Profiling acts breaking at radio and/or retail and entering Billboard’s charts.
A whirlwind of recent television exposure swirls rumpled singer/songwriter Tyler Hilton onto the Billboard charts. His Maverick debut, “The Tracks Of,” thrusts Hilton into the spotlight alongside Gavin DeGraw as the WB network’s latest musical talent.
Hilton, who joined the cast of the WB teen drama “One Tree Hill” last year as sardonic coffeehouse crooner Chris Keller, bowed on Billboard’s Top Heatseekers chart last week No. 47 with his first album and No. 72 on the Pop 100 with his debut single, “When It Comes.”
It could be just a matter of time before he catches up to DeGraw, who wrote and performed the “One Tree Hill” theme song, “I Don’t Want To Be,” which peaked at No. 10 on Billboard’s Hot 100.
Hilton and costar Bethany Joy Lenz will join the Wreckers for a 25-city North American “One Tree Hill” tour that starts Feb. 28 in Vancouver. The jaunt will also feature DeGraw on select dates.
Lenz and Hilton also scored a No. 89 spot on last week’s Pop 100 chart with the duet “When the Stars Go Blue.”
Hilton got his start on the Southern California open-mic circuit before signing with Maverick in 2003. The 20-year-old’s 11-track album is a searching, Americana-influenced account of growing up and appeals to the teen set with tracks like “When It Comes,” an autobiographical high school memory of mulling over an identity.
The album is reminiscent of Atlantic artist Joe Firstman, whose “War of Women” debuted in 2003. Firstman producer Rick Parker was on also on hand for “The Tracks Of” alongside Wallflowers producer Paul Fox, Meredith Brooks’ Geza X and Maverick A&R exec Scott Austin.
The Palm Springs, Calif., native can also be found on Warner Bros.’ “One Tree Hill” soundtrack, which debuted at No. 51 on The Billboard 200 last week and has sold 31,000 U.S. copies to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The set also features DeGraw, Story of the Year, Travis and Keane.
Aside from major television exposure, which has also included an episode of NBC’s “American Dreams,” Hilton prepped for his label debut by logging extensive touring miles. He’s recently shared stages with the likes of Firstman, Michelle Branch, Rooney, Shelby Lynne, the Neville Brothers and Blues Traveler.
On the acting front, Hilton will portray Elvis Presley in Fox Searchlight’s upcoming Johnny Cash biopic, “Walk the Line,” which will star Joaquin Phoenix as Cash, Reese Witherspoon as his wife, June Carter Cash, and recording artist Shelby Lynne as Cash’s mother.
Links:
Artist site: www.tylerhilton.com
Label site: www.maverick.com
Series site: www.thewb.com/onetreehill
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