Byrds founding member Chris Hillman in Modesto for benefit

Chris Hillman is arguably one of the biggest pioneers of country rock. But ask the founding member of The Byrds and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee what that means, exactly, and it’s a little less clear.

“It was a convenient name that some journalist probably put together in the ’60s. I had been in bluegrass when I got asked to join The Byrds. The Byrds were guys who came out of folk music. We weren’t rock ’n’ roll music. The Byrds started experimenting with more country songs,” he said from his home in Ventura. “We were tagged that, and it’s an easy way to categorize.”

Yet Hillman’s career is one that defied simple categorization. He listed to folk music growing up around San Diego, though his parents weaned him on big band. He joined The Byrds a couple of years after graduating from high school and without the ability to play the bass, even though that was the instrument he was recruited for. He was a founding member of three influential rock bands, yet has as many No. 1 country singles as rock singles on the Billboard charts.

“I just had a passion for music when I graduated high school and was going to go into college, but got into a band instead,” Hillman said. “I never thought I’d make a dime at it. I just wanted to play.”

Hillman and longtime friend and musical collaborator Herb Pedersen will perform a benefit show at the State Theatre on May 8. The Agape Trio will open the show.

The 70-year-old Hillman’s résumé reads as a who’s who of 1960s rock. In 1964, he helped found The Byrds with Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby and Michael Clarke. In 1968, he founded The Flying Burrito Brothers with Gram Parsons, and then in 1971 he joined Stephen Stills in Manassas. In 1991, Hillman was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with The Byrds.

“I look back on them with wonderful memories. I’ve blocked out any of the not-so-wonderful memories,” Hillman said of his time in various groups. “When you have a group of people when you have a band, it’s four people holding a paintbrush. Everyone is trying to paint the Mona Lisa’s smile. It wasn’t always wonderful, but the band is always good. There were really good moments. I’m all still friends with everyone I’ve worked with. ”

Hillman said it helped that he was never the frontman in any of those groups. But that changed in the 1980s when he switched gears and formed the more country-focused Desert Rose Band with Pedersen. He sang, wrote and led the group until it disbanded in the mid-1990s. The group charted two No. 1 hits on the Billboard country charts and six other Top 10 country hits.

Hillman and Pedersen’s friendship and collaboration live on. The two men have known each other for 52 years. Pedersen worked for years as an in-demand session player and has worked with everyone from John Denver and Emmylou Harris to Linda Ronstadt.

“We both had a passion for bluegrass and old-time traditional mountain and folk music. We met in Los Angeles. That’s where you gravitated if you were trying to get a career going.

“But we didn’t work together until the Desert Rose Band in 1984,” Hillman said. “We just happened to have a real bond and sing well together.”

The duo has released nine albums. Its State Theatre appearance will be a fundraiser for Modesto’s Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church to support the construction of the St. Nicholas National Shrine at the World Trade Center in New York City. St. Nicholas Church was the only church destroyed during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Hillman converted to Greek Orthodox 18 years ago thanks to his wife, who is Greek. He also is friends with the Modesto church’s Father Jon Magoulias.

“This is for the St. Nicholas church, so this is a good thing. It’ll be just the two of us, with mandolin and guitar. We’ll go all the way back to early bluegrass songs. We’ll do some Byrds material, and every part of my life. Herb has also written some beautiful songs. It’s really a joy. As long as I can still sing and play and people want to hear me, I will continue to do this.”

This story was originally published April 29, 2015 at 7:53 PM with the headline "Byrds founding member Chris Hillman in Modesto for benefit."