Rodeo Sunsets and Silver Screens | Ryan Bingham

Clara Rose (0:31)

I have a question for you. When did Cowboy become cool again?

Seriously, somewhere between the resurgence of Western wear, Yellowstone, and suddenly everybody wanting to own a pair of boots that they definitely didn't grow up in, the American West has made a comeback. And not just the aesthetic of it either. People are craving the stories about wide open spaces, hard work, complicated people and lives, and it's just a little bit closer to the edge. And I get it. The West has always been one of America's favorite myths. But myths sometimes needs people to keep it honest too. Someone who's willing to remind us that behind every cinematic sunset is somebody who's tired, broke, heartbroken, or just trying to make the rent and then making it work. That's where today's guest comes in. Ryan Bingham has never really sounded interested in selling the fantasy. If anything, he spent his career peeling it back. Before he was winning awards, starring in television shows or headlining festivals, Bingham was riding the rodeo circuit, working ranches, bouncing around Texas and New Mexico, and writing songs because there was only one way he knew how to make sense of the world around him. When he sings about lonely highways, worn out people, and chasing something that's always just over the next hill, it doesn't really feel like imagination, and that's most likely because it's memory.

That honesty has been the foundation of everything that's come since.

Bingham released his debut record, Mescalito, in 2007, and quickly became one of Americana's most distinctive voices.

Over the years, he's built a catalog full of songs that refused to rush themselves. Stories about loss and redemption, freedom, addiction, family, and all the messy places where those things overlap. In total, he has released six studio albums and has contributed to multiple soundtracks. And somewhere along the way, he picked up a Grammy, a Golden Globe, and an Academy Award for The Weary Kind from critically acclaimed film, Crazy Heart, forever cementing that the quiet song can sometimes make the loudest impact. And then because one career wasn't enough, he became Walker on Yellowstone, introducing an entirely new audience to both his music and his unmistakable gravel and whiskey voice. But television wasn't the end of the story. After several years away from releasing the full length studio album, Bingham has returned with They Call Us, The Lucky Ones. His first record in seven years recorded along with longtime collaborator, The Texas Gentlemen. Instead of building the album piece by piece in the studio, the songs grew out of loose jam sessions between friends, giving the record an easy confidence that feels both fresh and familiar. There's still plenty of the grit and longing that's always defined Ryan Bingham's songwriting. But there's something else too, a sense of gratitude. The title almost feels like a quiet acknowledgement that simply getting back to making music is a kind of luck in itself. But awards, television, sold out shows, and it's almost secondary. What makes Ryan Bingham special is that he writes songs that don't seem interested in convincing you of anything. They simply tell the truth as he sees it. And sometimes it's uncomfortable, and sometimes it's beautiful, and sometimes it's both. So join us today as our host, Robert Earl Keen, sits down with Ryan Bingham at the one and only Continental Club in Austin, Texas, to talk about songwriting, growing up in the American West and finding your own voice, and his latest record and why the best stories are usually the ones that refuse to tie everything up in a neat little bow.

I'm your producer, Clara Rose, and this is Americana Podcast, The 51st State.

Robert Earl Keen (4:06)

Well, hello everyone, and welcome to Americana Podcast, The 51st State. Our guest today is Ryan Bingham, and we are celebrating our 7th year here at Americana Podcast, and we're so happy to have Ryan for our very first guest in our 7th year.

And I'm going to start out by, well, first I'm going to say hi to Ryan.

Clara Rose (4:31)

How you doing, Ryan?

Robert Earl Keen (4:32)

I'm just so silly just like talking to you. It's like he's not here, you know. But Ryan Bingham won an Academy Award in 2009 for his song, The Weary Kind, came on the heels of the movie Crazy Heart. I guess maybe everybody remembers that. That was with Jeff Bridges. It was a cool country about an old country singer. And then he won a Grammy in 2010, a Golden Globe in 2010, Predicts Choice Award in 2010, and he was the Americana Artist of the Year in 2002 That was a big year for you, huh?