Michael Hedges 1953-1997

Michael Hedges (December 31, 1953 – December 2, 1997) was an American acoustic guitarist born in Enid, Oklahoma. Image File history File links Hedges. ... Image File history File links Hedges. ... is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 336th day of the year (337th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the band, see 1997 (band). ... For the UK magazine, see Guitarist (magazine). ... Location in Garfield County and the state of Oklahoma. ...

Background

Hedges was a Peabody Conservatory composition major who applied his classically trained musical background in combination with various unusual techniques to the steel-string acoustic guitar. He covered a wide range of musical styles and was considered an extremely dynamic performer in concert. He was discovered in the early eighties by William Ackerman who heard him performing in a Palo Alto cafe and immediately signed him to a recording contract on the Windham Hill label.^[1] Located in Baltimore, Maryland, the Peabody Conservatory of Music (or just The Peabody) is one of the most prestigious musical institutions in the world, and also the first conservatory in America. ... Playing a steel-string guitar without a pick (fingerpicking). ... William Ackerman is a musician specializing in acoustic-based instrumental music. ... Downtown Palo Alto Palo Alto is a city in Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, USA. Palo Alto is located at the northern end of the Silicon Valley, and is home to Stanford University (which is technically located in an adjacent area — Stanford, California...

Recordings

The first two records Michael Hedges made — Breakfast in the Field and Aerial Boundaries — were milestones for the acoustic guitar. He then branched out into singing and performing more popular forms of music, although he would periodically make a return to more guitar-centred music. He wrote nearly exclusively in alternate tunings. Some of the techniques he used include slap harmonics (created by slapping the strings over a harmonic node), use of right hand hammer-ons (particularly on bass notes), use of the left hand for melodic or rhythmic hammer-ons and pull offs, percussive slapping on the guitar body, as well as unusual strummings. He also made extensive use of string dampening as employed in classical guitar, and was known to insist strongly on the precise duration of sounds and silences in his pieces. He also played guitar-variants like the Harp Guitar (an instrument with additional bass strings), and the Trans-Trem Guitar. He was a multi-instrumentalist, playing piano, percussion, tin whistle, harmonica, and flute, among others on his albums. Bassist Michael Manring contributed to many of Michael's records. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Open tuning. ... A standing wave. ... Hammer-on is a stringed instrument playing technique performed (especially on guitar) by sharply bringing a fretting-hand finger down on the fingerboard behind a fret, causing a note to sound. ... A pull-off is a stringed-instrument playing technique performed (usually on an electric guitar) by pulling a fretting finger off the fingerboard. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Image:Trans-trem. ... Michael Manring (born June 1960 in Washington, D.C.) is an electric bassist from the San Francisco Bay Area (Northern California). ...

Hedges had a very broad range of influences and his output spans many genres. His musical education was largely in modern 20th century composition. He listened to Leo Kottke, Martin Carthy, John Martyn, and the Beatles, but his approach to composition owed much to Stravinsky, Varèse, Webern, and Reich, in addition to experimental composers such as Morton Feldman. He saw himself as a composer who played guitar, rather than a guitarist who composed music. He was often categorized as New Age due to his association with the Windham Hill record label. Somewhat in reaction to this, he would describe his music as "Heavy Mental", "New Edge", ""Thrash Acoustic", "Deep Tissue Gladiator Guitar" or "Savage Myth Guitar," amongst other terms.^[2] Leo Kottke (born on 11 September 1945 in Athens, Georgia, USA, North America) is an acoustic guitarist. ... Martin Carthy (born May 21, 1941) is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring later artists such as Bob Dylan and Richard Thompson since he emerged as a young musician in the early days of the folk... John Martyn (born Iain David McGeachy on September 11, 1948 in New Malden, Surrey, England) is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. ... The White Album, see The Beatles (album). ... Igor Stravinsky. ... Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse (December 22, 1883 – November 6, 1965) was a French-born composer. ... Anton Webern (December 3, 1883 – September 15, 1945) was an Austrian composer and conductor. ... Stephen Michael Reich (born October 3, 1936) is an American composer. ... Morton Feldman (January 12, 1926 – September 3, 1987) was an American composer, born in New York City. ... New Age music is a style of music originally associated with some New Age beliefs. ... Windham Hill Records is a record company, founded in the 1976 by guitarist and carpenter William Ackerman and his then-wife Anne Robinson. ...

