One Tree Hill Co-Stars Tyler Hilton & Kate Voegele Are On Tour Celebrating The Music Of The Iconic TV Show
Tyler Hilton and Kate Voegele, who played Chris Keller and Mia Catalano respectively on the iconic US TV program One Tree Hill, are in the country for a special run of shows across Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Belgrave, Adelaide & Perth, presented by MRG Live. The tour follows on from a successful solo tour from Tyler Hilton in 2025, which saw the artist/actor sell out the Northcote Social Club in Melbourne and pack out rooms across the country. The Celebrating The Music of One Tree Hill is currently underway overseas, with the duo selling out shows across the US and Canada already. The Tour marks the second time the pair have toured Australia together, with their debut visit back in 2017 – and provides a special, unmissable experience for fans of the show as they play on stage together working their way through the music from the show.
One Tree Hill was a phenomenon when it first aired in 2003 via the WB/CW. Running for a total of 9 seasons, the series has been named one of the greatest dramas of all time by the likes of Cosmopolitan, Digital Spy and Entertainment Weekly. Music played an important role throughout the show’s run, with each episode named after a particular song, artist or album that has something in common with the theme of the episode. Tyler himself appeared on all three of the soundtrack albums – with his cover of the Ryan Adams song When The Stars Go Blue; his cover of Missing You by John Waite & his original song You’ll Ask For Me.
It’s hard to believe it’s been eight years since you both last toured Australia.
Kate: That’s crazy. I cannot believe that was eight years ago. It was like, it’s wild. We’re so excited to come back. We’ve been trying to come back forever and then it kept getting delayed with like the pandemic and stuff. So we are, we are so, so excited to make this happen this year.
Is Australia your favourite place to tour?
Kate: I mean, we were just thinking about this talking before the call we were like, we shouldn’t tell the rest of the world. But it’s pretty hard to beat touring in Australia.
Tyler: Like, it’s barely work. It’s a lot of flying, which is a downer.
Kate: The flying’s a lot.
Tyler: The only downer. The rest of the time it’s like a total vacation. Like, we’re obsessed with the people, the food, the cities, the shows are so fun. I don’t know what it is. Something about it just gets on you and we love it.
This tour is about the music of One Tree Hill. What do you think it is about the show and the music that keeps resonating with fans even still today?
Tyler: I think there’s something kind of classic about the show. I mean, the music that they chose, I feel was really timeless, A lot of the rock and the singer‑songwriter music, it had this organic quality that I just feel is timeless. I don’t know how to explain it. I thought the producers had really good taste in music and I don’t know if it was the characters and the writing, but the whole thing, I don’t know if they even knew it at the time, but it has this timeless quality that you can come back to. I’ve even been surprised, people show me clips of the show again, I’ll watch it. I think, wow, this is better than I remember. It really has a vibe to it.
Kate: That’s so true.
In terms of the music, how do you work out who’s actually going to play what? Do certain songs sort of gravitate to each of you individually, or are there particular favourites where you think, “No, that’s mine, I’m doing that one”?
Kate: Yeah, it’s been really fun because Tyler and I have been touring together for over ten years now, on and off. We have got into this really cool rhythm where, especially for this tour, since it’s all about celebrating the music of One Tree Hill, the set list is all songs from One Tree Hill and we both played so many songs on the show that we couldn’t possibly fit every single one of them into one set, but we sat down and said, okay, what are your non‑negotiables? What are the songs that the fans are absolutely going to want to hear from you and me from the show? Then we get to be in each other’s band and we learned harmonies and guitar parts to each other’s songs. So it’s a really cool integrated set, really different from any other co‑headline tour with a few artists, you know. It’s cool and is in the spirit of the show. It was such a collaborative show that was about showcasing music first and foremost. So it’s a really unique experience and a lot of fun.
Tyler: We both have new music coming out this year and we decided this year if we’re going to do this, focus on just the music of One Tree Hill. It’s like, what songs that we played on the show are the ones that fans always request? Some of these songs we’ve never played live together. I know there’s a few songs of Kate’s that we had to revisit that the fans are just so stoked to hear. So yeah, so we just made this year about what do the fans want to hear? Not all our tours are like this. Sometimes we’re trying to do new songs, but this is just about let’s go back in time and let’s play all these old songs from the show and let’s have a blast for a second.
Is it just as much about the stories behind the music and how it all connects together when you bring it to the live environment?
Kate: Oh yeah, we got stories. We got stories for days.
