Thursday, March 3, 2011

"Would you think it's lost, that I paid the cost,"

I went to a concert last night! The performance was by Ryan Bingham, a country singer who, until recently, was relatively unknown at least around here. The title of the post is song lyrics from his song "Ever Wonder Why" which is a favorite of mine!  His style of country is more rough and traditional tha typical "radio" country that is so familiar. Ryan's voice is really rough and and sounds alot older than he is (he is only 29). 
Watch these youtube videos if you want to hear a sampling...


I found out about him a few years ago from my music loving former roommate.  I was visiting for a weekend and went over to her house  to visit and she played his cd "Mescalito" for me and I liked it so much we went out to buy it!  He has released two other albums since then.  Last year he became more famous because a song he wrote for the movie "Crazy Heart" won an academy award for best original song.  He also had a small part in the movie.  The photo below is a shot of Ryan Bingham and Jeff Bridges from the movie.  I was actually really surprised that his tour came to ND at all!  I always appreciate when concerts come here!

The concert was downtown at this very small, divey (is that even a word?) venue that is above an Irish pub.  I had never been there and was surprised by how small it was!  It was pretty fun though.  It helped that it was a 21+ show and drinking was encouraged!


Aaaaahhh!!! Ryan Bingham!  I went to the show with Andrea and Kirk and we met some friends, including Roommate, there.  We took a few pictures but didn't want to go overboard in such a small place!  It was fun to be so close to the action.  We even caught Ryan sneaking a drag from a cigarette towards the end of the night!  Although I think smoking is unpleasant I guess I wouldn't have minded an exception to the smoking rules for the performers.

It was very good.  Ryan sounded just like he does on the recordings, which, in my opinion, means that someone is truly talented.  Not that I doubted his talents!  I am always amazed when I encounter people who are close to my age who have accomplished impressive feats.  Thanks for a memorable evening Mr. Bingham!


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