Featured Album

WXPN Radio

The premier guide for new and significant artists in rock, blues, and folk - including NPR-syndicated World Cafe ®

Listen Xpo

24/7 Musical discovery. A unique mix of emerging and heritage blues, rock, world, folk, and alt-country artists.

Singer Songwriter Radio

Featuring classics from heritage troubadours to new musicians and bands in the singer-songwriter tradition.

Folk Radio

Folk music radio streaming on the web; Americana, Roots Music, recordings, and stories from folk's best.
Listen Live

Ryan Bingham - Mescalito - Lost Highway

It's hard not to compare Ryan Bingham to some other Texas troubadour heavyweights. Hints of Joe Ely, Steve Earle and - most notably - Townes Van Zant permeate his Lost Highway records debut Mescalito. This is not to say that he hasn't already developed his own voice, but these songs are just as dusty and heartfelt as his predecessors.

Lost Highway's "other Ryan" is a great find, and should have a great future. His bio is worth reading in order to gain a deeper appreciation of his work here. From the first single "Southside Of Heaven" to "Bread & Water" to the remarkable "The Other Side", Bingham's songs find their way to your head and heart in true storyteller fashion. This 25-year-old's voice (decidedly raspy) and real-life struggles kind of instantly make you sit up and take notice.

We come across tons and tons of new songwriters here, but few pack the emotional wallop of this kid. He's the kind of artist that will undoubtedly attract a rapid cult following, but we think that his talents may enable his work to resonate beyond the chosen few.

Written by Dan Reed

Featured Album of the Week January 7, 2008 | CD of the Month - March, 2008
More in this category: « Joe Jackson - Rain - Rykodisc

Help Support WXPN

The Swollen Fox is celebrating its 3-year anniversary at PhilaMOCA on 7/11

The Swollen Fox has announced a special 3-year anniversary concert at PhilaMOCA on July 11th with TJ Kong & the Atomic Bomb, Swift...Read More

Watch Tin Bird Choir perform WXPN’s lunchtime buskers’ series at The Porch at 30th Street...

The Chester County-based folk group Tin Bird Choir performed in a stripped down two-piece configuration for this weeks’...Read More

Contest: Win a pair of tickets to see Patty Griffin at The Kimmel Center on June 6th

Grammy-winning and critically revered American folk performer Patty Griffin makes a Philadelphia appearance next month, headlining...Read More

Listen to Grande Marshall’s Daytrotter session

This tasty new set tripped down the Daytrotter wire today; backed by a DJ and a handy cache of moody, evocative beats, up-and-coming...Read More

Listen to a new Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros song, “Better Days” (playing XPoNential Music Festival in...

Photo by Joseph Schell Photography https://www.facebook.com/pages/Joseph-Schell-Photography/106691849363906 Edward Sharpe and the...Read More