The ‘One Tree Hill’ star tells PEOPLE that he and Taylor Swift’s family stayed close for years after he appeared as Drew in the music video

Taylor Swift and Tyler Hilton . Photo:Tyler Hilton/instagram

While Taylor Swift’s first single “Tim McGraw,” solidified her status as a country star, it also caught the attention of another singer-songwriter — Tyler Hilton.

Hilton, now 40, who started his career as a musician before landing the role of Chris Keller on One Tree Hill in 2004, remembers sitting down to research a publication ahead of an interview and finding a writeup on the then-newcomer.

“I’m not embarrassed to say I was blown away by that song ‘Tim McGraw,’ ” Hilton tells PEOPLE of the 2006 single. “’Cause I’ve never heard as a writer something so simple and so earnest as: ‘When you hear Tim McGraw, I hope you think of me.’ ”

Taylor Swift and Tyler Hilton in 2008.ANDREAS BRANCH/Patrick McMullan via Getty; Bryan Bedder/Getty

He says he then mentioned Swift, now 34, during that interview — a shoutout that made its way to her team.

“I didn’t know this, but she was a huge fan of mine,” he says, sharing that her management reached out and asked if he would come sing one of his songs with her at an upcoming show in California.

“I was like, ‘Whoa, if she’s doing one of my songs, I’ve got to go. That’s really adorable’, ” he recalls.  “I went to this bar to check her out and it was packed — like 200 people in this little bar.”

Though the two first met backstage, Hilton says she waited until they were on stage to maker her big request.

“She was like, ‘So I wanted to ask you this while you were on stage, so you couldn’t say no, but I’m doing this music video and I’m wondering if you would be in it with me,’ ” he recalls.

Hilton accepted and would inevitably travel to Nashville to star as Drew in the music video for Swift’s “Teardrops on My Guitar.”

Taylor Swift performing in 2007.Ethan Miller/Getty

From there, Hilton says he stayed in touch with Swift and her family — even moving into their houseboat years later when he first moved to Nashville.

“Her dad really helped me get settled out there,” he says. “And I just ended up getting into the whole Swift family world and they were so cool.”

Years later he remembers seeing the Swift family at a show where he sat in the VIP section with her parents as she performed.

“And they’re still like, ‘Tyler, isn’t she amazing?’ Like she’s 15 years old, they’re filming her on the phone,” he remembers. “I’m like, yeah, she’s the biggest f—ing star in the world. They still treat her like she’s just killing it at a talent show and they’re so excited for her still. It’s like, their earnestness as a family is so real and not fake and so charming.”

Tyler Hilton performing in 2019.Mickey Bernal/Getty Images

“She is that girl. Her bedroom was unicorns and fairy princesses,” he adds. “That’s not an act. That’s who she is.”

Hilton says while he hasn’t connected with the family since “before the pandemic,” he hopes to catch the Eras Tour later this year before it ends in December.

“I want to go to see this tour at some point,” he says. “It’d be really fun.”

Hilton, who shares two kids with his wife, Megan Park, dropped his EP “No Land’s Man” on Aug. 2 and wrapped his Giving It All to the Night tour around the same time. Now, he says, he’s putting together a full album on which he plans to tour.

Megan Park and Tyler Hilton in 2010.Michael Buckner/Getty

Hilton also recently collaborated with his wife on her movie, My Old Ass, which she directed and he scored.

“We have a shorthand,” he says of working with Park, whom he met on the set of 2007’s Charlie Bartlett. “We understand a lot of the same things. I also know what she’s looking for and she doesn’t have a musical vocabulary, so she’s like, ‘I kind of want it to feel like My Girl or like Casper or some kind of thing like that,’ and I just know what she’s talking about.”

“I think she wants to use me on things moving forward on her other projects and stuff,” he adds. “I love scoring her stuff ’cause it keeps me home and not on the road.”