Theo Hilton is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known for his work as drummer and vocalist for the

folk punk Folk punk (known in its early days as rogue folk) is a fusion of folk music and punk rock. It was popularized in the early 1980s by the Pogues in England, and by Violent Femmes in the United States. Folk punk achieved some mainstream success in ...

band

Defiance, Ohio Defiance is a city in and the county seat of Defiance County, Ohio, United States, about southwest of Toledo, Ohio, Toledo and northeast of Fort Wayne, Indiana, in Ohio's northwestern corner. The population was 16,494 at the 2010 United State ...

, singer-songwriter of indie folk band

Nana Grizol Nana Grizol is an American indie folk band based in Athens, Georgia, signed to Orange Twin Records. In addition to frontman Theo Hilton (Defiance, Ohio), Nana Grizol features Laura Carter (Elf Power, Neutral Milk Hotel), Robbie Cucchiaro (The Mu ...

, and co-founder of all-queer DIY record label Cruisin' Records. Born and raised in

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...

, Hilton's music is largely shaped by his experiences growing up queer in small town America.

Career

Defiance, Ohio

Hilton joined the band in 2005, filling in on drums. He would later both play guitar and sing for the band.

Nana Grizol

Officially formed in 2007 by Hilton, Nana Grizol features

Neutral Milk Hotel Neutral Milk Hotel was an American band formed in Ruston, Louisiana, by musician Jeff Mangum. They were active from 1989 to 1998, and again from 2013 to 2015. The band's music featured a deliberately low-quality sound, influenced by indie rock ...

-alumni Laura Carter and Robbie Cucchiaro on horns, and a plethora of other musicians from the Athens, GA area.

Cruisin' Records

In partnership with long-time friend and fellow musician Clyde Peterson, Hilton launched Cruisin' Records in 2018, with the intention of supporting and promoting queer artists. Every band signed to Cruisin' Records consists of queer musicians or actively supports LGBT causes.

Personal life

Hilton is openly queer. He currently resides in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, where he is a

PhD student A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

cultural anthropology Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans. It is in contrast to social anthropology, which perceives cultural variation as a subset of a posited anthropological constant. The portma ...

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

Discography

With Defiance, Ohio

With Shark Shark

With Nana Grizol

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilton, Theo Living people American male guitarists American LGBT singers American LGBT songwriters Queer singer-songwriters Year of birth missing (living people)