// ARTICLES
Tyler Hilton turning heads, grabbing headlinesBy Chrissie Balding
iHigh.com
Sep 29, 2004 -
Tyler Hilton has just discovered one of the perks of his newfound fame. The 20-year-old singer songwriter relates how he met one of the notorious sisters who share his last name, Paris Hilton. ?My whole family?s grown up hearing that, if we?re related to the Hilton chain. I get asked that a lot. ? She was introducing me to someone, and it was just so funny to hear her say, ?Oh, this is Tyler Hilton, and we?re not even related.? I was so glad to hear her say that ?cause like yeah, now her family has to acknowledge our Hiltons over here.?
Hilton, whose first studio album is due out Tuesday, had better get used to the recognition. Between recording The Tracks Of (Review) and touring with the Rock the Vote tour, the Palm Springs native has been busy filming Walk The Line, the Johnny Cash biopic starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon slated to hit theaters next spring, and is sure to be melting hearts with his upcoming reoccurring guest appearance on The WB?s ?One Tree Hill?.
That may seem like a lot for your average 20-year-old to have under his belt, but Hilton is far from average. At 18, he had recorded an independent album and headed to Europe to clear his head, requesting that no one contact him regarding the album or the record companies that he had been courting. He returned home to some news that would change his life.
?When I got back, my dad picked me up from the airport and I was leaving for college in a couple weeks, and that?s when he told me that I got signed with Maverick. It was overwhelming in that my whole life was changing. What I had planned to do was something very, very different than what ended up happening.?
Now a seasoned veteran at 20, Hilton has shared the stage with everyone from The Neville Brothers to Shelby Lynne to Michelle Branch. He lists being in a different town, playing shows every night and the perpetual party atmosphere of touring among the best parts of being on the road. ?I just love the lifestyle; it just feels comfortable. It feels like I hit my rhythm when I?m on the road.?
Hilton was surrounded by music from an early age, with a songwriting father and countless siblings and cousins performing. His earliest musical memory? ?I used to have an old karaoke machine when I was a kid. At my grandma?s house, we would get up on the little stoop on that fireplace, and we?d get up there and we?d sing songs. The earliest one I can remember is me singing Vanilla Ice. Oh yes, I knew every word.?
By the time he was thirteen, Hilton was writing songs because ?it seemed like the natural thing to do?. He started a band in middle school, and, though the trio spent most of their time debating a name, they did manage to write and record one song. The band inevitably broke up when the members started attending different school, marking the beginning of Hilton?s solo career. However, Hilton?s focus during his teens was not solely on his music. During his high school years, he tried out for nearly every play that his school?s theater department put on, and even performed on street corners with an improvisational group. All of that hard work is finally starting to pay off; after a cameo on ?American Dreams? earlier this year, Hilton landed the role as his musical idol, Elvis Presley, in Walk the Line. In a way, his acting career is mirroring that of the King?s, as he will be performing his own songs on his upcoming six-episode stint on ?One Tree Hill?. So what?s next for this young artist on the verge? ?I hope to just keep touring and touring and touring and touring, and maybe some TV or movie stuff in between. If I?ve got any kind of break between my first and second records, I?d love to get back into theater.?
