Union Activities Council (UAC) brought actor and musician Tyler Hilton to a crowd of over 150 people Monday evening.

Hilton, originally from Palm Springs California, picked up music at an early age and began his professional music career at age 17. He has released five albums and two EPs, but is most well known for playing Chris Keller on CW’s One Tree Hill.

“My mom raised me to be a nice guy, and then I went on TV and was an asshole and it made me famous.” Tyler Hilton said during the performance.

Hilton played guitar and was accompanied by a percussionist named Jon on a cajon, a wooden box drum that is played on with brushes or hands while sitting on it. In addition to playing his own music, Hilton also played music from One Tree Hill.

“I really liked (Hilton’s performance), and I liked it when he sang ‘When the Stars go Blue’ because I really like when Bethany Joy Lynn’s like Haley and Nathan were,” said Gabrielle Garrison, senior English major.

Tyler Hilton’s act was one of several considered by UAC to put on. He plays a mixture of indie-rock and folk music.

“(The music Hilton plays is) kind of like John Mayer, I would say. Good lyrical music. We had a few bands. One of them was Dr. Seahorse. He was on America’s Got Talent, he’s like an electric, disco-pop kind of artist.” said Brogy Giesan, vice president of UAC.

Originally, UAC members met Tyler Hilton at the National Association of Campus Activities (NACA).

“Last year we met him there, he was on a showcase, so we got a teaser trailer of him there, and then the people that were there were fans of ‘One Tree Hill,’ and so we thought he would be a good fit for Emporia State, so we went through our process of acquiring events, we make event mountains is what we call them. They are like five previews of an event, they have our promo, our dates, possible and co-sponsorships and then we as a whole council vote on them,” Giesan said.

The students attending the concert knew the songs that were featured from ‘One Tree Hill,’ singing or humming along with Hilton as he sung the lyrics.

“I’m a huge fan of one tree hill actually, I’ve already seen all nine seasons and I’m going through them a second time actually. Just because I love ‘One Tree Hill,’ and it was this time last year that I watched it so I felt like it was my reunion to watch it again,” Garrison said.

UAC paid $3,250 to bring Hilton to Emporia State.

“We talked to him at NACA and we got his information and we worked with his agent… around the dates that he was available and in the area so we could get a good price so we wouldn’t have to pay a lot for travel” Giesan said.

Hilton played in Des Moines before coming to Emporia and then went on to play in St. Louis, Missouri.