NASHVILLE, Tenn. – July 8, 2025 – Chris Hillman and Dwight Yoakam, among the most significant figures in Los Angeles country-rock, will sit down together for an in-depth interview at the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum on Saturday, Aug. 23. They will discuss their rich and storied careers, their musical influences, and the impact of this West Coast movement across six decades.

Veteran L.A. music journalist Erin Osmon will lead the discussion at 3:30 p.m. in the museum’s Ford Theater. The program is included with museum admission and free to museum members. Seating is limited and a program ticket is required. Reserve tickets in advance here.

The interview is offered in support of the museum’s exhibition Western Edge: The Roots and Reverberations of Los Angeles Country-Rock, presented by City National Bank. The exhibit, which will conclude its nearly three-year run on Sept. 16, traces the L.A.-based communities of visionary singers, songwriters and musicians who, from the 1960s through the 1980s, frequented local nightclubs, embraced country music, created and shaped the musical fusion “country-rock” and, ultimately, made a lasting impact on popular music.

Chris Hillman

Hillman, a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, is a country-rock pioneer who began his career playing bluegrass in California-based bands before joining the Byrds as a founding member in 1964. He went on to co-found the Flying Burrito Brothers, Manassas, the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band and the Desert Rose Band. In the Desert Rose Band, he served as lead vocalist, chief songwriter, guitarist and guiding light. Of Hillman’s profound influence on country-rock, Tom Petty once wrote: “Every time the Eagles board their private jet, Chris at least paid for the fuel.”

Dwight Yoakam

Yoakam helped lead a welcome return to the gritty, twangy sounds of traditional country music in the 1980s and 1990s and has continued to carry the torch for a rough-edged brand of country that blends vintage and contemporary sounds. From the start, he revived a dynamic form of honky-tonk and mountain music that disregarded pop-country influences. Beginning in 1986 with his groundbreaking album, Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. Yoakam released a series of gold- and platinum-selling albums and two dozen Top 20 country singles that shook up country music and established him as a distinctive voice and perceptive songwriter. He also brought a spotlight to bear on West Coast country music, particularly the music of his good friend, Country Music Hall of Fame member Buck Owens, who cut the #1 hit “The Streets of Bakersfield” with Yoakam.

The program is made possible in part by the Academy of Country Music.