Ryan Bingham
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

George Ryan Bingham (born March 31, 1981) is an American singer, actor, songwriter, and guitarist whose music spans multiple genres. He is currently based in Los Angeles. As of 2019, Bingham has released six studio albums and one live album, the last four of which were released under his own label, Axster Bingham Records. Originally from Hobbs, New Mexico, Bingham grew up across the Southwestern United States. He joined the rodeo circuit as a bull rider in his teens. Bingham learned music on a guitar gifted to him by his mother at age 16, initially playing after
rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...
s for his friends. Eventually, he began playing in small bars and honky tonks across the West, landing him in Los Angeles. Bingham signed his first record deal with Lost Highway Records (UMG) in 2007. After receiving critical acclaim for his first two studio releases on Lost Highway Records, 2007's '' Mescalito'' and 2009's '' Roadhouse Sun'', Bingham went on to collaborate with Grammy-winning producer T Bone Burnett on the soundtrack for the acclaimed 2009 film '' Crazy Heart'', including notably cowriting and performing the film's award-winning theme song, " The Weary Kind". The title track earned Bingham an Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Critics' Choice Award for "Best Song" in 2010, as well as a Grammy Award for "Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media" in 2011. The Americana Music Association also honored Bingham with the organization's top
award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...
in 2010 as "Artist of the Year". Bingham's most recent album, '' American Love Song'', was released on February 15, 2019. A ballad from that album, "Wolves", was inspired in part by the March For Our Lives students who were dealing with grown men and women questioning their integrity on social media. The song was also featured on the TV series ''
Yellowstone Yellowstone National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with small portions extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U ...
''. Bingham sang "Wolves" as the series' character, Walker, whom he plays on the show. In April 2019, Bingham partnered with Live Nation to launch his own music festival, The Western. The inaugural event took place over two days in Luckenbach, Texas.


Early life

Bingham was born in Hobbs, New Mexico. His family relocated to the Midland–Odessa area of
West Texas West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the desert climate, arid and semiarid climate, semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Texas, Wichita Falls, Abilene, Texa ...
, before eventually moving to
Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
. He attended high school primarily in Houston at Westfield High School. Bingham's mother purchased his first guitar when he was 16 years old. Although he was fascinated by music, he left his guitar dormant in his closet. Roughly a year later, Bingham hitchhiked back west to Laredo, Texas, in hopes of landing a job with his father, carrying the guitar with him on the trip. Bingham's father enjoyed having neighbors over on their porch to drink beer, and one of them taught him a classical Mariachi song called "La Malaguena" in segments. Though he loved playing the song, it was the only one he would learn during his time in Laredo. He relocated to Stephenville, Texas. There, he began learning more music while also riding on the rodeo team at Tarleton State University. It was in Stephenville that he would write arguably his most well-known hit "Southside of Heaven" in a trailer house. He also began to play local gigs there, namely a local golf course and a few small bars. While in Stephenville, Bingham had a friend who caught wind of a job in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, France, with the Wild West Show at the Disney Resort. He bought a one-way ticket with $100 in his pocket. Upon arrival, he was informed that the manager with whom he had a mutual friend was no longer with the company, and he found himself stranded with his guitar and old rigging bag from his rodeo days. Luckily, he found some friends-of-friends within the Disney programs and began playing music in local parks for tips. Eventually, he saved enough money to get back to Texas and moved in with a rodeo buddy near
Fort Worth Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...
. His friend had a brother (Matthew "Papa" Smith) who cut hair during the day and played drums as a hobby. After an introduction and impromptu gig at an empty bar in Fort Worth, he and Papa would go on to be the founding members of Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses. Marc Ford of the Black Crowes was one of the few people in the bar that night. He approached Bingham after the gig with an offer to record an album.


