// ARTICLES
One week from tonight, Tyler Hilton (of TV?s ?One Tree Hill? and the just-released Johnny Cash bio-movie ?Walk The Line?) will headline the Winter Band Bash at the Aberdeen High School Auditorium.
Hilton?s first appearance in Aberdeen over the summer didn?t draw the crowd organizer Ben Green and his fellow AHS seniors were hoping for, costing the high school?s student activities fund a bundle ? so Hilton agreed to come back and do the winter show for free.
?I felt bad because the last time I came up there, the school paid a whole bunch of money and didn?t make their money back,? Hilton said Friday from Palm Springs, Calif., where he is taking a break before heading out on the road again. ?So I said I?d do this one free. It?s for a good cause, anyway.?
?After the (summer) show, on the way to the airport, we were talking about how he said he liked the area, and the people who came out were really supportive, and he offered to come back and do maybe our homecoming as a surprise appearance kind of thing,? said Green, who organized and promoted the show as part of an ambitious senior project. ?That didn?t work out, but we worked it out with his schedule so he could come back now.
?All the money we raise from this concert is going to our ASB fund, which is low right now and really needs the help.?
The show also features singer-songwriter Sydney Rees, who graduated from Aberdeen High in 2004, John Allred, and rockers 7 Sharp 9.
Hilton acknowledges that his TV and movie roles are what draw the teenage crowds these days ? and he has opened a tour for pop singer Hillary Duff. But the 21-year-old said acting is only a very small part of what he does, and he pointed out that he?s also toured with Blues Traveler and the Neville Brothers.
?I try to make every tour different from the last one, so touring doesn?t get stale for me,? Hilton said. ?With Hillary Duff, I had never done a pop tour, and I had never done a tour of arenas, either. I didn?t look for it to necessarily be all that successful, it was just to sort of change things up.?
As for acting, Hilton said, he?s not really looking for roles ? he?s just been lucky enough to be offered a couple of opportunities to have a good time in front of the camera.
?I just moved to L.A. after two years of being constantly on the road and not really having a place,? he said. ?The ?One Tree Hill? and the part in ?Walk The Line? were nice breaks, because I could take a few days off from touring, and go do something fun, and I wasn?t just hanging around somewhere being dormant. I don?t know if I?m that much of an actor. I just happened to have a good time with a really small part on that ?One Tree Hill,? and so they wrote the character a little broader. The time I spend acting accounts for maybe one or two percent of my year. But it?s been great, a nice fun break from touring.?
Hilton adds that the special significance of Aberdeen ? the birthplace of Kurt Cobain and Nirvana ? in the history of rock music isn?t a factor in his deciding to return.
?It?s cool that Kurt Cobain was from there, but I didn?t really know about that until the last time I was there, Hilton said. ?The special part for me is that there?s a high school up there that wants to hear me sing.?
Winter Band Bash begins next Saturday at the Aberdeen High Auditorium with doors opening at 4 p.m. and music starting at 5. Tickets are $20 for seating in the first two rows, or $10 general admission (all of the $30 on-stage seating tickets are already sold out), and are available at Rosevears Music, Harbor Drug and the Aberdeen High School office. More information is available at 538-2052.
