In Contention

Tag: Ryan Bingham

  • Bingham wins a Grammy, set for Bonnaroo

    I didn’t see the Grammys this weekend.  In fact, I tend to avoid them like the plague.  But it was nevertheless an impressive slate of winners, so that’s a unique start.

    In any case, it’s worth pointing out that Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett’s “The Weary Kind” wrapped up a long awards march by taking the award for Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television, or Other Visual Media.  So add that to a list of accolades that includes an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a Critic’s Choice Movie Award, and the Americana Music Association “Song of the Year” honor.  A great ride indeed.

    “It’s incredible,” Bingham said to press backstage at the Grammys. “It’s been a hell of a ride. All this stuff flies by so fast and happens so quick. Afterward you look back on it, let it soak in, and see what it’s all about.”

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  • Bingham on the rise

    You probably notice I write about Ryan Bingham plenty, even though his successful Oscar season has come and gone.  But you know what?  Sometimes you meet guys n this racket who are real and genuine and, above all, kind, and when someone like that has talent like this, you just want to see him succeed.  And if you do what I do, you want to write about it.

    Bingham and his band The Dead Horses played a sold out show last night at the El Rey on Wilshire.  I’ve only seem him perform in a more intimate capacity (and we were robbed of the chance to see him grace the stage at the Kodak Theatre last year), so seeing him shred it to a capacity crowd was a special sight.

    I kind of consider him a latter day Springsteen.  His songwriting has taken huge leaps with the latest album, “Junky Star,” and he brings the energy like few contemporaries.  And the sky could be the limit.  We’re watching a superstar on the rise.

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  • ‘Crazy’ ‘Bone’ ‘Network’

    I guess this whole episode is worth posting, given the Oscar relevance throughout.  After the nervous-as-hell tone Eisenberg and Lawrence set (endearingly, sure), it was nice to have Bingham there to smooth things out on clean-up:

  • Oscar nominees

    Bingham just Tweeted this pic of his Jay Leno appearance tonight.  If you can’t tell, that’s Jennifer Lawrence off to the side.  And I think you know the gentleman next to Leno.  Nifty:

  • Ryan Bingham does Letterman, ‘Junky Star’ getting raves

    I don’t know if everyone caught “The Late Show” last night, but last year’s Best Original Song winner, Ryan Bingham, took the stage with his band The Dead Horses to rock out the first single on their new album, “Junky Star.”  The album, produced by Oscar co-winner T Bone Burnett, released today.

    Here’s a clip from the show.  A few rave review bites of the new album after the jump.

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  • Bingham at The Mint

    Hate to be an advocate, but last year’s Best Original Song winner Ryan Bingham hit the stage for a modest private showcase last night at The Mint in West L.A. and just nailed it.

    The new album, “Junky Star,” hits shelves September 7 and was produced by T Bone Burnett, as mentioned previously.  It’s like a Springsteen album, focused, intense, but free-wheelin’.  It’s exactly the kind of music you want to hear this guy turning out.

    Bingham spent some years in Austin and made his way as a country artist.  He’s been here in Los Angeles for four years now, but his sound isn’t country.  It’s quite progressive, actually, with an awareness, respect and even dedication to traditional melodies and sonic sense.  But it retains an authentic sheen that makes it quite unique.

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  • New Ryan Bingham album on the way

    I’ve been meaning to address this nearly two-week old press release since I got back, but last year’s Best Original Song winner has a new album coming at the end of the summer.  “Junky Star” from Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses hits stores September 7.  An added bonus: T Bone Burnett, music supervisor on “Crazy Heart” and co-writer of the Oscar-winning track “The Weary Kind,” produced the album.

    “Burnett created a recording environment that perfectly complemented the themes and textures of Bingham’s reflective songwriting,” the press release reads.  “The tracks…range from narratives with vivid imagery…to introspective confessionals…to bluesy roadhouse stomps…to Sticky Fingers-era Stones.”  Oh yeah, and according to Burnett, they finished it in three days.  Can’t wait to pick it up.

    You can hear a couple of songs from “Junky Star” at BinghamMusic.com.  Have a listen to a portion of one of them, “Depression,” below.

