Tyler Hilton was on a cross-country car trip with his family when his mother played Elvis Presley music to prepare for a trip to Graceland.
Hilton immediately fell in love with what he heard.
“I loved his music,” said Hilton, who later went on to star as Chris Keller on “One Tree Hill.”
“I loved the house. I loved his style. I loved his image. There was just something about it that spoke to me. I was like that from a kid. I started combing my hair like that. I thought he was the coolest person I had ever seen.
“I was an Elvis guy forever. For gifts, I received Elvis books or Elvis accoutrement. I just collected them. That got me into blues, country and gospel and it led me to play guitar.”
When he hit his teenage years, he thought it was “dorky” to pretend he was someone else, so he dropped it.
It resurfaced, though, in 2005 when he played a young Presley in the Reese Witherspoon/Joaquin Phoenix film “Walk the Line.”
On Friday, Feb. 17, Hilton will celebrate Presley’s records from Sun Studio with The Hot Club of Cowtown at the Fox Tucson Theatre.
“We’re just doing a celebration of Elvis’ music,” he said. “It’s going to be a bunch of Elvis songs from Sun Records done really authentically — no drums or anything; stand-up bass, vocals and guitars. I love this kind of music but it’s hard to find.
“I’d always been a fan of Hot Club. I’ve seen them several times and been to a workshop of theirs. When we ended up on the same agency, I was like, ‘Oh man, I’m a huge fan of Hot Club. I’d love to get hooked up with them and just say hi and tell them how much I’m into them.’”
The two met and decided it would be fun to do something musically together.
“For me, it was kind of a big deal,” he said. “We settled on doing Elvis stuff and they are so good at that era of music. I flew down to Austin and we started rehearsing. We needed to find a place to do this.”
However, they were talking about it right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Finally, they played their first show together at The Ark in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Jan. 13.
“I’m still in a little bit of disbelief that people are going to come see us tonight because it just seems too good to be true,” he said. “It’s going to be fun.”
The show was especially poignant as Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie, died the night before, Jan. 12.
“We were just texting about it last night,” added Hilton, a California native who lives in London, Ontario, Canada, now with his wife, director Megan Park, and their daughter. “It’s an eerie, eerie, sad thing.”
He acknowledges that some of his fans may be unfamiliar with Elvis, but he hopes some of them attend the gigs to learn more about his hero. After all, it’s an educational process for him, too.
“As a kid, I would sing Elvis at karaoke all the time,” he said.
“That was my thing. So, getting to do ‘Walk the Line,’ it was a huge step up from karaoke. Getting to do this club tour, it’s a huge step up. You’re in the music. You’re not just singing it. You’re in it. This is like college for me. I’m learning a ton playing with these guys. They’re way beyond me, musically.
“I just feel like I lucked out and I’m in a room full of people that I don’t belong in.”
The Hot Club of Cowtown and Tyler Hilton
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17
WHERE: Fox Tucson Theatre, 17 W. Congress Street, Tucson
COST: Tickets start at $27
INFO: foxtucson.com
