Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses: Junky Star

With the exception of Justin Townes Earle, it’s been awhile since I’ve gotten really excited about a new artist. I’m a big fan of Texas Country , primarily Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Steve Earle, Bobby Bare, and Robert Earle Keen. I hadn’t yet found a new artist to really satisfy my taste.

When I first put on Junky Star by Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses, I thought I was hearing the voice of Bob Dylan …. Now. Turns out this guy’s got a gruff voice like that at the age of thirty. Talk about hard livin’.

Bingham, who is from Texas (and looks eerily similar to Townes Van Zandt from Heartworn Highways in the photo to the right), plays the sort of music I really dig. And he seems to have a certain discontent for LA that will strike a chord with those who have spent any amount of time here.

There are moments on the album that are reminiscent of Townes Van Zandt, particularly “Lay My Head Down on the Pier.” The harmonica laced “The Poet” shows his Dylan influence and “Wanderin’” is along the lines of what Steve Earle is doing now.

This is good music, what Country should be.

Well now, that’s LA for ya: “I’d rather lay down in a pine box. Then to sell my heart to a fuckin’ wasteland.”