It was simple — a man, a microphone and an acoustic guitar. And simple is exactly how artist and actor Tyler Hilton kept his acoustic show at Tennessee Tech’s Backdoor Playhouse on Thursday night.
Hilton is best known for his role as the bad boy musician Chris Keller on the hit television show “One Tree Hill.” He has also played Elvis in “Walk The Line” and Taylor Swift’s secret crush in her music video for “Teardrops on my Guitar.”
Though his resume includes a hodgepodge of acting credentials, Hilton came as a musician to play some of his new tunes, some old favorites and a few others mixed in.
In a laid-back manner, Hilton waltzed onto the stage with his guitar in hand. With a short intro, the folksy crooner dove into his acoustic set. He began the night with “Tore The Lines,” a family-tree themed Hilton classic, followed by “Kicking My Heels,” a downtrodden yet optimistic tune from his rock inspired album “Forget The Storm.”
But Hilton’s acoustic show, filled with impressive guitar picking and a set of raspy, powerful vocals, wasn’t the only tool he used for entertainment. Though it also served as a time-filler while tuning his guitar, Hilton entertained the crowd with stories, jokes and random comments.
A few songs in, Hilton payed homage to his roots by singing two songs he recorded and performed for “One Tree Hill.” He also elaborated on his time with the show and its lingering effect.
“I just kept going back, and I had the best time,” Hilton said. “And now I get to meet these ‘One Tree Hill’ fans all over the place — it’s crazy.”
In his strong, gruff voice, Hilton performed two “One Tree Hill” classics—the angsty love song “When The Stars Go Blue” and his ’80s love song cover turned “One Tree Hill” classic, “Missing You.”
But Hilton didn’t just have “One Tree Hill” throwbacks up his sleeve for Thursday night’s show. The folk singer released his latest album “Indian Summer” Tuesday. The album includes 13 stripped-down, acoustic tunes that exhibit country undertones. To celebrate his album release, Hilton played a few songs from the album: the hesitant goodbye love song “One More Song,” the folky, good time anthem “That Kind of Night” and the Bonnie and Clyde turned love song “Only Ones Left in the World.”
To accompany his low key concert style, Hilton also threw in a dramatic, brooding cover of “Stay” by Rihanna. In his usual vocally-powerful style, Hilton kept the same angst found in the pop star’s version, but somehow found a way to portray it in an honest way that branded the cover as his own.
Hilton soon quickened the tempo with an impromptu confession to the crowd about how he had to ask two of his friends for a ride from Nashville to Cookeville after a rental car mishap earlier in the day. To thank his friends, he invited them both on stage to assist him on a spontaneous cover of “Wagon Wheel,” which, to no surprise, had the entire room singing along as if they were enjoying an acoustic bonfire jam session.
To end Hilton’s show, the folk/country/whatever-he-feels-like-playing artist ended the night with the rock ‘n roll inspired, bad boy warning anthem, “Loaded Gun.”
Overall, the night included a truly talented artist with honest lyrics, brilliantly raw vocals and a knack for creating a cohesive acoustic show atmosphere.
