Lone Star Music financed his first album "Dead Horses" in 2006. After its success, Bingham was signed to Lost Highway Records. He then made his major label debut with "Mescalito" on October 2, 2007, which was produced by former Black Crowes guitarist Marc Ford. The album received mainly positive reviews. While some critics have claimed Bingham's songwriting is cliched, others laud his musical talents. Texas Music Magazine has opined that "Bingham talks and sings with a whiskey-and-cigarette throat that screams hard living. Hard in a way that can make a 25-year-old sound like a 50-year-old Tom Waits."
Bingham's songwriting depths are not mere fabrications. His creative expressions are likely derived partially from a knockabout life on the bull-riding rodeo circuit for several years (he began bullriding in his late teens). A life of semi-permanence was already the norm to a young man who grew up in a fractured family that moved around often, from Hobbs to Spring and Stephenville, Texas and a multitude of other dusty small towns in the southwest
Bingham has appeared as a guest on Bob Harris's Country Show on the BBC's Radio 2. Daryl Easlea, writing for the BBC's folk and country review, said "Bingham will be one of the names to drop in 2008, with an album that sounds as if it's been unearthed from 1972."
Rolling Stone magazine gave Mescalito three out of five stars and wrote that Bingham "earns his sepia-toned album cover with a dusty wood-and-steel sound, and despite being twenty-five, sings like Steve Earle's dad."
Bingham's band mates, The Dead Horses, are currently (2009) Matthew Smith (drums), Corby Schaub (guitar and mandolin) and Elijah Ford (bass). The bass player on "Mescalito" was Jeb Venable. They appeared with the Drive-by Truckers in October 2007.
The first single from Mescalito, entitled "Southside of Heaven," was released on November 30, 2007. The next single was entitled "Bread and Water."
On April 11, Bingham performed on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He then appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on May 23rd, 2008. His song "Southside of Heaven" was featured in the ER episode "The Family Man".
On June 2, 2009, Ryan Bingham and The Dead Horses released their third album titled Roadhouse Sun via Lost Highway Records. It was once again produced by Marc Ford. Bingham and his band are currently on tour in support of the album already with dates in the south, midwest, and west coast confirmed for Spring of 2009. With more dates soon to be confirmed for Summer and Fall of this year.
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