Chris Hillman

One of Country Rock's pioneers along with Gram Parsons, Chris Hillman's work with the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers helped bring country to an audience that had previously dismissed it as hillbilly music. At the age of 17, Hillman hooked up with seminal string picker Vern Gosdin and a bluegrass outfit that came to be called the Hillmen after it was obvious that Hillman's exquisite mandolin playing was the prominent feature of the band. Following stints with the Hillmen, the Byrds, the Burritos, Manassas and the Souther Hillman Furay band, Hillman went solo before forming the Cosmic American musical outfit Desert Rose Band with Herb Pederson. With its open chords, his music rings brightly and evokes yesterday's spiritual, front porch twang, and his close, high-lonesome vocal harmonies can only be challenged by the Louvin and Everly Brothers. Hillman's songs are still ablaze with chiming, rustic instrumentation and soaring Americana passion.