May 10, 2013: Ryan Bingham

Concert Details:

Bands: Ryan Bingham, The Wild Feathers

Location: Birchmere, Alexandria, VA

Ryan Bingham

1. Beg for Broken Legs
2. Hard Times
3. Country Roads
4. Tell My Mother I Miss Her So
5. Western Shore
6. Sunrise
7. Day is Done
8. Hallelujah (Solo Acoustic)
9. Boracho Station (Solo Acoustic)
10. The Weary Kind (Solo Acoustic)
11. Guess Who's Knocking
12. Heart of Rhythm
13. Southside of Heaven
14. Bluebird
15. Sunshine 
16. Bread And Water

Encore:

   16. Too Deep to Fill

   17. Ever Wonder Why

This was a show I was mildly interested in that I don't believe I would have gone to in a year where I wasn't going out of my way to go to shows, and I would have missed something big.  Ryan Bingham is perhaps best known for being the Oscar winning writer of The Weary King for the movie Crazy Heart. From the outside I couldn't really tell what type of place The Birchmere is, but the artwork is awesome and it definitely made me think that this would be an interesting venue to check out.

The opening band, The Wild Feathers was a lot of fun and while I enjoyed them, I'm not sure I would go out of my way to see them again, but I still think it would be fun.

The Wild Feathers

As he steps out on stage, Ryan Bingham has a great look, hat pulled down to shadow his eyes, feather tattoos on his lower arms.  He has the look and feel of a cowboy and is exactly what you expect when you listen to his music.  Let me start by saying,  in almost all cases I detest country music, or at least what's called country music today, the likes of Toby Keith, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, and many others.  People who sing and celebrate red solo cups and tractors, it drives me absolutely crazy, and I find it to border on musical vomit and every time I hear it I find it almost as offensive to my ears as pop artists whose voices are so clearly modified by editing that I think it would be a more pleasant sensation to be listening to 90's boy bands instead.  Now don't get me wrong, there are a slew of artists that I love (some of which I've seen this year) that could be classified as country such as: Johnny Cash, Old 97's, Ryan Adams, Rhett Miller and Matthew Ryan.  If they, and Ryan Bingham are what you found in most country music, there is a good chance that I would listen to nothing but country.

So back to Ryan Bingham.  He possesses a gravely voice that works so well with his style and an energy that is needed to front a band as large as his.  His guitar playing sounds masterful (I've not the skill or knowledge to judge, yet) and he switches between a slew of guitars including a 12 string guitar which he plays with such fervor that it is mesmerizing.  It's hard to describe his show with anything but hyperbole and great reverence as it was eye opening to see such as a wonderful performance that was so simple.  There were no stage gimmicks or movements around stage, just a man, his guitar and his band.  The best member of his band being Richard, the fiddle player.

Maybe it's because I am, very slowly, trying to learn to play guitar but I found myself most enticed into watching his hands while he played.  It was the first time I have ever seen anyone use a slide while playing, and he was not the only member of the band playing one.  As I said before if all country music sounded like his, it might be all I ever listen to, and I can definitely understand why the producers of Crazy Heart chose him to write songs for their movie.

He plays the type of music that comes to mind when I think of visiting Texas or Oklahoma.  Music that is so clearly blues influenced and that has a real country feel without it being whiny or twangy.  Below you can see his fiddle player, other guitarist and bassist.

About half way through the show the whole band left the stage and Ryan Bingham came back alone for a 3-song acoustic bit, including his Oscar winning song The Weary Kind and Boracho Station, the latter of which has an opening that reminds me of Ghosts Riders in the Sky, before dropping into a Malagueña type bit before slowing down.  It is a song that is song half in Spanish and half in English and a great addition to the set, but for me the highlight is The Weary Kind.  It is a beautiful song that deserved it's Oscar praise and much more.  In the movie Crazy Heart it is sung well by Colin Farrell, but regardless of what random online commenters think, it is Bingham's song and he performs it masterfully, milking emotion out of every movement of his fingers and with every word he sends out into the audience.  The rest of the set and encore were wonderful and he is without a doubt an artist that I will go to see over and over every time he tours, I already have again this year.