Tyler Hilton

Tyler Hilton
Tyler Hilton at an Academy Awards afterparty.
Background information
Birth name	Tyler James Hilton
Also known as	TJ
Origin	Palm Springs, California, United States
Genres	Indie rock Folk
Occupation(s)	Singer, Actor
Instrument(s)	Vocals Acoustic guitar Piano keyboard
Years active	2000–present
Labels	Emblem Music Group
Website	www.tylerhilton.com

Tyler James Hilton (born November 22, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Hilton began his professional career in music in 2000. Rolling Stone Magazine compared him to his contemporary, Howie Day, while others have compared Hilton to Elton John, both vocally and instrumentally. Since the release of his debut album, Hilton has ventured into acting, guest starring on The WB's One Tree Hill as the talented but somewhat arrogant Chris Keller, and playing the role of Elvis Presley in the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line. He also appeared in Taylor Swift's music video "Teardrops on My Guitar".

Early years and personal life

Hilton was born in Palm Springs, California, the son of Kristy and Robert Hilton. Raised in Bermuda Dunes, California, Hilton grew up around music and began teaching himself Elvis Presley songs at an early age. After a brief stint in Northern California, his family moved back to the Palm Springs area, where he wrote his first song about a girl named Rhian with whom he attended school. Hilton's family made another move back to Coachella Valley for high school, where, at La Quinta High School, he started a band with some of his classmates. The band did not go anywhere, so Hilton began to enter open mic nights and went to local coffee shops to play his own music. He keeps his personal life rather private but he is dating Megan Park, his co-star in Charlie Bartlett. Tyler currently lives in LA and is working on his upcoming album due out in 2011.

Establishment

Hilton heard a local radio station was giving away Jonny Lang concert tickets and called into the Mark & Brian radio show on KLOS in Los Angeles at the age of 16. While on the phone, he sang an a cappella version of Jonny Lang’s song "Breakin' Me." Mark & Brian were so impressed with Hilton's performance that they gave him a spot at the station's Christmas concert. Word of Hilton caught the ear of Maverick Records, who signed him up with a record deal shortly after. Work started on Hilton's debut major label record, The Tracks of Tyler Hilton, and the songs were recorded quickly. The album was released on September 28, 2004. After the release of his album, Hilton joined the likes of Avril Lavigne, Jet, 50 Cent, and Josh Groban as an artist chosen by AOL Breaker for his star potential.

Acting

After his stint as Chris Keller on One Tree Hill, Hilton went on to appear in the Academy Award-winning film Walk the Line as a young version of Elvis Presley. For the part, Hilton was given the opportunity to cover two Elvis songs for the film, "Milk Cow Blues" and "That's All Right". Both songs are featured on the film's award-winning soundtrack.

Hilton appeared in the 2008 film Charlie Bartlett and played the love interest in country music artist Taylor Swift's music video for her song "Teardrops on My Guitar".

Additional television appearances

Hilton also performed in a Season 4 episode of My Super Sweet Sixteen (Amberly) during a young girl's sweet 16 party. He also appears on vh1's single ladies

Music

In addition to his own albums, Hilton has also appeared on each of the three different One Tree Hill soundtrack albums, some with formerly unreleased material that cannot be found anywhere else. Most notably, the cover of the Ryan Adams song "When the Stars Go Blue," which was arranged into a duet with One Tree Hill star Bethany Joy Galeotti for the show; also, a cover of "Missing You" by John Waite and the original track "You'll Ask For Me."

Hilton released a self-titled EP on April 6, 2004. All four songs were included on his first album The Tracks of Tyler Hilton released on September 28, 2004.

His EP, Better on Beachwood, is available on iTunes and features three songs.

His latest EP, Ladies & Gentlemen, is available on iTunes and features five songs.

Filmography

• Single Ladies (TV series)(2011)
• One Tree Hill as Chris Keller 16 episodes (2004–2007)(2012)
• Charlie Bartlett as Murphy Bivens (2007)
• Walk the Line as Elvis Presley (2005)
• American Dreams as Folk Singer 1 episode (2004)

Discography

Albums

Tyler Hilton (2000)

1. "Not Getting Your Name" 5:01
2. "Nora Marie" 6:15
3. "I Believe We Can Do It" 4:49
4. "Someone Like You" 4:05
5. "Up Late Again" 2:08
6. "It's Always the Same" 5:12
7. "Shy Girl" 4:29
8. "It's Only Love" 2:37
9. "If I'm Not Right" 3:52
10. "New York Can Wait" 3:07
11. "Last Promise" 3:53
12. "Don't Blame Me" 3:39
13. "Meant Something to Me" 2:50

The Tracks Of (2004)

1. When It Comes 3:45
2. The Letter Song 3:28
3. Glad 3:32
4. Rolling Home 4:24
5. Pink and Black 3:31
6. Our Time 3:45
7. Kiss On 3:22
8. Slide 3:40
9. You, My Love 6:19
10. Insomnia 4:21
11. Picture Perfect 3:07

The Storms We Share (Due out in 2011)

EPs

Better on Beachwood (2009)

1. "Tore the Line" 3:31
2. "Don't Forget All Your Clothes" 5:04
3. "I Believe in You (Acoustic)" 4:09

Ladies & Gentlemen (April 20, 2010)

1. "Sunset Blvd" 3:44
2. "I Believe in You" 4:12
3. "This World Will Turn Your Way" 4:06
4. "Keep On" 3:21
5. "June" 3:33

Music videos

Year	Title	Director
2004	"When It Comes"	Nick Spanos
		Adam Pollina
		Charles Mehling
2005	"How Love Should Be"	Tyler Hilton
2007	"You'll Ask for Me"	Brad Belanger
2010	"This World Will Turn Your Way"

External links

• Tyler Hilton's Official Site
• Tyler Hilton collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive