Billy Pilgrim

The partnership between Kristian Bush and Andrew Hyra originated in 1990, coinciding with Hyra and his sister Annie issuing the down-home folk album Big Back Porch Songs as the Hyras. Bush supplied guitar and backup vocals on multiple tracks, and the Hyras returned the gesture that same year by appearing on Bush’s self-titled solo album. Although Big Back Porch Songs stayed unreleased, Kristian Bush received a cassette-only release in the Knoxville, TN vicinity that the pair called home. St. Christopher’s Crossing surfaced the following year under the billing Andrew Hyra & Kristian Bush, after which the duo took the name billy pilgrim and secured a contract with Atlantic. Their 1994 self-titled debut preserved the folk foundation of earlier recordings, yet the pair advanced their approach on the next year’s Bloom, tracked in Memphis with contributions from Garry Tallent of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, Mike Campbell of Tom Petty, Sonny Landreth, Greg Morrow, Richard Bennett, and Rod Smarr of Dr. Hook.