 Now reduced to a duo , McGuinn and Hillman elected to hire new band members . Hillman 's cousin Kevin Kelley was quickly recruited as the band 's new drummer and the trio embarked on an early 1968 college tour in support of The Notorious Byrd Brothers . It soon became apparent , however , that recreating the band 's studio recordings with a three @-@ piece line @-@ up wasn 't going to be possible and so , McGuinn and Hillman , in a fateful decision for their future career direction , hired Gram Parsons as a keyboard player , although he quickly moved to guitar . Although Parsons and Kelley were both considered full members of the Byrds , they actually received a salary from McGuinn and Hillman , and did not sign with Columbia Records when the Byrds ' recording contract was renewed on February 29 , 1968 . 
