Ryan Bingham sings at Antone's in Austin, TX during the 2008 South by Southwest festival. | Ron Baker/Wikimedia Commons
For the better part of two decades, I’ve despised country music.
The twangy, alternative acoustic rock that’s passed off as country these days has always bothered me, and it probably didn’t help that my sister made me listen to it every day as she drove me to school during high school. But when “The Weary Kind,” Crazy Heart’s theme song performed and co-written by Ryan Bingham, won best original song at the Oscars, a shimmer of hope for what country music once was shone through.
The likes of most country artists I hear on 93Q and Country Music Television have bothered me for years. Where has the manliness gone? Sure, “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy” is catchy and “She’s Everything” is romantic, but it’s also boring and has been done a million times before.
With lyrics such as “she looks great in cheap sunglasses. She looks great in anything” taking over the airwaves, it seems we’ve been owed good country music for a long time.
Good country, in my opinion, has blood, sweat and tears poured into it. When I listen to Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Hank Williams Jr., Wayland Jennings, David Allen Coe and, of course, Conway Twitty – I’m kidding about that last one – I hear real sorrow, real joy and real hardship. I don’t hear this in most country today.
A lot of fans of the country legends past (listed above) have been wondering when our savior would come to rescue us from the high-pitched, emasculated, dreadful remnant of country that plays on the radio these days.
Ryan Bingham is that savior.
Bingham’s voice is a raspy moan and, while it is sometimes whiny, listeners can feel the pain behind his lyrics. “The Weary Kind” begins with an acoustic guitar being strummed softly and, 20 seconds into the song when Bingham’s voice is first heard, listeners might mistake it for an acoustic Bob Dylan set.
The best part of Bingham’s music, for as much as I have complimented merely one of his songs, is its diversity. Other soon-to-be-hit songs he’s recorded include “Country Roads,” “Dylan’s Hard Rain” and “Take It Easy, Mama,” which begins with a riff eerily similar to that of many Jet songs. When his songs are fun, it’s fun to listen to them; when they are sad, it’s sad to listen to them; when they are somewhere in between, it’s impossible not to tap your foot.
I had almost given up on country music, but thanks to Bingham and his band, The Dead Horses (coupled with the recent release of American VI, Johnny Cash’s final album), I have gained hope for country music once again.
However, for the time being, I’ll stick to listening to it on my computer and iPod. I’m still not bold enough to brave the murky waters of country radio: too many sharks pretending to be country artists. For fans of the old school, Bingham brings hope for the genre’s future.
So I’ve decided to pick up my crazy heart, and give country music one more try.
God, you sure do represent Bingham’s fan base well. After reading this, I think I need to check out this Wayland Jennings. I am a big fan of Waylon Jennings, and if this Wayland Jennings is anything like him, I’m in! Might want to check out Hank Williams, Sr. if you want to hear country music.
I think the problem here is that you seem to think country radio or CMT is the place to hear country music. Country has been taken over by pop sounds since the 80′s, and the best music is not played on country radio. There are many great musicians doing new takes on traditional country music (more like Cash than Tritt), but never get time on radio. I would suggest trying names like Robert Earl Keen, Justin Townes Earle (Steve’s son), Jamey Johnson, Jim Lauderdale, Buddy Miller, Gillian Welch or Hayes Carll for starters. I think all of them have more talent than Bingham, but if you like Ryan Bingham, those who get labled alternative country, Americana or red dirt/ outlaw country are likely to appeal to you more than the pap on country radio.
“Good country, in my opinion, has blood, sweat and tears poured into it. When I listen to Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Hank Williams Jr., Wayland Jennings, David Allen Coe and, of course, Conway Twitty – I’m kidding about that last one – I hear real sorrow, real joy and real hardship. I don’t hear this in most country today.”
I am going to berate you for liking this hack, Ryan Bingham, but before I do that, I have to ask you about this other character you mentioned: Wayland Jennings. Do you think he might be related to WAYLON Jennings?
Now, assuming you actually think Ryan Bingham is a good musician — and you didn’t write this article in jest as an attempt to be ironic — then you need to shoot yourself in the t*sticles. It’s faux cowboy emo music with deeply shallow lyrics and a front man who can’t play guitar to save his life. There’s only one scenario under which I could ever see myself respecting the likes of Ryan Bingham:
If he were doing all of this (i.e. writing horrible lyrics, masquerading as a hardened road-weary cowboy, and being embarrassingly clumsy on the guitar) on purpose — as a joke — then I would give Bingham a pass on everything he does. Because if you think about it, that would be hilarious. All of these douche bag posers (like yourself), who have been waiting their whole lives for a way to listen to Goo Goo Dolls-esque music cloaked in a country music facade, will have been duped by Ryan Bingham, an unlikely comedic genius, in an elaborate practical joke on his loser fan base. However, until he convinces me otherwise, I will assume he’s being serious, and I will continue spreading the gospel truth: Ryan Bingham is a hack, and his fans are complete morons.
Mr. Keever’s article about Ryan Bingham’s Oscar winning theme sound ‘The Weary Kind’ has hit a nerve and brought forth the traditionalists and their snarky comments about the changing landscape of country music.
Good!
The university is the perfect place to launch such a debate to include which country we are talking about.
Soon, the Latino fan base for ‘country-music’ could very well dominate the market and we need to talk about that.
If Keever is correct, Bingham and his diverse base of fans may define a new era for country music in the spirit of Bob Dylan that will leave the traditionalists in the dust of their own making.
Or at least give them the opportunity to define themselves as ‘The Weary Kind’ of old-school fan who show up to remind the younger kids that it is W.A.Y.L.O.N and not Wayland Jennings.
If real country music is not heard on the radio, a savior is just what the doctor ordered.
::
GP
“If real country music is not heard on the radio, a savior is just what the doctor ordered.”
My point was we don’t need a savior – there are many, many talented artists out there doing just the kind of music Keever says he wants… or, as you describe, interpreting country music in the spirit of Dylan. I wouldn’t call any of the artists I mentioned traditionalists – they ARE all good writers (in my opinion better thatn Bingham) who combine traditional with newer influences. If Bingham gets those folks heard, it is all to the good in my book.
WHERE can we find this Wayland Jennings?! I’m dying here!
It was only after more than fifteen years past Conway Twitty’s death that George Strait managed to best Conway’s record of “Number Ones” on the country charts. How is you paean to Bingham helped by the snarky slight to Conway?
Doesn't matter anyway. Ryan has a crystal meth habit a mile wide. Be dead in a year.