    [audio:http://www.incontention.com/audio/depression-brief.mp3]

  • Interviews with the winners

    Geoffrey Fletcher at the 82nd annual Academy AwardsBefore we close the book on 2009, here’s one last rundown of our interviews with this year’s Oscar recipients.  It was lovely to meet with them all as this was truly, for the most part, a season of camaraderie.

    “The Cove”
    Louie Psihoyos (Best Documentary Feature)

    “Crazy Heart”
    Jeff Bridges (Best Actor)
    Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett (Best Original Song)

    “The Hurt Locker”
    Mark Boal (Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay)
    Chris Innis and Bob Murawski (Best Film Editing)
    Paul Ottosson (Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing)

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  • 2/24 Oscarweb Round-up

    Ryan Bingham• Elysa Gardner catches up with Ryan Bingham in New York. [USA Today]

    • John Ratzenberger talks Pixar across the pond. [The Independent]

    • Steve Pond chats with “An Education” star Carey Mulligan, who seems to be hitting the pavement a bit late in the game. [The Odds]

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  • OSCAR GUIDE: Best Music (Original Song)

    Nora Arnezeder in Paris 36Year after year, the original song category tends to prove that something is broken in the music branch of the Academy.  But to be fair, that’s a bit of a half-truth overall, as the original score field has begun to loosen up a bit and allow for newbie talent to get a foot in the door as of late.

    Still, when it comes to voting on the songs with a seemingly arbitrary system, not to mention a rash of rules that feel made up along the way (and overtly subjective at that), the branch certainly makes a given tune earn it with one hell of an uphill climb along the way.  That having been said, the category nailed down a decent slate of nominees this season.

    The nominees are:

    “Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Randy Newman)
    “Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Randy Newman)
    “Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36”     (Reinhardt Wagner; Frank Thomas)
    “Take It All” from “Nine” (Maury Yeston)
    “The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” (T Bone Burnett and Ryan Bingham)

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  • 2/17 Oscarweb Round-up

    • David Poland sits down with Mark Boal and, separately, Paul Ottosson and Ray Beckett to talk “The Hurt Locker.” [The Hot Blog]

    • Saoirse Ronan talks “The Lovely Bones” across the pond. [Daily Telegraph]

    • Chris Jones profiles Roger Ebert, the man and his thumbs. [Esquire]

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  • Shocker: Best Original Song nominees will not perform

    (from left) T Bone Burnett and Ryan Bingham at the 2010 Golden Globe AwardsThis is a bit outrageous.  Mike Fleming is reporting at Deadline Hollywood Daily that the original song nominees will not be asked to perform the tracks on the telecast:

    Explanations include that the songs never delivered ratings, and that is what this Oscarcast is all about. That not having the big production numbers will move the show along. That it will save money for distributors, who eat most of the costs (up to 7 figures) of schlepping singers in. That unless a song by Bruce Springsteen, Celine Dion, Sting or U2 were nominated, most of the worldwide audience is hearing the tune for the first time when it is sung. I mean, can anybody besides Tom Bernard or Michael Barker from Sony Pictures Classics hum a few bars of “Loin de Paname” from Paris 36?

    Dear Academy: I don’t think we can possibly bend over any further.

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  • The nominees react

    Maggie Gyllenhaal in Crazy HeartThroughout the morning and early afternoon we took statements from or hopped on the phone with 44 of today’s Oscar nominees.  Their reactions…

    Maggie Gyllenhaal, supporting actress, “Crazy Heart”:

    The thing is, you know, I’m so proud of the movie and I always have been, more proud of it than any of the work I’ve done so far.  But because I wasn’t getting nominated for anything, I wasn’t expecting it.  My phone was ringing so early and I thought, “Wait, maybe!”   I was staying at my brother’s in LA.  He said to me, “Your phone is going to be ringing all day.”  He made me a cup of coffee and then we watched the sun rise.  It was pretty mellow.  But this wouldn’t be happening for Jeff [Bridges] or me if it wasn’t for Scott [Cooper].