Career

After issuing self-released "Wishbone Saloon" and "Dead Horses", the latter distributed by Lone Star Music, Bingham was signed to Lost Highway Records, which issued his first major label debut with ''Mescalito'' on October 2, 2007, produced by former Black Crowes guitarist Marc Ford. ''Texas Music Magazine'' has opined that Bingham "talks and sings with a whiskey-and-cigarette throat that screams hard living. Hard in a way that can make a 29-year-old sound like a 50-year-old
Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on society's underworld and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He began in the American folk music, fo ...
." Bingham spent several years on the rodeo circuit. He began bull riding in his late teens. Bingham's former band, The Dead Horses, was composed of Matthew "Papa" Smith (
drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
), Corby Schaub (guitar and
mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...
) and Marc Ford's son Elijah ( bass). The bass player on ''Mescalito'' was Jeb Venable (a.k.a. Jeb Stuart), with Joe Allen credited as well, plus a contribution from John Bazz on upright bass. Bingham appeared with the Drive-by Truckers on ''
Austin City Limits ''Austin City Limits'' is an American Concert, live music Television show, television program recorded and produced by KLRU, Austin PBS. The show helped Austin become widely known in the United States as the "Live Music Capital of the World", an ...
'' in October 2007. The first single from ''Mescalito'', titled "Southside of Heaven", was released on November 30, 2007. The second single was entitled "Bread and Water". On June 2, 2009, Ryan Bingham and The Dead Horses released their second studio album titled '' Roadhouse Sun'' via Lost Highway Records. It was once again produced by Marc Ford. Bingham performed two songs for the soundtrack of the movie '' Crazy Heart'', including "I Don't Know" and the theme song, " The Weary Kind". The song was co-written by Bingham and producer, T Bone Burnett. Bingham also played a small role in the film. On January 17, 2010, Bingham was awarded the
Golden Globe for Best Original Song The Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song is a Golden Globe Award that was awarded for the first time in 1962 and has been awarded annually since 1965 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The award is presented to the songwriters of a ...
for "The Weary Kind". The song also won the 2010
Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the Film industry, motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who h ...
, the 2010 Grammy award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media, as well as Song of the Year at the 9th Annual Americana Music Association awards. Bingham rejoined with his band the Dead Horses to release their third studio album, '' Junky Star'', on August 31, 2010. The album debuted in the Top 20 on the ''Billboard'' 200 Chart & in the Top 10 on the Billboard Rock Album Chart, making ''Junky Star'' Bingham's highest charting and most successful release to date. In 2012, Bingham parted ways with the Dead Horses and record label Lost Highway Records to release his fourth studio album, '' Tomorrowland'', on his own Axster Bingham Records label. Bingham co-produced the album with musician/producer Justin Stanley. The first single released from ''Tomorrowland'' was "Heart of Rhythm". Both the single and the official lyric video debuted on Americansongwriter.com on July 30, 2012. Bingham's second ''Tomorrowland'' single "Guess Who's Knockin" debuted on rollingstone.com on September 6, 2012. The official music video for "Guess Who's Knocking" premiered on pastmagazine.com October 4, 2012. In 2013, Bingham's song "For Anyone's Sake" appeared in the closing credits of the feature film '' Joe'', starring Nicolas Cage. Bingham wrote the song for the film, and it was released as part of the film's original soundtrack in April 2014. In the same year, Bingham also wrote and recorded "Until I'm One With You", the theme song for FX TV drama series '' The Bridge''. The song is Bingham's first screen track since his Academy Award win for best theme song in 2010. "Until I'm One with You" was released as a digital single on Bingham's own Axster Bingham Records label on June 25, 2013.Phil Gallo
"Ryan Bingham Pens Theme For FX's 'Bridge'; First Screen Track Since Oscar Win"
''Billboard.com'', 06/25/13
In 2014, Bingham starred opposite
Imogen Poots Imogen Gay Poots (born 3 June 1989) is an English actress. She played Tammy in the post-apocalyptic horror film ''28 Weeks Later'' (2007), Linda Keith in the Jimi Hendrix biopic ''Jimi: All Is by My Side'' (2013), Debbie Raymond in the Paul Ray ...
in the independent film ''A Country Called Home'', directed and co-written by his wife, Anna Axster. Bingham also wrote and recorded the film's title track "A Country Called Home". The song was released digitally through Bingham's own label, Axster Bingham Records, on May 6, 2016. Bingham's fifth studio album '' Fear and Saturday Night'' was recorded mostly live at Plyrz Studio outside of Los Angeles, California. The album was co-produced by Jim Scott and released through Axster Bingham Records on January 20, 2015. The album's first single "Radio" was released on December 9, 2014. In a 2016 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Bingham shared, "'Radio' is a song I wrote about the thoughts, memories, and emotions that roll through my mind. The radio that's constantly playing in your head, night and day." On August 6, 2016, Bingham recorded his first live album, ''Ryan Bingham Live'', at Whitewater Amphitheater in
New Braunfels, Texas New Braunfels ( ) is a city in Comal County, Texas, Comal and Guadalupe County, Texas, Guadalupe counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Comal County. The city covers and had a population of 90,403 as of the 2020 United Sta ...
. The album was released on October 21, 2016. The entire Whitewater Amphitheater show was also filmed and streamed live by Amazon Music. Bingham released a song titled "Back By the River" on ''The Musical Mojo of Dr. John: A Celebration of Mac and his Music'', in 2016. Starting in 2018, Bingham had a recurring guest role in the contemporary Western television show, ''
Yellowstone Yellowstone National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with small portions extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U ...
'', as Walker, an itinerant ranch hand. In December 2018, Bingham announced that he would be releasing his sixth studio album ''American Love Song'' in February 2019. In March 2020, Bingham began posting various covers and released songs on his Youtube channel in a series known as the Cantina Sessions throughout the
COVID-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, he continued such until the end of 2020.


