Tyler Hilton, Dion Roy
The Bayou
10/04/2012 07:00 PM EDT
$12.00 - $15.00
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Tyler Hilton
Before Tyler Hilton wrote the songs that appear on his new album The Storms We Share he had never written anything but love songs. "It•s not that I was uninterested in things other than love, but it was love that made me want to write songs," the 26-year-old singer, songwriter, and guitarist says. Which would have
been fine except that Hilton had been working on a new album for three years and had already scrapped hundreds of songs that he didn•t consider good enough. Uninspired, he was having a hard time motivating himself to keep going.
"I started coming up with these lyrics that were little pep talks to myself, like„Come on, you can do this. You just have to clear your head and keep going,•" Hilton says. "So several of the tracks on this album, like „Keep On,• „Somehow,• and „This World Will Turn Your Way,• are these encouraging, hopeful tunes, which I•d never usually write, but that•s what was coming out of me at the time."
The uplifting theme of those songs eventually served as the inspiration for the album•s title. "I was looking for a phrase that communicated how we all have something in common," Hilton says. "I was spending a lot of time in the South and in Canada and whenever there was a storm, you could be standing in line at
the grocery store next to a stranger and they•d inevitably remark about the crazy weather. That•s when it hit me: Everyone shares one common thing — weathering the storms together. And that became a metaphor about recognizing that we all need to be encouraged to weather the storms. Sometimes you need
to remind yourself that dreams can happen, but they may take time so can•t give up, which basically describes the last four years of my life. That•s what „This World Will Turn Your Way• is about. I wrote it last and it thematically sums up the whole album in that I took everything I learned and put it into that one song."
The Storms We Share is a vividly drawn, emotionally resonant snapshot from these years, which Hilton spent trying to make a follow-up to his 2004 major-label debut The Tracks of Tyler Hilton. That album, which spawned the Top 40 singles "When It Comes" and "How Love Should Be," introduced the then-21-year-old Palm Springs, Calif., native to the public via Warner Bros. Records• now-defunct label Maverick Records. After the label folded, Warner Bros. executives told Hilton they loved his music, believed in him as an artist, and wanted him to stay with the label.
Dion Roy
Born in Namibia, raised in South Africa, later raised in New Jersey and now a true New Yorker at heart, Dion has lived and breathed the downtown Lower East Side music landscape for the past 9 years. Playing as a bassist in several bands over the years, Dion has graced the stage at all of the usual NYC suspects, including The Bitter End, the late Luna Lounge, Pianos and Kenny's Castaways, and opened for high-profile acts like The Donnas, Bleu, and Ben Kweller, while touring throughout the North-Eastern College circuit.
After years of flowing from one creative project to the next and keeping his collaborations and personal productions low key, this introspective and enigmatic musician has moved on from group bassist and fellow songwriter, to solo vocalist and front man. Dion's debut album, "Gallery", was released in June 2009 and a follow up EP, "The Nearest Light", was released in June 2010. "The Nearest Light" was co-produced by Scott Reibling, known for his work with Weezer, Fall Out Boy and Cobra Starship. It recently reached #8 on the iTunes singer-songwriter album charts.
Today, Dion's original music is a surprising combination of catchy pop hooks with brooding, raw emotionality. His songs draw upon personal experiences but speak to a greater audience about conflicting perspectives and desires. What distinguishes this young artist from others is his genuine lack of pretense and his guarded nature. He almost never reveals the backstories to his songs, encouraging his fans to find their own connection to the words.
Dion Roy's blend of genres has drawn comparisons to other singer/songwriters like Ryan Adams, Pete Yorn, and Damien Rice, and electronic bands such as Keane, Postal Service, and Snow Patrol.
Venue Information
The Bayou
78 N Pearl St
Albany, NY 12207