How much music history can you handle? Hillman at the Horse this Sunday.

Chris Hillman comes to the Iron Horse this Sunday. He's carved a permanent niche in the history of American music playing in The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers. The only authentic cowboy to ever be inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Hillman spent his early years on his family’s ranch home in then rural North San Diego County “riding horses, and doing ranch chores”. His interests would soon change from spurs and saddles to guitars and mandolins. He hooked up with Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, and David Crosby in The Beefeaters who became The Byrds. Their album Mr. Tambourine Man, took a combination of Dylan songs and their own compositions and made history as America’s answer to the Beatles.

At the beginning of 1968, when the Byrds were down to Hillman and McGuinn, Hillman ran into a new kid in town by chance one day. That kid was Gram Parsons. The two of them changed the Byrds’ musical direction and ushered in a new era of music with the genius Sweethearts of the Rodeo, which firmly cemented the merging of country and rock.

When Parsons left the band the old magic of the Byrds was gone. Hillman exited the Byrds in September 1968 to join Parsons in what soon became known as the Flying Burrito Brothers.

Their first release The Gilded Palace of Sin created a new musical force to be reckoned with. The Burrito’s created the environment for artists such as The Eagles, Poco, and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Even the “World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band” - the Rolling Stones, were influenced by the Burritos, with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards composing “Wild Horses” in honor of their friends, the Flying Burrito Brothers.

The story goes on but this is just a blog. The level of music history Hillman and his lifelong accompaniest Herb Pederson bring to the Iron Horse this Sunday at 7PM is profound and it's hard to imagine something more important happening this Sunday night musically than this show. Last time through he played everything from "Eight Miles High" to "Dark End Of The Street" and I saw tears in people's eyes.

Top: The Byrds (Hillman 2nd from left) Left: Chris Hillman Right: Flying Burrito Brothers (Chris center standing)