Entertainment

Published: Thursday, Nov. 05, 2009

Music: A Musical Voice of experience

Chris Hillman will record a live concert Saturday in Nipomo

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When I heard Chris Hillman was recording a live album in Nipomo, I had to ask: “If I go and yell, ‘Free Bird!’ can I get on the record?”

Hillman, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, laughed and obliged me.

“I’ll get you on the record,” he joked. “Then I’ll surprise you and do it — acoustically. That would be the worst thing.”

Of course, Hillman never recorded “Free Bird.” But as a member of The Byrds, he was part of a pioneering group that helped lead the way for country rockers like Lynryd Skynyrd.

Saturday’s concert at the Edwards Barn in Nipomo, a gig that benefits the Orthodox Church of the Annunciation in Santa Maria, will be Hillman’s third at the venue. But this is the first time he has recorded there.

“The first time I played at Edwards Barn, I went, ‘God, it sounds great in here.‘ It is so alive, you know? It’s like acoustically perfect. I said, ’Wouldn’t it be great if we could someday make a record here?’ ”

Having inked a deal with Rounder Records, which has recently released albums by Steve Martin, Carrie Newcomer and Madeleine Peyroux, Hillman invited longtime musician friend Herb Pedersen and other musical friends to join him.

Hillman will perform some new songs, along with acoustic versions of tunes spanning his entire career, which also includes stints with the Flying Burrito Brothers and The Desert Rose Band.

Recording live, Hillman said, will capture an energy that doesn’t exist in studio recordings.

“When you do a live album, you’re obviously going after that one thing, and that’s that pure emotional playing with total abandonment that can cut right through the speakers when you listen to it, “ he said. “That’s the fun part about doing a live record. It’s so different than going to a controlled environment, which is a studio, to make a record. And you have to get that feeling of ‘we’re in front of people’ that comes out of you.”

While he’s had success with multiple bands, Hillman had his most personal success with The Desert Rose Band. That group, which also included Pedersen, scored eight top 10 country hits in the ’80s, including “He’s Back and I’m Blue” and “One Step Forward.”

“I loved every band I was in, “ said Hillman, who was also in Manassas with Stephen Stills. “The Desert Rose Band was the best and here’s why: It was consistently good onstage. It was the one band that didn’t have any extraneous baggage.

“We didn’t have any problems with people getting into mischief. We had 95 percent consistency rate onstage as performers and singers. Everybody pulled their weight 110 percent. We were accepted in the country music community for who we were, not for who we had been. Being in The Byrds meant nothing.”

Of course, he’s in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Byrds. And when people refer to his music career, The Byrds come up most prominently.

“They will always remember The Byrds, and that’s fine, “ said Hillman, who co-wrote “So You Want To Be a Rock ’n’ Roll Star “ for that band. “I’m not seeking any approval anymore. I’m 65 years old. I don’t care. I’m lucky I still play. I feel very blessed to be able to go and play a show —and to do an album.”

While The Byrds made stars out of Roger McGuinn, David Crosby and Gene Clark, Hillman was somewhat of a secondary player then. Even with The Flying Burrito Brothers and Manassas, other musicians were more in the spotlight. But with The Desert Rose Band, Hillman jumped to the forefront as a bandleader.

“My apprenticeship had ended, and I had been promoted from first mate to captain,” he said. “I tried to steer that band pretty safely through the shallows, so to speak.”

With his lofty experience in music, it’s no surprise that he was recently asked to give a lecture on his career at the Library of Congress.

“I was nervous before I went out there,” said Hillman, who had to pack 47 years into an hourlong lecture. “I never looked at my notes — I just told the story.”

While he outlined his speech, Hillman had to work mostly from memory.

’The biggest regret I have is I wish I’d had the wherewithal to have kept a journal from the time I was 18,” he said. “But I remember things.”