This World Will Turn Your Way

In October of 2004, my mom and I were deeply concerned for the well being of all the characters on the show One Tree Hill. We were rooting Lucas and Peyton (or Brooke, I can't remember), we wanted to punch the daylights out of Dan, and just loved Keith.

But something I hadn't expected, was to find an artist that I fell in love with so fast. Chris Keller was definitely a character you loved to hate. He was kind of a jerk and really, REALLY cocky, but there was something about his music, that made me fall head over heels.




After I heard him sing (seriously, after I heard him sing his FIRST SONG on the show) I knew I had to have his CD. I begged and begged my mom for his CD, but it was still kind of non-existent at the time, so I took what I could get. Seeing this amazing musician on my TV screen every week (almost).

That Christmas, after scouring the internet, my mom finally found his CD. "Tracks Of:" quickly became one of my most listened to CDs of all times. I'd dare to say, even more than Britney Spears. I truly think Tyler's music is where my love of acoustic songs comes from. I had discovered Jason Mraz around the same time, so it was like the universe punched me in the face and said "Hey, Anna. You should like acoustic music." Who was I to argue with the universe?

Since then, Tyler Hilton's music has been one of the staples in my music collection. He's one of the musicians that when someone says they haven't heard of him I immediately pull out my Zune and make them listen to my favorite songs (which varies from "Pink and Black" to "The Letter Song" to "Sunset Blvd"). His songs remain a constant inspiration when it comes to my writing.

It wasn't until last year that I finally got to see a concert of his. Coming to Salt Lake has always proved to be a little bit of a challenge when it comes to Tyler Hilton. Not that he doesn't want to, I'm sure he does (I mean, who WOULDN'T want to come to Utah, right?). Things just kept preventing him from coming. From freak snowstorms at the end of April (though in Utah's defense, the snowstorm wasn't here), to postponed shows that never got rescheduled. Finally, in October of last year, Tyler Hilton, Josiah Lemming, and Dion Roy all came and performed at Mo's Grill. This will probably remain one of the best concert experiences I've ever had.

The show was amazing, sitting in the front table (my friend Helen and I were seriously only 10 feet away from him) made the show that much more exciting. At one point he even stood in front of us and 'serenaded' us. Yeah, I may have did a fangirl flail at that time in my head.

This past weekend, Helen and I were able to see Tyler again when he played for the Davis County Fair. This time it was a slightly different experience. Not only were we not SUPER close, but he made a point to sing a lot of songs from his new album. I can't even explain how much I want this CD. Like NOW. His new song "Prince of Nothing Charming" may end up being my new favorite song of his.