A lot of folks in country music dress the part — cowboy boots, hats, and blue jeans — but Ryan Bingham is the real thing. After growing up in a troubled family in rural Texas, he struck out on his own in his teens, competing in rodeos (and often sleeping in his truck) and working in ranches on the southwestern border. But for all his genuine country roots, Bingham’s music, like his fellows Texans’ — and influences — Steve Earle, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Lyle Lovett — embraces blues, folk, heartland, and Southern rock, and even classic soul. In his recent appearance at the Lincoln Theater, he performed with the Texas Gentlemen, a crackerjack ensemble of highly skilled, versatile musicians who put all kinds of muscle behind his songs.
Bingham’s career broke out when he won an Oscar in 2009 for co-writing “The Weary Kind” (which he performed in his encore on June 13) with T Bone Burnett for the movie Crazy Heart, starring Jeff Bridges (in an Oscar-winning role) as a country singer whose career is on the downswing. While he appeared on the country charts, he moved into more idiosyncratic territory beginning with 2015’s Fear and Saturday Night.
Watch the official music video for “The Weary Kind” by Ryan Bingham on YouTube:
Bingham’s eclecticism was apparent from the start, when they kicked off their set with the Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues.” They also covered the Elvis classic “Mystery Train” and Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin'” in their first set. After returning from intermission, they launched into the second set with the Allman Brothers’ “Whippin’ Post,” and, later, Marvin Gaye’s “Baby Don’t You Do It.”
Just about a month ago, Bingham and the Gentlemen put out They Call Us the Lucky Ones. Saturday night’s show included most of those songs: “I Got a Feelin’,” “Relevance,” “Americana,” “The Lucky Ones” (which closed the first set), “The Ballad of the Texas Gentleman,” “Let the Big Dog Eat,” “Blue Skies,” and “I’m a Goin’ Nowhere.” They did “Cocaine Charlie” as a mash-up with “Malaguena,” after an introduction in which Ryan talked about learning to play guitar from a neighbor who played mariachi music.
The evening’s two sets were rounded out with songs from across Bingham’s catalog: “Jingle and Go,” “Sunrise,” “Wolves,” “The Poet,” and “Nobody Knows My Trouble.” Propelled by the Gentlemen’s groove, the whole evening was electric, with the packed crowd on their feet for their entire show. Bingham’s song have always been create, and the Texas Gentlemen brought them to a whole new level.
