Roger mcguinn thousand oaks9/28/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() The Byrds are widely recognized as pioneers of the folk rock genre. I don’t know what was the catalyst, but it was a different era. It was a very creative time, in a relatively small area of Southern California. I always considered myself very lucky and very blessed to have been able to work with such fine artists. You had to have some talent to get into the front door, and of course to know someone that would have contacts within the companies or recording studios or the folk clubs. It was a relatively new business, the record business. What was it like for a young musician at that time? What do you think was going on in the area that was so inspirational for so many of these musicians? You were one among several Southern California musicians that would go on to become legends - Bernie Leadon, David Crosby, Gram Parsons, Jackson Browne, just to name a few. I bought my first guitar at the age of 15, and at age 16 the mandolin entered my life, after hearing a record by Mike Seeger. How old were you when you got first guitar? At what point did you start exploring other instruments, like the mandolin? But my great grandfather Charles Charlton did play in the Los Angeles Shriner Band. No one else in my immediate family took an active role in playing music. And later, bluegrass musicians Bill Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs and the Stanley Brothers.ĭid other members of your family play music? When I first started learning to play, I listened to folk artists Pete Seeger, Lead Belly and the Weavers. Who were some of your favorite bands and musicians when you first started getting into music? It was honest music and it opened a part of the culture many of us weren’t aware of. Our family lived in North San Diego County when I was growing up, and I always loved watching the live country music shows out of Los Angeles on Saturday nights: Town Hall Party, Spade Cooley Show, Cal’s Corral. I was drawn to other forms of music as well. From Joe Turner and T-Bone Walker to Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Elvis Presley. Initially I was totally immersed in early rock and roll. What was it about country and folk music that spoke to you? When I think of the music of the 1950s, I think of Elvis and Chuck Berry.īut you were drawn more to the country side of things. The ever-thoughtful musician discussed his earliest influences, creating the unique sound of the Byrds, his relationship with the late, great Tom Petty, living through the Thomas Fire and more. Hillman answered some questions for Ventana Monthly between wrapping up a weekend of live performances in Thousand Oaks and preparing for a tour that will take him to Louisiana and Texas in November. A native of San Diego County and a Ventura resident for over 40 years, Hillman has continued to write, play and record music, and most recently (in November 2020) released a critically acclaimed autobiography. His influence can be clearly seen in the music of bands such as the Eagles and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, although groups such as the Bangles and R.E.M. The sound deepened, evolved and refined through subsequent groups like the Flying Burrito Brothers (co-founded with Gram Parsons) and the Desert Rose Band (with Herb Pedersen and John Jorgenson). As a co-founder of the Byrds, he helped develop the distinctly Southern California sound that would become known as folk rock. ![]() The singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist - a master of guitar, bass and mandolin - has spent more than 60 years in the business, paving the way for other musicians along the way. Talking with Byrds co-founder, country rock legend and musicianĬhris Hillman is a legend in his own time. ![]()
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