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This album is outstanding, the best alt-country album I've ever heard. I don't like country, but alt-country intrigues me. There are slow folky songs (him, his guitar, and minimal backing instrumetns) on here - but he does them to near perfection. When they sing in a rock-n-roll voice with a rock-n-roll attitude and some string instruments besides a guitar, I'll usually give it a listen. I'm certainly glad I did with Ryan Bingham. He's also got great rockers, too. I give it 4.5 stars.
Some great tunes on this one. A real Old School rocked up country folk ditty.
Occasionally he sings in road-tested Spanish, and there's a southwestern desert flavor to these tunes that make them memorable. "Mescalito" is chock-full of crystal-clear acoustic-based songs that are enhanced by singer/songwriter Ryan Bingham's dusky, whisky-soaked voice and already tired soul that give the album amazing weight. Though "Mescalito" is outstanding from top to bottom, highlights include the rollicking "Bread and Water," the beautifully morose "Don't Wait for Me," the impossibly catchy "Ghost of Travelin' Jones," the fun-rocking "Take it Easy Mama," the heartfelt "Long Way from Georgia" and "Sunrise." Throughout the duration of "Mescalito," there's a sense that these hot-weather songs would sound fantastic played live, due to a band that really gels and seems to like each other ("Ryan Bingham and his living dead horses," as they're labeled in the album sleeve). Loneliness, restlessness, good times, weariness and wading through life's tough times are all themes. Bingham also sings about cocaine, hippies, cowboys, beautiful ladies and how the big city of Houston makes him blue. Bingham may not be reinventing the wheel (what artist does these days), but this is real country music, not glossy major-label Nashville fluff. A sensitive Texas soul, Bingham radiates earthiness, honesty and the good type of grit that truly resonates in his songs and persona.
Very happy with the pins and they stay cleaner than wood. My basket snaps into my clothes basket so they are always together.
Saw Bingham on PBS Austin City Limits.Better live than on CD but still interesting to an old rock and roll guy.
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