Tyler Hilton + INTERVIEW
April 28th, 2010, 12:06 PM
Posted by: Suzi Pratt
Categories: Concert Reviews, Interviews, Singer Songwriter, Special Features
To See Rating: 7.7/10
Just Curious Rating: 7/10
Two days ago, Tyler Hilton and his band were en route to Salt Lake City, the third stop on their spring tour, when closed roads prevented them from reaching the venue in time. Hilton was forced to cancel the show, but he made amends by Tweeting, “New plan Salt Lake City. We’re unstuck but still won’t make the show. So lets meet for breakfast and songs tomorrow…Come have breakfast with me at my hotel from 8-9am I’ll sing songs and say hey!” Talk about a creative way of turning a sticky situation into a sweet one, especially for his fans! Luckily, Seattle didn’t miss out on an amiable and easy-going Hilton, who made an appearance at El Corazon last night before a crowd of cheering, camera-wielding fans. Hilton was in town a part of his tour with The Spill Canvas, and they both appeared on a five-band bill for the evening, which began early at 7PM. Even though Hilton’s primary fan base is made up primarily of teenage girls, there were a fair number of males in the crowd, most of whom demonstrated their familiarity with Hilton’s guest role on One Tree Hill by yelling out his character’s name and making references to his former costars. The girls of course went crazy throughout the entire show as they gazed with admiration at the young man widely known for both his acting and musical talents. Read more about Hilton’s background in SSG’s preview.
It’s been several years since we’ve seen any new music material from Hilton, even though he’s been touring occasionally, having last stopped in Seattle ten months ago. When I sat down to chat with him, he explained the long hiatus as time he needed to put together a quality album. How much time, you might ask? Try three years of experimenting with musical sounds in both Los Angeles and Nashville; that’s how long it took Hilton to come up with the material that is on his recently released EP and his upcoming full-length album, and his Seattle fans made it clear that it was worth the wait. For his Seattle show, Hilton played relatively short set of his well-known hits including, “When It Comes,” as well as a cover of John Waite’s “Missing You,” and new tracks off of his EP. The crowd sang along, and was encouraged by Hilton to do so. As Hilton poured his soul into each song, he was also full of smiles and was obviously having as much fun as his audience was. More than once, Hilton showed his down-to-earth personality by joking with the crowd, and even pausing to take a photo of the crowd to post as his new Twitpic, telling everyone, “have your friends RT that!” As if that wasn’t enough to woo the already doe-eyed crowd, he went on to unveil a solution to his lack of time to make new music videos, by leading the audience in singing a line of one of his songs as his bassist made a video recording. Hilton’s plan is to execute this plan at each of his live shows on this tour, piecing the result together to incorporate his fans into his new music video.; it’s the ultimate and lasting form of audience participation! Undoubtedly, his fans now share his eagerness to see it completed.
Tyler Hilton wears a lot of hats in the entertainment industry, which can make it easy for someone to pigeonhole him into a single role. Although I thoroughly enjoyed his recorded albums, I was pleasantly blown away by Hilton’s live performance, which greatly surpassed anything I’d seen on YouTube. The next time Hilton’s in town, don’t miss him; you won’t be sorry. Until then, pick up his new EP Ladies and Gentleman, stay tuned for his upcoming album The Storms We Share. Also, I had the pleasure of catching up with Tyler Hilton before the show, and the content is available below. Check it out to find out his musical inspirations, favorite collaborations to date, and his wildest moments on tour.
http://www.seattleshowgal.com/tyler-hilton-interview/