JDH –  Never met a stranger.  Thinks any day is a good day for chili.

• Born/Hometown: June 12   Waco, Texas
• Occupation: Words & Music
• Lives in:  Austin, Hollywood, the occasional “undisclosed location”
• Working On:  Songs for new concert. Music for film, REFUGE.

• Last Good Movie I Saw:  (two) The Young Victoria and This Is It
• Must haves:  Internet, Sharpies, My “no matter what” friends
• Nobody Knows I’m: more than a little bit private.
• I’m Better Than Anyone Else:  in translating the Texas language
• If I Could Do It Over, I’d:   Start sooner
• I’d Give Anything to Meet:  “… some enchanted evening.”
• My Fantasy Is:  none of your business
• The Worst Advice My Mother Ever Gave Me:  Don’t Dance
• One Thing I Can’t Stand:  oral certitude posing as moral certitude
• People Who Knew Me in High School Thought I Was: Saner than I am
• My Most Irrational Act:  You’d have to ask several girls I dated.
• If I Weren’t “drawn to show business” I’d Be:  a very average golfer
• If I’ve Learned One Thing In Life It’s:  The truth is better than you think.
• Most Humbling Experience: Seeing Monument Valley
• The Three Words That Best Describe Me:  Now in Progress

JD Hinton has composed songs and music for Hollywood films including GLORIA, TICK-TOCK, TOUCHED BY A KILLER.  CHILDREN ON THEIR BIRTHDAYS,  a film based on the Truman Capote short story, featured CELINE DION singing “I Have to Dream”  written by Hinton with Rick Solem and Ross Vannelli.

Hinton has taken his original music into Los Angeles clubs including the House of Blues and the Viper Room.  On the final Christmas of the millennium, he sang at the Vatican for the Pope.

JD’s show business journey began in high school.  His love of music helped him land his own radio show on the number one station in his hometown Waco, Texas. Radio work took him through college, to Sacramento, and then to Los Angeles. He used the air name David Donn for a midnight to dawn show on a highly rated r&b radio station that kept L.A. dancing the night away.

In Los Angeles, Hinton began to write songs that were picked up by music publishing companies.  Classical piano lessons and a church choir background had given him the musical underpinnings, but JD learned from repeated listening to radio hits how to write songs.

Hollywood opened up more opportunities. Hinton used improvisational skills he developed as a disc jockey to land acting roles in top television shows and films. The surprise move toward acting resulted in hundreds of  starring turns and series regular credits.  His name continually popped up in the TV Guide cast credits for starring roles on shows like “Picket Fences”,  “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles”, “Dynasty”, and “Mork and Mindy”.  Check out imdb.com

Music and songwriting now command his creative time.  Since the 90s Hinton’s songs have begun turning up regularly in films.  Hinton thinks of himself  as a “director’s songwriter… a director’s musician.” This is evident in his collaboration with Ross Vannelli on the music for Mark Medoff’s film CHILDREN ON THEIR BIRTHDAYS.  The movie, based on a Truman Capote story, has 65 minutes of original music including 17 songs written to reflect the 1947 period setting.

Hinton brings a unique background to fulfill a film director’s vision. His songs and music are cinematic.  Three minute movies with stories, characters, moods and atmosphere.  Could be what he learned as an actor.  Could just be the way he hears music.