The little song that could win a very big Oscar! The Texas Country/Americana rodeo bull rider turned singer Ryan Bingham's work on the award-winning movie "Crazy Heart" soundtrack "The Weary Kind" has taken his career to a new level. The song just won Oscar's Best Original Song with legendary T-Bone Burnett last night, follow his Golden Globe award for the same song on January 17. The whole experience is far removed from Bingham's previous life. Believe it or not, just a year ago, the 28-year-old singer and his band were on the road playing gigs all over the country and living out of their van.If you haven't seen Best Actor Winner Jeff Bridge's brilliant portrayal as the revered down-and-out, country singer Bad Blake in "Crazy Heart," stop what you're doing and go to your local theater and see this movie. The film's soundtrack is a mix of classic country and new tunes written specifically for the film by Bingham, who and his Dead Horses serve as Bridges' backing band in the film as well. Bingham said, during a recent stop in Chicago. "It was a wonderful experience working with everyone involved with the film, and this is a great payoff."
It's been a whirlwind few years for Bingham who has spent most of his life on the road, first on the rough-and-tumble rodeo circuit, then moving from town to town on the equally volatile roadhouse musical circuit. Those travels have given him plenty of material to draw from and plenty of reason to stop for a moment to dig in his heels and take a stand. "With all that's happened politically and economically in the last couple of years, I felt like there was a lot to say," Bingham explains. "As a young person, I felt like it was time to get involved, to write something that wasn't just about Saturday nights in bars. And as far as Dylan? Things that were happening back then are still happening. Things keep repeating themselves."
Burnett first heard of Bingham through filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, who suggested he check out the work of the younger artist. Burnett liked what he heard, so he and director Scott Cooper suggested Bingham attempt to write a song for the movie. Bingham went on the road with his band, the Dead Horses, and returned with a rough draft of "The Weary Kind." Bingham's whiskey-soaked vocals perfectly fit the movie, and the song takes you straight into the heart of the movie's main character and his weathered voice makes the emotion of the song inescapable and you feel like you've walked in Bad's shoes. Bingham knows how to make the lyrics of his Texas inspired songs seasoned and full of life. Now, teamed up with his band The Dead Horses, I'm sure to see more great things from this outlaw of an artist.
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