Concert Featuring Rock Legends To Benefit Joshua Tree National Park Association

Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen, stalwarts in the ranks of rock-and-roll, will perform a benefit concert June 1 for the Joshua Tree National Park Association.

Mr. Hillman, a member of the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame, and his collaborator, Mr. Pedersen, will headline the 2nd Annual Evening at Indian Cove. The two will bring their unique blend of bluegrass and country-rock to Joshua Tree National Park for a one-night only performance, starting at 7 p.m. Tickets are $40 each and are available from the Association online at www.joshuatree.org, or by calling 760-367-5525.

With music careers spanning 50 years, the two men have been at the center of the evolution of American popular music from its 1960s rock-and-roll era to its melding with traditional country and bluegrass music in the late 1960s and 1970s. These multi-talented musicians and songwriters have collaborated with some of the most influential names in American popular music. Mr. Hillman was an original member of the Byrds, and with Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, and Michael Clarke produced a string of hits that led to the group being labeled by some as the American Beatles. He was a 1991 inductee into the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Byrds.

Mr. Hillman, together with Gram Parsons and guitarist Clarence White, led the Byrds and their later band, the Flying Burrito Brothers, in bringing bluegrass and traditional country music to mainstream audiences.

In the 1980s, Hillman joined with longtime friend and Los Angeles musician Herb Pedersen and guitarist John Jorgenson, bassist Bill Bryson, pedal steel guitarist J.D. Maness, and drummer Steve Duncan to form the Desert Rose Band. The Desert Rose Band released a number of albums and singles between 1987 and 1994, several of which reached number one on the U.S. Billboard country music charts. They received three Grammy Nominations, and were named Band of the Year in the Academy of Country Music Association Awards from 1988 to1990.

Herb Pedersen has been a mainstay of the southern California bluegrass and country music scene since the early 1960s. He has performed in groups such as the Pine Valley Boys, Vern and Ray, the Dillards, Old and in the Way, and the Laurel Canyon Ramblers. Mr. Pedersen has worked with musical luminaries including Vince Gill, Linda Ronstadt, Dan Fogelberg, John Denver, Merle Haggard, Doc Watson, Lyle Lovett, Travis Tritt, and Emmylou Harris. He has recorded extensive film and television credits on projects such as the Dukes of Hazzard, the Hill Street Blues, the Rockford Files, the Robert Redford film Brubaker, and Smokey and the Bandit.

Opening for Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen will be well-known local musicians Steve Lester and the Shadow Mountain Band. With only 200 seats available in the Indian Cove Amphitheater, this one-time cultural event is sure to be a night to remember. Join us as we celebrate the musical legacy of Joshua Tree National Park!

All proceeds from the event will support the mission of the non-profit Joshua Tree National Park Association, which is to assist with natural and cultural resource preservation and educational activities of Joshua Tree National Park.

For further information about the June 1 performance or the Joshua Tree National Park Association and its programs, please contact Association Managing Director Liz Morton at 760-367-5530, or visit the Association’s website: www.joshuatree.org.