Reception

Bingham has appeared as a guest on Bob Harris's Country Show on the BBC's Radio 2. Daryl Easlea, writing for the BBC's folk and country review, said: "Bingham will be one of the names to drop in 2008, with an album that sounds as if it's been unearthed from 1972." ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' magazine gave ''Mescalito'' three out of five stars and wrote that Bingham "earns his sepia-toned album cover with a dusty wood-and-steel sound, and despite being twenty-five, sings like Steve Earle's dad." ''
PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...
'' review of ''Tomorrowland'' awarded the album with 8 out of 10 stars. Greg M. Scwartz, writing for PopMatters wrote, that "The one-time pro rodeo rider turned Texas troubadour has blues, country, and Americana influences that are certainly still there. But at his core, Bingham has always been a rock 'n' roller and ''Tomorrowland'' features him rocking at his best." ''Tomorrowland'' was also reviewed by Nico Isaac from
Paste (magazine) ''Paste'' is an American monthly music and entertainment digital magazine, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with studios in Atlanta and Manhattan, and owned by Paste Media Group. The magazine began as a website in 1998. It ran as a print publi ...
. Isaac wrote: "Tomorrowland is like a good, ol' fashioned rock anthem of kiss-my-asschaps autonomy... One thing's for sure Tomorrowland- the album and the red-blooded, rattlesnake-eating rebellious attitude—is no place for the weary kind."


Personal life

Ryan's mother died due to alcohol related causes and his father died by suicide. Bingham's "Never Far Behind" from his '' Tomorrowland'' album is about his parents. He announced at his performance in
Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
, on March 5, 2015, that he and his wife were expecting their first child in the summer of 2015. Bingham's song "Broken Heart Tattoo" from '' Fear and Saturday Night'' is a reflection about what he would like to say to his unborn child. On June 29, 2021, Bingham filed for divorce from his wife, Anna Axster, after 12 years of marriage. In September 2021, it was revealed that the couple's former Topanga Canyon home was sold for $2.45 million. The home was originally purchased by the couple in 2013 for $1.36 million. Bingham and Axster have three children together. Since April 2023, Bingham and his female fellow ''Yellowstone'' co-star Hassie Harrison have been in a relationship. They were married on October 7, 2023 at her family estate in Dallas, Texas.


Discography


Studio albums


Live albums


Extended plays


Singles


Other charted songs


Music videos


Filmography


Film

For film roles, he is credited as Ryan Bingham unless otherwise noted.


Television


Awards and nominations


Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...


Americana Music Association


Critics' Choice Movie Awards The Critics' Choice Awards (formerly known as the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award) is an awards show presented annually by the American Critics Choice Association (CCA) to honor the finest in cinematic achievement. Written ballots are ...


Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual Awards ceremony, award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally ...


Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...


Satellite Awards


Screen Actors Guild Awards


World Soundtrack Awards The World Soundtrack Awards, launched in 2001, are the annual awards for best Film score, film music, presented during the Film Fest Gent. The World Soundtrack Academy supports the art of film music through cultural, educational and professional ac ...


References


External links


Bingham's official websiteReview of Roadhouse Sun
from CountryMusicPride.com
''Los Angeles Times'' article on BinghamInterview with LoneStarMusic.com
*
Ryan Bingham , "Crazy Heart" Soundtrack – A Guitar Felt A Lot Better In My Hands Than A Shovel , The European Magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bingham, Ryan 1981 births 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters American country rock singers American country singer-songwriters American male guitarists American rock guitarists American rock singers Best Original Song Academy Award–winning songwriters Bull riders Country musicians from New Mexico Country musicians from Texas Golden Globe Award–winning musicians Guitarists from New Mexico Guitarists from Texas Living people Lost Highway Records artists Musicians from Austin, Texas Musicians from New Braunfels, Texas People from Hobbs, New Mexico Singer-songwriters from Texas Songwriters from New Mexico Thirty Tigers artists