AllMovie

Despite essaying occasional on-camera roles, Palm Springs native Tyler Hilton sports even stronger musical ambitions. A prodigious songwriter since the age of 14, Hilton cultivated his vocal technique at an early age, then recorded and shopped around an eponymous debut album. He signed with Maverick records after an impromptu on-the-air performance for Los Angeles KLOS radio led to a performance in the station's annual Christmas concert -- and drew the attention of recording executives. Hilton netted even more widespread attention for his acting feats, however, such as the recurring characterization of Chris Keller on the prime-time soaper One Tree Hill and a startling evocation of Elvis Presley in the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line (2005). In 2007 -- coincident with his authorship of a new album for Warner Bros. Records (his fourth release) -- Hilton scored a neat comic turn as a high-school bully-turned-prescription drug dealer in Charlie Bartlett (2007), an offbeat satire about adolescent life.