Monday 2nd February. The Borderline. Ryan Bingham. It’s the first gig of the year and the first of a very busy February with 6 gigs in 25 days. We first saw Ryan Bingham 7 years ago at the same venue and he refers to that gig in the set tonight. Since then he’s had a number of successful albums, including an Oscar and a Grammy for the Weary Kind in the film Crazy Heart. He’s at home fully plugged in front of a band rocking out but tonight its solo acoustic.
I have written before about there is nothing purer than just one man and a guitar and tonight exemplifies that magnificently. At the heart of Ryan Bingham’s appeal is the quality of the songs. He travels the well-worn tracks of country music with heartbreak, despair and hope in equal measure in the style of the storybook song.
He has a gravelly voice that’s been scraped off the floor of a Texan dustbowl, driven over by an eighteen wheeler and spat out the other side. A late starter on the guitar from seventeen, he’s sure got the licks now. The set draws heavily from his new album with its standout track for me, Snow Falls in June leading the way tonight. Other highlights are Hallelujah, Depression and slide guitar favourite Sunshine. The crowd are quiet and appreciative and Mr Bingham holds the crowd’s attention between songs with his simple anecdotes some of which sound so far-fetched they must be true.
It’s a perfect start to the new year and I can’t wait to see him again with the full band in October where he’s sure to rip it up.
Keep on rocking y’all