Mescalito

03/31/2008 6:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Rob O'Connor

Do you own a cowboy hat? Cowboy boots? Can you ride a horse? Done much hard travelin’? Been in trouble with the law? Gotten drunk in a jukejoint? Well, 25-year old Texan troubadour Ryan Bingham has, so you don’t have to. All you need do is put on his debut album and soak up the Texas dirt, sun and dobro that sweeps through these rustic country songs that are experienced beyond Bingham’s 25 years. His voice, too, is a rough-worn instrument of grit and determination that should be coming from someone who’s spent at least half his life working for Willie or Waylon. But then musicians live much of their lives in fast-forward. Too many pass on early and Bingham had better be careful. If he lives like he proclaims in “Bread And Water,” where he’s traveling the U.S. like a human U-haul, well, the miles catch up with you eventually, son, and we need to keep you around.