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TYLER HILTON: At 22, he?s career-savvy but not career-cynical
Just 22, Tyler Hilton is making quite a name for himself as an actor-musician.
And although he shares the same last name with Paris, they?re not related.
Hilton had a recurring role as musician Chris Keller on the popular WB teen series ?One Tree Hill.?
He portrayed young Elvis Presley in the hit Johnny Cash biopic ?Walk the Line,? and is about to shoot his second feature role in Toronto.
He?s released two solo albums of original music, sung in a husky, heartfelt voice that fans of Gavin DeGraw and John Mayer could appreciate.
Touring in support of his latest CD, ?The Tracks of Tyler Hilton,? he will appear in concert April 28 at the Palace Theatre, as support act for Better Than Ezra.
Phoning from a friend?s house in the Poconos, Hilton comes across as genuinely humble and thankful, career-savvy but not career-cynical.
Is it hard to be taken seriously as a musician when your picture is all over the teen magazines?
I was 18 when I got signed, and I didn?t really want to go the teen route. I felt like some people would get turned off. But being on ?One Tree Hill,? a lot of the teen audience got on board. And I released this wonderfully happy, poppy album that you can only make when you?re very young. I guess I don?t think you can steer it so much. You put the record out there and let it find its way.
Tell me about the set you?ll be playing here in Canton. Will you have a band?
I?m going to do it solo. Right now I?m on tour with the Pat McGee Band and Stephen Kellogg and they?re doing a stripped-down thing, so I?ll be going out solo. My show is kind of geared toward a rootsy thing.
Which is the most important thing for you, acting or music?
The main focus is my music. It?s what I started making money doing at coffeehouses when I was 15 and 16. But even when I was playing music, I was always in the plays at high school. I had so much fun doing that. It was a fun stretch, plus I think it?s awful to get too much into a niche creatively. Plus being around actors, there?s so much drama and energy and charisma and sexual tension.
I thought you were excellent in ?Walk the Line.? Elvis Presley ? what a role to play!
When I was a little kid I thought young Elvis was the be-all and end-all. I even used to dress up as him. Then I got this part and I couldn?t believe it. I chickened out at first. I was like, ?I don?t want to screw this up. Everybody will be looking to see who?s playing Elvis.? I was so nervous. But the clincher for me was when I saw Joaquin Phoenix (who played Johnny Cash) in a bar and I went up to him and told him I?d tried out for the movie and he said, ?Wait, you?re Tyler Hilton! I saw your audition tape. We?re going to have so much fun hanging out in Memphis and playing lots of music!?
The movie turned out to be amazing.
What a relief it came out as great as it did. It was so validating after all the nerves.
You really nailed those Elvis Sun session songs.
(Music producer) T-Bone Burnett put together all these killer musicians and we performed the songs live using those old Blue Ribbon mikes. It was so hip, a dream come true.
I?ve got to ask this. Do a lot of people think you?re Paris Hilton?s brother?
I got that a lot for a while, but not so much the last six months. My whole family has been getting that since the Hilton hotels ever came into conception. Paris wanted to meet me and I think she?s cool and very nice.
Are you done with ?One Tree Hill??
I had so much fun with that and I kept doing it on and off when I could. But it films in Wilmington (North Carolina), so I left it a while ago to stay in L.A. and work on my album a bit.
Any other acting projects on the horizon?
I came across this movie that I think is fantastic! I?m doing it in Toronto in a month. It?s called ?Charlie Bartlett.? It?s about this great kid who comes to school and decid es to make friends by opening a psychiatrist?s office in the boys? bathroom and he?s prescribing pills based on their problems. I play this character called Murphy, who?s a really odd choice for me because he?s a drug dealer who beats up anybody he can and has his friend film it. It?s going to be such an adventure. (Chuckles)
What was your big break into show business?
Hmmm. There's been so many and Have I broken yet? is a question also. My first big one was getting discovered at an open-mike night when I was 14 or 15 and the coffeehouse owner asked me if I?d like to play my own show there. Maverick (Records) signing me was a very big break. Then "One Tree Hill" and "Walk the Line." I've had two singles on the radio. ?Charlie Bartlett? might be another. They're all different chapters in the story. I'll be doing this until I'm 70.
To sample music from Tyler Hilton's latest CD, go to www.cantonrep.com, hit the Entertainment button and then hit Local Music.