Tyler: Sometimes we talk too much and we get in trouble. Our show goes over. But a lot of the stories while for these songs are what was going on during the show while these songs were playing. Sometimes Kate and I do songs, do tours, we’re like, oh, this song was written when I was heartbroken or whatever. A lot of the times this tour we’re able to incorporate moments from the show into the stories about the song. Like, this song played over that scene, do you guys remember? So it’s very One Tree Hill focused, which we’ve never done before. I mean, we’ve never really focused a whole tour on just celebrating that, the show and that’s what makes this fun and different than whatever else we’ve done over the last fifteen or twenty years tour‑wise.
The chemistry that you both have got—there’s just something magical about that. I was there last time you played here in Adelaide. What do you think the secret is to keeping this going so well and so strong for as long as you have?
Kate: It’s a good question. I don’t know. We just all like hanging. It’s a good time. I don’t know, I feel like our voices blend really well and we’ve written together and have a good collaborative dynamic in a lot of ways. But I don’t know. What do you think, Tyler?
Tyler: Yeah, I was going to say too, we—I don’t think we know either. Last year we were hanging out, we did some shows together and we were like, why don’t we do this more? We hadn’t done it because of the pandemic, everything got changed and we stopped touring, both of us. We were working on other stuff and then it was like, wait a minute, this is so fun and that’s why we kept doing it over the years. The first tour we did together, we did a live record at the end of the tour because we thought, oh, we’ll probably never tour again like this. But that was so fun and then we ended up doing it like every year or two we end up doing a tour together because it’s just fun. So I don’t know, we just get on, we have a blast.
Do you think there’ll be plans at some point to do an album together? Or do you just have to wait and see?
Kate: Yeah, we talk about it a lot. I mean, we’re always like playing with new song ideas and stuff on the road and we’ve definitely talked about it. We’re already kind of in the works of trying to record some live stuff together. That’s always one of the most fun parts of taking the live experience and then putting it in a permanent thing where fans can sort of hear that moment live on stage, captured or whatever. So I think it would be really fun. We’ve definitely talked about doing another live album and we’ve already released a few songs we’ve written together, but it would be fun to do more collaborative stuff for sure.
Tyler: It’s a no brainer. I think we want to do a live album at the end of this year. So we’ve been recording the last few shows and we just started bringing equipment out to record all the shows. We’ll probably record all the Australia ones. I would love—we keep talking—it’d be great by the end of the year to have a live album done of celebrating the music of One Tree Hill, which would be something special for us just to have forever as a memento from this year. So I don’t know. That’s what we hope. We’ve been actually working on a little memory photo book already of this year because the crew we have too is so fun. We are already feeling nostalgic for it but we have this sense that we’re really going to want to remember this year forever because it’s special for sure.
It must be a nice little bonus—the music being such a passion for you both, it must feel like coming down to Australia for a holiday with a few gigs on the side?
Kate: It really does. It’s a beautiful country. The people are amazing. The food is amazing. It’s does feel very much like a holiday. I’m excited too because the last time we were in Adelaide, I think it was like the beginning‑ish of the summer. It was like early December. It sounds like the tail end of summer. So it’ll be fun to see a different time of year in all these cities that we love so much.
Your Future Ghosts is a fantastic album. Is that something you’re looking to do more of or possibly even bring that to Australia at some point?
Kate: Yeah, we would love to. We’d love to do some touring with the band. It’s—I’m just reordered some more limited edition vinyl that I’ll be bringing hopefully if we don’t sell it all before we come to Australia. But I’ll definitely be bringing some to Australia since I know it’s tough to order, halfway across the world, those import fees get crazy. So we’re excited to be able to bring that to the fans. It’s just another example of how much of an incredible creative family the One Tree Hill cast created for us. Tyler and I touring together, writing together, singing together all these years, Mike and I starting this band definitely is something that we want to continue pursuing and bringing to the fans. I know Tyler and Joy recorded together at one point and she’s come out and sang with us. Your Future Ghost is another one of those examples of there’s so much about this show and this community that fosters incredible creative ideas and collaboration. Like, it’s just like a bunch of college kids who can’t stop making projects with each other because they’re such good buddies and there’s this amazing creative energy or something. It’s really fun. But thank you. That’s so cool to hear you love the album. We’re really excited about it.
Tyler, you’ve had the kids’ book this year as well, EPs and plans for new music. It’s really exciting for yourself as well?
Tyler: Yeah. Thank you. Yeah, like Kate said, I just recorded some new stuff and I got that coming out as well. But yeah, the kids’ book was really fun last year and I’m working on a kids’ album now, so I don’t know, we’re always doing stuff when we’re not on the road. I have to be so organised or else the trains all run off the track. But yeah, it’s so fun. I mean, we talk about all the time we can’t believe we get to still do this for a living. It’s crazy. No one’s tapped us on the shoulder and told us the party’s over.
Interview By Rob Lyon
Catch Kate Voegele and Tyler Hilton on the following dates, tickets HERE…
