You never forget the first time you hear Ryan Bingham. Maybe it was the scorched heartbreak of “The Weary Kind,” that slow-burning Oscar winner that haunted “Crazy Heart” like cigarette smoke on denim. Or maybe it was later, watching him as Walker, the guitar-slinging ranch hand on “Yellowstone,” singing from some bruised place that felt older than the show itself. But wherever you met him — on a dusty radio dial, flickering across your flatscreen, or late night on a bar jukebox — Bingham’s voice has always sounded like it lived a thousand miles before the microphone ever found it.
And now he’s coming home.
Earlier this week, Billy Bob’s Texas — the world’s largest honky tonk and one of Fort Worth’s most hallowed dancehalls — announced that Ryan Bingham & The Texas Gentlemen will headline a one-night-only show on Thursday, December 11. The Stockyards will rumble. The boots will be loud. The beer will be cold. And tickets? They’re already on sale.
This isn’t just a concert. It’s a full-circle moment.
Bingham is no stranger to Billy Bob’s. In fact, he made history there. Back in January 2014, he broke the venue’s long-standing beer sales record — moving 16,800 bottles in a single night and dethroning Hank Williams Jr., who had held the title since 1986. More recently, Bingham played two back-to-back shows at Billy Bob’s in February 2023, backed by none other than The Texas Gentlemen. So this December’s return isn’t just another date — it’s a homecoming with a storied past.
And that story goes way back.
Before the Oscar. Before the Grammy. Before the streaming stardom that came with Taylor Sheridan’s modern Western saga, Bingham was a rodeo kid from the Texas borderlands, sleeping in his truck, scraping through small-town gigs, and playing borrowed guitars with strings older than some of the bars he was playing in. He learned to play from a mariachi neighbor. He learned to survive by listening.
That sound — ragged, honest, somewhere between Steve Earle and Bob Dylan hitchhiking through a dust storm — found its first real foothold on 2007’s Mescalito, produced by former Black Crowes guitarist Marc Ford. Critics compared him to the ghosts of outlaw country past. Rolling Stone said he sounded like “Steve Earle’s dad.” But the songs told a deeper story: of border towns and broken hearts, of youth lost and found again on barstools and backroads.
By the time Bingham wrote “The Weary Kind” with T Bone Burnett, the world caught up. The song anchored “Crazy Heart,” won him an Academy Award and a Golden Globe, and nudged Jeff Bridges to his own Best Actor win. But instead of coasting into country radio stardom, Bingham doubled down on the rawness. Albums like Fear, Saturday Night, and American Love Song dug deeper, darker. He walked a musical path that didn’t care for trends — only truth.
It makes perfect sense that his return to Fort Worth would come at Billy Bob’s — a venue that’s as much church as it is stage. And he’s not coming alone. He’ll be backed by The Texas Gentlemen, a crew of studio pros and cosmic cowboys who’ve played with everyone from Leon Bridges to Paul Cauthen. Together, they’ll turn the honky tonk into something more like a roadhouse cathedral.
If you’ve seen him live, you know: Bingham doesn’t play shows. He testifies. He bleeds for the song, smiles through the pain, and leaves it all on the stage.
And if you haven’t?
December 11 is your chance.
Ryan Bingham & The Texas Gentlemen
- Billy Bob’s Texas, 2520 Rodeo Plaza, Fort Worth, TX
- Thursday, December 11
- Tickets on sale via billybobstexas.com