CALIFORNIA COUNTRY

By Paul Liberatore
Marin Independent Journal
November 29, 2002

Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen, two of the unsung pioneers of California country rock, were at Sweetwater this week on a low-key tour to promote "Way Out West," their tasteful new album of country duets.

Now in their late 50s, Hillman and Pedersen met in 1963 at the Troubadour, the legendary L.A. club, when they were aspiring 18- year-old folk and bluegrass musicians. Hillman became a founding member of the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers and went on to join Stephen Stills in Manassas - all seminal groups that defined a genre that continues to this day in contemporary outfits like Wilco and Uncle Tupelo.

A lanky man who wears glasses and a salt and pepper mustache, Pedersen made his mark early with the Dillards, one of the first crossover bluegrass bands, and sang harmony for Vince Gill, Jackson Browne and Linda Ronstadt. He still leads his own bluegrass group, the Laurel Canyon Ramblers, and plays banjo in Old & in the Gray with David Grisman and Peter Rowan. "Herb's on every CD you've got at home," Hillman said.

Hillman and Pedersen had their greatest success together in the Desert Rose Band, producing five No. 1 country rock singles in the '80s before retiring the group in 1994.

"I'd been on the road for 30 years, and I'd missed my daughter's birthday a couple of times," Hillman said as he fingered his mandolin backstage before Tuesday night's Sweetwater show. "We all decided to put it down and do something else. It was an amicable parting."

With the exception of a few lines around the eyes and perhaps a couple of extra pounds, the stocky, sandy-haired Hillman looks much the same as he did in his youth. He isn't as famous as some of his former band mates, but he seems genuinely comfortable knowing that his legacy will always be recognized by country rock cognoscenti. "I prize my anonymity," he said with a grin.

Hillman and Pedersen, who both live in Southern California, are dedicated family men with marriages of more than 20 years, children and grandchildren. "I would always put my family before my career, and I still do," Hillman said before taking the stage with Pedersen and longtime bassist Bill Bryson. "We're at a point in our lives when we play where we want to play when we want to play."

"Way Out West," on Virgin's Back Porch label, is their second duo album, following "Bakersfield Bound" in 1996. At Sweetwater, they played two relaxed,
easygoing acoustic sets with Hillman on mandolin and Pedersen holding steady on rhythm guitar. They sang songs from their albums as well as rootsy renditions of the Byrds classics "Eight Miles High" and "Turn, Turn, Turn." After 40 years together, their harmony is so tight that it's almost as if they were singing in one clear, tenor voice.

"I'm 58 years old and I'm lucky to still be making records," Hillman said during a quiet moment backstage. "We've had a great time. And I still feel like our best work is just around the corner."