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  • Reaching the populace with ‘Crazy Heart’

    Jeff Bridges in Crazy HeartWith “Crazy Heart” expanding more throughout the country and expecting, no doubt, a bit of an exposure bump after Tuesday’s Oscar nominations announcement, Fox Searchlight is stepping up its game and doing a nice job of getting the music out there.

    I stumbled across TheWearyKind.com last week, a nifty bit of social networking that allows musicians (of any level of talent, believe me) to upload their cover of Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett’s theme from the film.  The first video on the grid is Bingham performing it at the Los Angeles press day, but the second one I hadn’t seen.  It’s Jeff Bridges performing it in front of Peter Travers (I think).  The rest are user entries.

    Meanwhile, RecordStoreDay.com is offering up a contest whose winner I’d be incredibly jealous of.  The prize: an Epiphone AJ-200S acoustic guitar autographed by Bridges, Burnett and Bingham (suddenly I’m aware of the alliteration on this project).

    We’ll see tomorrow if the film can manage surprise nominations for Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay and/or Best Picture, but for now, the road is pretty well paved for Bridges (who showed up at last night’s Grammys to introduce a performance tribute to Les Paul).

  • Official video for Ryan Bingham’s ‘The Weary Kind’

    Because, well, I’m glad of any excuse to bring up this track. Is there even a contest for Best Original Song? Even the Academy’s wilful music branch can’t screw this up. Surely.

  • Buy it

    Cover of the Crazy Heart motion picture soundtrackThe “Crazy Heart” deluxe edition soundtrack hit stores today along with a streamlined, standard version, and it’s a must own if you like the movie or this kind of music.  There are little treasures sprinkled throughout that you get for a couple extra bucks, like a modified instrumental version of “Somebody Else” from Stephen Bruton, the killer “Joy” from Lucinda Williams, some lovely accompanying tracks from George Jones, Kitty Wells, The Delmore Brothers and Lydia Mendoza.  Oh yeah, and Thomas Canning’s piano riff from the film.

    I’ve been listening to Waylon Jenning’s “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way” for a few weeks now, but I’m all over this.  In case you missed it last week, Ryan Bingham recently performed “The Weary Kind” on The Late Show with David Letterman.

    Last year when I walked out of “Slumdog Millionaire,” one of the first things I asked was if the soundtrack was going to be released, because it was fantastic.  This after “Juno” had already covered similar terrain a year earlier.  “Crazy Heart” was obviously a no-brainer on that front, so the studio should have another hit on its hands (thanks especially to T Bone Burnett, of course, for putting it all together).  Someone give that music division a raise.

  • OFF THE CARPET: All Globed out

    Jeff Bridges at the 2010 Golden Globe AwardsAs it turned out, the only celebration I made it to last night was Fox’s Globes after-party at Craft in Century City.  Given that “Avatar” and “Crazy Heart” were two of three films to win more than one Globe (the other being Pixar’s “Up”), it kind of felt like the place to be.

    The early part of the evening was dominated by the “Crazy Heart” crew.  I came in with Ryan Bingham and Scott Cooper, the latter dumbfounded at how certain celebs were getting his number to send well-wishes and praise for his little film.  Bingham, meanwhile, told me he was at the bar when the Best Original Song category was announced, which explains why T Bone Burnett accepted solo.  “Sorry for partyin’,” Bingham told me.  “Story of my life.”

    Burnett, it turns out, will be producing Bingham’s next album.

    Meanwhile, you could follow the bursts of applause to locate Jeff Bridges, who took down the Best Actor in a Drama trophy when many thought George Clooney would register with the, shall we say, star-friendly HFPA.  Then again, whoever said Bridges wasn’t a star?  And judging by the standing ovation, his second of the weekend (everyone was on their feet Friday, too), you can expect his steamroll through the season to continue next weekend at the Screen Actors Guild Awards and then, ultimately: the Oscar.  Interesting to note his lawyer advised him not to take the part, I assume thinking it wasn’t high enough on a scale of exposure.

    And yet here we are.

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  • T Bone, Bridges and Bingham on Nashville radio

    Fox Searchlight tweeted a link to this interview earlier today. The usual talking points but with the film expanding a bit more this weekend I thought I’d pass it along: