in the minority it seems in that I prefer the second one.

I can relate to the late discovery of a new/upcoming artist. Happened with the other Ryan with me at Heartbreaker, Wilco and then back to Uncle Tupelo, The replacements at All Shook Down; Tindersticks at Can Our Love; Springsteen at Born to Run; Bowie at Ziggy, etc

But I still like the satisfaction of being the first on the block to have heard something and to recommend to others!

Daniel   #4   07:59 am Sep 07 2010

Bingham is the real deal, and he's got some killer tunes. Check out his first album, and in particular the very first track, to get what Bingham is all about. It's an incredible song on an incredible album. I think Bingham is in his late twenties, and has been doing the hard slog for most of his younger years. Thus, when critical kudos came his way, he hasn't been flustered or lost his songwriting chops amongst the acclaim. He's just playing and writing great songs about normal, struggling human beings. Not heard the new one but saw him play 'Depression' on Letterman and it was great (guys a good lookin kid as well, but I wont hold that against him!)

Gary   #5   12:31 pm Sep 07 2010

I've been a big fan since day one, the two earlier albums are excellent, as is this one.