The Music of Michael Hedges

Last updated January 1998

Michael Hedges was the most inspirational, astounding, down-right amazing guitarist I've ever seen. Sadly, he is also dead, in a tragic car crash shortly after Thanksgiving, near his home in Northern California, 1997. It pains me to write these words but the fact remains and all I can really do is talk about the music which he left with us. His legacy.

The Performance of a Lifetime

My attitude changed completely when I saw him perform. I first saw Michael in the spring of 1982 at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco along with Will Ackerman and George Winston. Michael's performance on guitar was stunning. I'd never seen anything like it and I doubt many others had either. Hedges pounded on his guitar, plucked strings with his chord hand and played his songs with an intensity of pure devotion. By the end of his set I was on my feet cheering with the rest of the crowd. Suddenly the songs that had seemed somewhat non-descript on the record were revealed as incredible feats of virtuosity and emotion.

I was a committed fan of Michael Hedges from that day on.

Since that day I've seen Hedges perform many times, in small venues (like the U.C. Davis coffee shop) and large ones (the Kabuki Theater in S.F.). My favorite performance was in the Nowie Valley Ministry just after he released his second (and greatest) record Aerial Boundaries . He was joined that night on several tunes by Daryl Anger in a performance that may never have been repeated (nothing he recorded with Daryl has been released). Later Michael started singing songs and playing other people's music in concert. I preferred his own creations to those of others (though his version of All Along the Watch Tower is really nice) so I felt his later concerts were not quite the same quality as his earlier ones. Be that as it may, I still saw him every few years or so.

However, for those of you who were not lucky enough to have seen him in person, his recordings remain and they can be listened to and enjoyed forever.

The Records of Michael Hedges

Aerial Boundaries (1984). In my opinion, his greatest work and possibly the single best guitar record ever. Nearly every piece is flawless and combines technical mastery with shear beauty. Rickover's Dream, and the title track deserve to live on long past this century has gone into history. As Hedges explained, Rickover's Dream is based on his experience of going aboard a nuclear submarine when he was a boy. It made quite an impression on him.

Watching My Life Go By (1985). This is Hedges' first effort at singing. While the songs are OK, he was not a natural singer and this record suffers somewhat. It is almost entirely replaced by his superior singing record Live on the Double Planet.

Live on the Double Planet (1987). This is an excellent record, Hedges is captured live (always a good idea) and his singing had improved significantly over the two years (he was taking lessons from 1984 onwards). Hilights from this record are Woman of the World, All Along the Watchtower, and Ready or Not.

Taproot 1990. Overall Taproot was something of a let down. This was Michael's first record of all new material since 1985 and while there were some wonderful tracks, like Scenes, The First Cutting, and Song of the Spirit Farmer, overall it just didn't seem to hang together. One problem: the guitar was reduced to a secondary instrument on many of the pieces. Also, the psychological terrain he was navigating to draw his music from was getting very autobiographical (I'm guessing) and I thought it was less effective than his earlier pieces. I would say this was a more mature work, sadder and less joyful.

The Road to Return 1994. If Taproot was a small let down, this record was a disaster. Michael sings on almost every track and lyrically, as well as musically, he was not up to the task. Some of the songs were great (like Communication, and Sister Soul) but many of the songs were almost unlistenable (the four songs following Communication). Combined with very odd cover and interior art, I really wondered what was the matter with Michael. At a guess I would say he was going through something very difficult in his personal life.

Oracle 1996. Oracle was a triumphant return to the Michael Hedges of old. Almost purely instrumental it is a superb record filled with great tracks, especially the title track: Oracle (although I could do without the Jitterboogie family version track). I rank Oracle right behind Aerial Boundaries, it is that good.

Lesser Works

According to Windham Hill's web site, the last music Michael Hedges recorded will appear on a new compilation CD that will come out soon. It is possible that more recordings (live works, alternate studio tracks) may appear as well.

While Hedges did not produce a body of work that is comparable in quality and quantity to Will Ackerman (not many people can), but he was a remarkable talent and a great inspiration to other guitarists who came away from his concerts uplifted by the possibilities of the guitar which Michael demonstrated.

I personally am deeply saddened by Michael Hedges' death. Somehow I was counting on seeing him perform again, to rekindle my memories of an earlier year. Personally I felt that Michael represented much of what was good about Windham Hill: a commitment to musical simplicity, the fact that he was fundamentally a good person and his inner nature shone through the music he played.

The only other web site I know of about Michael Hedges is on Windham Hill's own site. When Michael's death was announced they did a good deed by allowing his fans to post their personal messages on the site for others to read. It is nice to know that I'm not the only person who was grieved by his death. Hedges at Windham Hill

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