Luke Grimes Needed This Advice From Ryan Bingham to Pursue Music

While Luke Grimes has now released two full-length albums, there was a moment when the actor’s foray into music was in serious question.

Luke Grimes Almost Quit His Music Career Before It Even Started

In a sit down with Rolling Stone‘s country extension, Grimes talked about how he had some reservations when it came to making the jump from acting to singing.

To Grimes, it’s not easy for an actor to get the respect they deserve when they step into the world of music as opposed to the flip side of a singer taking on an acting role.

He believes the problem lies in people’s perception of authenticity.

“Music, the goal is to tell the truth about yourself, and acting, the goal is to play pretend to be someone else and hide behind a character,” he explains.

“And so, if someone has already been honest, we give them leeway to go play pretend,” he continues.

“And if someone’s only played pretend, we have a hard time taking them seriously as someone being honest, right.”

In other words, many people don’t buy into an actor’s music because they question if it’s all a facade. This pushback is what almost kept Grimes from pursuing his passion for music.

Ryan Bingham Gave Luke Grimes the Advice He Needed to Make Music

During his time on Yellowstone, Grimes had experiences with a handful of artists who either made a cameo or took on a small role, like Lainey Wilson did in Season 5.

However, he worked side by side with Ryan Bingham for several seasons.

Prior to playing Walker on the hit Taylor Sheridan series, the singer had already built a steady career as a musician, having been active in music since 2007.

When Grimes expressed his concerns about being an actor making music, Bingham gave the perfect advice.

“He just said something really simple that was super helpful,” Grimes recounts. “He was like, ‘Hey man, if you got good songs.'”

“And I was like, that’s it. Hold onto that. Just keep that close because that’s it,” he adds.