Chris Hillman featuring Herb Pedersen April 13, 2007

Friday, April 13
8:00 PM

Advance discount tickets: $20.00
Day of Show: $23.00

Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen played together in the Desert Rose Band, while the former, of course, was a key figure in the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers. Here, the two country-rock pioneers explore the back roads of American folk with a collection of songs that reflect the depth and vitality of their skills. Beneath the backdrop of soaring vocal harmonies (Pedersen's tenor has graced albums by Vince Gill, Johnny Rivers and Linda Rondstadt), instrumental sides of the two players emerge. Hillman's excellent guitar and mandolin stylings blend beautifully with the hillbilly flavors provided by Pedersen's fiery banjo picking as the two roam through everything from honky-tonk shuffles and dance-hall waltzes to slammin' road house grooves that sound like the Burrito Bros. 2002. Backed by killer band that includes Larry Park and Jay Dee Maness respectively on lead and pedal-steel guitars, the Hillman/Pedersen team take us on a journey of the coolest vistas in country music. A modern album that has "classic" written all over it! Hillman and Pedersen met in 1963 at the Troubadour, the legendary L.A. club, when they were aspiring 18- year-old folk and bluegrass musicians. Hillman became a founding member of the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers and went on to join Stephen Stills in Manassas.. After 40 years together, their harmony is so tight that it's almost as if they were singing in one clear, tenor voice.

Any decent list of rock 'n' roll's unsung heroes had better contain Chris Hillman. There's simply no room for negotiation. A charter member of the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers, along with stellar, lower magnitude outfits such as Manassas (with Stephen Stills), Souther- Hillman-Furay, McGuinn-Clark-Hiliman and the Desert Rose Band, the native Southern Californian has been around the block and back.

This is where another unjustly obscure singer 'n' picker of distinction enters the picture. Herb Pedersen, then a teenaged member of another fledgling bluegrass unit, the Pine Valley Boys, met an equally wet-behind-the-ears Hillman on hoot night at L.A.'s Troubadour in 1963. The pair forged a musical bond and friendship that thrives to this day. While Hillman blazed his trail across the frontier of country rock, Pedersen established himself as a versatile sideman (guitar, dobro, banjo, etc.) and harmony singer nonpareil with Linda Ronstadt, Vince Gill, David Grisman, James Taylor and countless others. Pedersen's dance card also lists a full-time gig in the '70s with the Burrito-flavored Dillards, and current service with the Laurel Canyon Ramblers, arguably California's finest contemporary bluegrass act. In the 1980s, he and Hillman hooked up in the Desert Rose Band and cranked out a string of mainstream country hits.

The old amigos recently connected again to record Way Out West (Back Porch), a rollicking collection of California-style country and Appalachian breakdowns.

Official Website: http://kentstage.org/april.html#hillman