The (Latest) Next Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen is about as iconic an artist you can get. I think even if some people don't care for his music they have to respect him. I've written before about how I was in that group until I started playing guitar and writing songs of my own. It was at that point that the music of artists like Springsteen and Neil Young really began to speak to me.

You always hear about the new Springsteen. I've written about a couple of those bands, like The Gaslight Anthem and Titus Andronicus. The fellow who best reflects Springsteen through a modern prism is a song-writer by the name of Ryan Bingham.

I first heard of him as the fellow behind the songs in the great Jeff Bridges movie Crazy Heart. In it Bridges plays an old outlaw country singer who gets a chance to redeem himself. The music is classic alt-country in the Kris Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings vibe. The movie is great and the music is one of the catalysts. He deservedly won an Academy Award for "The Weary Kind."

After the movie came out I bought Ryan's current-at-the-time record Junky Star. I thought it was pretty good but it didn't really stay with me. His 2012 record, Tomorrowland, has. And it's that record where the Springsteen vibe comes to me. Especially Bruce's The Ghost Of Tom Joad record.

Here's a tune off Tomorrowland called "Flower Bomb." It's not the best song off the record but it's a good song and it serves a point.

The rest of the record has a rockier and grittier sonic-texture, but the vibe from this clip flows throughout. The thing about Springsteen is that he makes you really feel the music and lyrics. I listened to Tom Joad again today and was struck by the power of it; songs like "Highway 29" and "Youngstown" and "The Line" have a power to them. It's a real master flexing his muscle. It's a record that makes you stop and listen. And for me I really appreciate the depth and strength of the song-writing.

Listening to Ryan Bingham, you can feel that kind of power. The song titles alone show that Ryan is up to something a bit more: "Rising of the Ghetto," "No Help From God," "The Road I'm On." Where Bruce is telling other people's stories Ryan is still telling stories that feel, to me at least, more from inside himself. To me this is the development of an artist. He's not a master but he's a damn good apprentice and he's well on his way. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a Tom Joad or a Nebraska inside Ryan Bingham waiting to bust out, waiting for the right songs to come along and for the spark to strike them. He's definitely a talent to keep tabs on. I recommend checking him out. Tomorrowland is pretty much guaranteed a spot on my year end favorite list.