Singer and Yellowstone Actor Ryan Bingham in Dallas on Wednesday with New Bourbon

Ryan Bingham, the singer-songwriter and an actor on the series Yellowstone, is swinging through Dallas this week.

Bingham has had a rodeo-cowboy career, both metaphorically and not, that has spanned from Greenville Avenue to Paris and Hollywood. One of his first music gigs was in Dallas, as he told us in 2012; while attending Tarleton State in Stephenville — where he was part of the rodeo team (you didn't know colleges have rodeo teams? Sure they do.) — he played one of his first shows at Boar's Nest on Greenville Avenue.

After that, he spent some time working at Disney World Paris, where he played the role of a cowboy in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. All of the city's top critics raved that he was "un naturel." Don't search for that review, though; just trust us.

Bingham then focused on music and earned an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for his song "The Weary Kind," the theme song for the 2009 film Crazy Heart. His most recent album was 2019's American Love Song.

Perhaps his biggest gig yet is as a ranch hand on the series, Yellowstone.

This week he'll be back in Dallas, not for a gig, but to push his new label of booze, Bingham's Bourbon.

Bingham will be at the Spec's at 9500 N. Central Expressway from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 8. He'll meet fans, take photos and sign bottles of his recently launched bourbon, which is available for sale ($41.99). You must buy a bottle to qualify for the meet-and-greet experience.
The bourbon comes in two expressions, a mild-mannered 80-proof straight bourbon whiskey and a high-test black label that is 94-proof. The website says both are made with Texas-grown corn, barley and rye and are "crafted and personalized in small batches, from grain-to-glass, as a Certified Texas Whiskey." To achieve that last distinction, the product must be produced and distilled in Texas. (Sometimes producers buy whiskey from other places, put it in a barrel in Texas, then bottle it and call it "Texas-made." This label guards against smoke and mirrors.)

Without a bottle, or two, of our own to taste, we had to do some digging to see if bourbon fans should buy a bottle or if it's best left to the Bingham fans. We found Soln2Bourbon's YouTube page, where the two hosts tried each version.

As self-admitted bourbon snobs, they said that the lower proof original bottle is a great starter bourbon, adding it's "very sweet, a little smoky and has some character. Throw it over an ice cube, drop water in it, make a cocktail out of it. Excellent starter bourbon."

For the black bourbon (94% proof) they offered "It's not too bad," but note that the overwhelming flavor is sweet corn, with a touch more vanilla and spiciness versus the original.

The press release says the bourbon is aged in "American white oak barrels and matured under the state's searing heat and high humidity." Aren't we all?

This brings us to an interesting note on the website that the bourbon snobs talk about: the bourbon is enhanced with Persedo C.R.A.F.T.™, which is a technology used to smooth out liquors much like a longer spell in barrels would. We're getting in the weeds here, and maybe you just want to get a buzz on with booze from a cool singer-songwriter who has some Dallas connections, and that's great. But for the enthusiasts, just a note.

In terms of celebrities getting into the liquor business, which so many do — even those like The Rock who must certainly have more money than he'll ever know what to do with — SoIn2Bourbon's advice here is not to "prejudge but approach with caution."

Agreed. On Wednesday, you can go meet Bingham, get a signed bottle and enjoy a nice drink. Cheers.

Bingham's Bourbon Bottle Signing and Meet 'N' Greet, Spec's, 9500 N. Central Expressway. Wednesday, Nov. 8, 6–8 p.m.