Guitars

Hedges regularly used the following instruments^[3]

• 1971 Martin D-28 (nicknamed "Barbara") with a combination of a Sunrise S-1 magnetic pickup and FRAP contact pickup under the treble strings
• custom 1980s Takamine with his name on the headstock
• Lowden L-250
• Martin J-65M
• 1920s Dyer harp guitar configured with a FRAP/autoharp pickup combo / reconfigured with Sunrise S-1 and two Barcus Berry magnetic pickups for the sub-basses (glued straight to the body)
• Steve Klein electric harp guitar with a Trans-Trem bridge
• black Dyer with a FRAP/autoharp pickup combo—and rattlesnake tail wedged under the sub-basses at headstock

Other guitars: The Martin logo. ... The Takamine logo. ... There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ...

• Hedges recorded Eleven Small Roaches, Baby Toes and Two Days Old, on the 1981 album Breakfast in the Field, on a six-string guitar built in 1978 by Ken DuBourg of Arbutus, Maryland. (References: Album notes; Acoustic Guitar Magazine: July 2005, No. 151)

Death

In late 1997, Hedges died at the age of 43 in a car accident along California State Route 128 in Mendocino County, near Boonville (about 100 miles northwest of San Francisco). According to his manager and longtime friend Hilleary Burgess, he was driving home from San Francisco International Airport after a Thanksgiving visit to his girlfriend in Long Island, New York. His car apparently skidded off a rain-slicked S-curve and down a 120 foot cliff. Hedges was thrown from his car and appeared to have died nearly instantly. It was a few days before his body was found^[4]. His record Oracle posthumously won the 1998 Grammy for Best New Age Album. Boonville is the name of some places in the United States of America: Boonville, California Boonville, Missouri Boonville (village), New York Boonville (town), New York Boonville, North Carolina These should not be confused with Booneville, Mississippi or Booneville, Kentucky, with an additional e. ...

His unfinished last recordings were brought to completion in the album Torched, with the help of his former manager Hilleary Burgess and friends David Crosby and Graham Nash.^[5] David Van Cortlandt Crosby (born August 14, 1941) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. ... Graham Nash on cover of his recording, Wild Tales, 1973 Graham William Nash (born February 2, 1942) is an English-born singer-songwriter known for his light tenor vocals and songwriting contributions in pop group The Hollies and folk-rock band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and as a photography collector...

Quotations about Michael Hedges

"I feel I can always hear his heart when he plays. He respected my playing too, and that simply thrills me." - Pete Townshend ^[6] Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (born May 19, 1945 in Chiswick, London), is an award-winning English rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, and composer. ...

"Michael was unique. His music transcends genre and trend. It's truly musical, fun and enlightening.” - Steve Vai ^[6] Steven Steve Siro Vai (born June 6, 1960 in Carle Place, New York) is a Grammy Award winning guitarist, composer, vocalist, and record producer. ...

"His playing has a feel and timbre all its own - technically brilliant, but always organic and true." - Joe Satriani ^[6] Joseph Satch Satriani (born on July 15, 1956, in Westbury, New York, U.S.) is an American guitarist and former guitar instructor. ...

"One of the most brilliant musicians in America." - David Crosby ^[6] David Van Cortlandt Crosby (born August 14, 1941) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. ...

"I considered him to be a genius and when he died I lost a great friend." Graham Nash ^[6] Graham Nash on cover of his recording, Wild Tales, 1973 Graham William Nash (born February 2, 1942) is an English-born singer-songwriter known for his light tenor vocals and songwriting contributions in pop group The Hollies and folk-rock band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and as a photography collector...

"There was simply no one like him." - Bonnie Raitt ^[6] Bonnie Raitt, (born November 8, 1949) is an American Blues-R&B singer, songwriter, and guitarist who was born in Burbank, California, the daughter of Broadway musical star John Raitt. ...

Discography

• Breakfast In The Field (1981)
• Aerial Boundaries (1984)
• Watching My Life Go By (1986)
• Live On The Double Planet (1987)
• Strings of Steel (1993)
• Taproot (1990)
• The Road To Return (1994)
• Oracle (1996)
• Torched (1999 - posthumous)

External links

• Nomad Land: The official Michael Hedges site
• Michael Hedges tribute site with video lessons and info
• Michael Hedges Interview by Anil Prasad
• Michael Hedges guitar tunings
• Peabody Reports Michael's Death
• Michael Hedges performs Neneh Cherry's "Buffalo Stance"

References

1. ^ http://www.acousticguitar.com/issues/ag67/coverstory.shtml
2. ^ http://www.nomadland.com/Bio.htm
3. ^ http://www.nomadland.com/Stage_Rig.htm
4. ^ http://www.nomadland.com/pressdem.htm
5. ^ http://www.nomadland.com/Torched.htm
6. ^ ^{a b c d e f} http://www.nomadland.com/Quotes99.htm