Ryan Bingham is pretty much the Josh Kerr of country music... With youth, enthusiasm, a bit of craziness (as a former bull rider), and a whole heap of talent Bingham has catapulted himself into the lime light of the music and, as of recent, Hollywood scene.  Bingham has been having quite the impressive winning streak with a Golden Globe and now an Oscar to his name for Best Original Song, "The Weary Kind (Theme frome Crazy Heart)".  The modest musician stopped by the Rusty Surfboards Factory last week for a one on one shaping lesson with Rusty and he took to shaping quite naturally. He is obviously of the artistic breed and understands how to create something custom to fit a certain situation, much like how he collaborated with Crazy Heart Producer and Co-writer, T Bone Burnett, to design the perfect song to fit the mood and vision of the film...

Bingham arrived at the Rusty Surfboards Factory, said his hellos, and wasted no time hopping into the shaping bay for some hands on training with Rusty.  Not even five minutes had passed when Rusty exclaimed, covered by shaping dust and muffled by his mask, "You've gotta check this out! He's taking over in here!"  The singer was quick to exchange his guitar for a planer and was elbow deep in foam, making swift passes across the blank with the confidence of a veteran.  As an appreciator of the good old days Bingham decided to shape his board the old fashioned way, using templates and a hand saw to cut the blank.  Laid back tunes from Rusty's iPod echoed through the shaping bay, but were occasionally drowned out by the sound of the planer. Step by step Bingham crafted his dream board under the guidance of Rusty.  When it was all said and done a beautiful custom round tail shortboard lay in the racks and both Rusty and Ryan sat back, masks around their necks, and eye balled their work, grinning from ear to ear.  I couldn't tell who was more stoked, Rusty or Ryan.

Text and Photos: Brody