Tyler Hilton

I've known about Tyler Hilton for a few years now. He was on a college tour in 2004 and I was able to get a free copy of his singles "When It Comes" and "Rollin Home". It's been a small infactuation ever since.

While I would sometimes watch One Tree Hill and saw him portraying bad guy Chris Keller, it was always the music that stuck with me. His first major-label record, "The Tracks of", released in September 2004 and I knew that I would need to hear more. And soon. His voice is completely unique and his lyrics make you understand his passion and what he was going through when the song was written.

I've been patiently waiting for his next musical delivery, settling for songs on the OTH soundtracks in 2005-2007. But let's face it, when you can't get enough of someone one song a year is not going to cut it. Thankfully, it doesn't have to anymore. His sophomore album is due out in 2009 and if the song "I'd Rather Be Lonely" is any preview of what's to come, his second CD is destined to outshine the cookie-cutter albums of generic lyrics.

Gossip Girl

Last night I decided I should update about things I spend the most time on. At this point in my life it happens to be tv shows and music. Today I will share with you one of my favorite shows at the moment: Gossip Girl. (This will contain spoilers, but not anything crazy big.)

Sadly, I haven't watched the show since the very beginning. I started about halfway through the first season. I've always enjoyed it, someone with my addiction to The OC is drawn to this type of drama, but last night's episode was especially good. I realized just what an amazing actor they have in Ed Westwick.

In last night's episode we saw Ed's character, Chuck Bass, as an emotional wreck after losing his father in a car accident and I did something I never thought I'd do for Chuck Bass. I cried.

His performance was some kind of mix between the loner vampires we're so used to seeing now and Heath Ledger's take on the Joker. He was vulnerable, angry, and borderline insane. It's been quite awhile since a character has made me feel exactly what they were feeling. I was sad for him, understood his anger, and desperately wanted someone to be able to get through to him.

Obviously all is not well in the Bass household, as we will continue to see when the show returns January 5, and as strange as it sounds I can't wait to see a little more of this side of Chuck.

If you don't currently watch Gossip Girl, January is going to be a great time to start. Until then I'm going to spend some time researching the talented Ed Westwick.