Ryan Bingham’s career has the unusual distinction of earning him a Grammy, a Golden Globe and an Oscar. His career started with music, but it was not an instant connection for the teen. His mother bought him a guitar when he was 16, which he left unused in his closet. When he decided to hitchhike to Texas a year later, he took the guitar along with him.
In Laredo, he learned a mariachi tune – but nothing else until he relocated to Stephenville. While a student at Tarleton State University, he began to learn more about music and also joined the school rodeo team. A missed opportunity for a job in Paris, France left him broke, so he started busking to earn enough money to return to Texas.
On his return, he started his band Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses. Marc Ford from the Black Crowes saw them perform in a nearly empty bar and was impressed enough to offer the group a chance to record an album.
Ryan Bingham’s first major label record came in 2007 with Mescalito. While the album was well received, it was his composition of “The Weary Kind” for the movie Crazy Heart that brought the most attention to the artist. Bingham also appeared in the film.
Crazy Heart led to more soundtrack and acting opportunities which Bingham has pursued in parallel with his recording career that now includes 7 albums. Most recently, Bingham has appeared in the TV series Yellowstone. Bingham says that “I knew the guy that’s directed and written the show, Taylor Sheridan, from a few years back. When Yellowstone came about, he initially just contacted me about writing some songs for the show. Once we met and hung out a bit, he found out that I used to rodeo and grew up ranching… He said, ‘Man, I got to get you in the show if you can do all that stuff.’”
