COUNTRY ROCK PIONEER CHRIS HILLMAN LAUNCHES NEW SIRIUSXM SHOW THREE FINGER BREAKDOWN

September 2, 2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COUNTRY ROCK PIONEER CHRIS HILLMAN LAUNCHES NEW SIRIUSXM SHOW

THREE FINGER BREAKDOWN

HONORING THE ROOTS OF BLUEGRASS MUSIC FROM CALIFORNIA AND BEYOND, HILLMAN’S SECOND SIRIUSXM SERIES DEBUTS SEPTEMBER 3, AIRING ON SIRIUSXM’s DWIGHT YOAKAM & THE BAKERSFIELD BEAT AND SIRIUSXM’s BLUEGRASS JUNCTION

LOS ANGELES, CA –SEPTEMBER 2, 2026 – Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Chris Hillman is launching a new SiriusXM show, Three Finger Breakdown, honoring the Bluegrass music that first inspired him and became a foundation for his vital contributions to the 1960s Country Rock revolution. Premiering on September 3, this is Hillman’s second SiriusXM show, following the current success of Chris Hillman’s Burrito Stand, which has been running for three years on SiriusXM’s Dwight Yoakam & The Bakersfield Beat. Three Finger Breakdown, also airing on SiriusXM’s Dwight Yoakam & The Bakersfield Beat (channel 349), will be simultaneously broadcast on SiriusXM’s Bluegrass Junction (channel 65).

Hillman’s Bluegrass roots run deep; he was a teenager when he began learning to play the mandolin, eventually performing Bluegrass in California-based bands such as The Scottsville Squirrel Barkers and The Golden State Boys (later known as The Hillmen). Coming full circle with the September 2026 debut of Three Finger Breakdown, the series will kick off with the title cut, inspired by the first song Hillman ever wrote in 1963 as a member of The Scottsville Squirrel Barkers (“Three Finger Breakdown” is featured on their album Bluegrass Favorites). Capturing the essence of the new series, Hillman sets the pace with recollections of his early love of Folk and Bluegrass while growing up in Rancho Santa Fe, California in the 50s and 60s. He discovered the music of Bluegrass artists hailing from the Appalachian region to the American South and beyond, inspiring him to learn the mandolin as well as the guitar. The debut show will feature the music from a host of those Bluegrass pioneers including Flatt & Scruggs, Bill Monroe, Jimmy Martin, New Lost City Ramblers, The Country Gentlemen, and The Stanley Brothers. Each episode in Three Finger Breakdown will run for one hour, and a new segment will premiere each month.

“I’m honored to be invited to do another show with SiriusXM,” said Chris Hillman. “I’ll be revisiting the history of Bluegrass in California and sharing some of my own experiences. As a teenager, so many of my early influences came alive once we discovered clubs like The Ash Grove, McCabe’s and The Troubadour. They were showcasing local players as well as Bluegrass performers from across the country, and I was hooked. Those were great times with great music, and I loved every minute of learning the ropes back then. I look forward to playing music from those groundbreakers as well as my contemporaries and some of my own. Special thanks to Dwight Yoakam, SiriusXM’s Scott Greenstein, and producer of the series, SiriusXM’s Joey Black.”

Dwight Yoakam added, “Chris Hillman has such a deep connection to Bluegrass and the legacy of the various forms of Bluegrass, Mountain, and Grapes Of Wrath Country music that migrated along with the hundreds of thousands of displaced Farmers, Ranchers, and Rural American inhabitants blown to California and the West Coast by the Dust Bowl and Great Depression, that music later helped shape California's country-rock sound. Chris grew up in Rural California surrounded by many of those transplanted new arrivals to the West from Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas, the Near and Deep South, and that uniquely American music they brought with them to California. Chris

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fell deeply in love with the Bluegrass that he heard being played live and on the radio by those recent

arrivals and began playing mandolin in Bluegrass bands as his first musical expressions to the world. I'm thrilled that he'll have the opportunity to share those stories, influences, and music with SiriusXM listeners. It feels like a perfect fit for The Bakersfield Beat, and I'm really proud to have Chris as part of the channel."

“We are very excited to air Three Finger Breakdown,” said Joey Black, Program Director, SiriusXM. “Chris has a unique perspective of the music that comes through the lens of his very interesting experiences rooted in Bluegrass.”

Following his Bluegrass beginnings, Hillman co-founded The Byrds in 1964 (with Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, Gene Clark and Michael Clarke) and picked up his first electric bass guitar. The band went on to effectively bridge the gap between the instrumentation of Folk, Bluegrass and Country music and the electronic sounds of 60s Rock. A prolific body of work has been produced since then with Hillman’s

landmark bands including The Flying Burrito Brothers, Manassas, Souther-Hillman-Furay Band, and The Desert Rose Band, as well as Bluegrass supergroup Rice, Rice, Hillman & Pedersen (Larry Rice,

Tony Rice, Hillman and Herb Pedersen) and Gospel group Ever Call Ready (with Hillman, Bernie Leadon, Al Perkins, David Mansfield and Jerry Scheff).

Hillman added author to his credits in 2020 with the release of his autobiography, Time Between: My Life as a Byrd, Burrito Brother and Beyond. Spanning nearly six decades of his career, Time Between became one of the most celebrated music memoirs of the year and solidified Hillman’s ability to relay vivid memories from his life. From his storytelling skills to the sounds of original Bluegrass, music fans are sure to enjoy every episode of Three Finger Breakdown.

September air dates for the first episode of Three Finger Breakdown are:

Debut

Thursday, September 3rd, 11:00 AM (ET)

Replays

Saturday, September 5th, 8:00 AM (ET)

Sunday, September 6th, 12:00 PM (ET)

Monday, September 14th, 4:00 PM (ET)

Wednesday, September 16th, 9:00 PM (ET)

Friday, September 18th, 11:00 PM (ET)

Contact:

Chris Hillman

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/chrishillmanofficial/