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{{Short description|American guitarist (1953–1997)}}
'''Michael Hedges''' was an American acoustic [[guitar]]ist. 1953-1997.
{{for|the sound engineer from New Zealand|Michael Hedges (sound engineer)}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2017}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2012}}
{{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians -->
| name = Michael Hedges
| image = Michael Hedges.jpg
| background =non_vocal_instrumentalist
| birth_name = Michael Alden Hedges
| birth_date = {{birth date|1953|12|31}}
| birth_place = [[Sacramento, California]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1997|12|2|1953|12|31}}
| death_place =[[Mendocino County, California]], U.S.
| genre = [[New acoustic music|New acoustic]], [[World music|world]], [[New-age music|new-age]]
| occupation = Musician, songwriter
| instrument = Guitar, flute


| years_active = 1974–1997
Hedges' combined many innovative techniques on the acoustic guitar with wide musical tastes, maturity as a composer, and a strong experimental streak to create guitar music that was very different to any that had gone before.
| label = [[Windham Hill Records|Windham Hill]]
| associated_acts =[[Michael Manring]]
| website = {{URL|michaelhedges.com}}
}}


'''Michael Alden Hedges''' (December 31, 1953 – December 2, 1997) was an American [[acoustic guitar]]ist and songwriter. He was known as a virtuoso who used unorthodox playing techniques, and much of his output was classified as [[new age music]]. Hedges died in an auto accident, and won a posthumous [[Grammy Award]] for his album ''[[Oracle (Michael Hedges album)|Oracle]]''.
In terms of guitar technique, he explored alternative tunings more widely than any other guitarist before or since (some tunings include, from bass to treble: CcDGAD on "Ariel Boundaries", BADEAB, CGDGBC on "Rickover's Dream", FADGBE on "Lenono", DADGCE, DACGCE); he used the fingers of his right (picking) hand to slap harmonic "chords" at the 12th or 7th fret; he made use of right hand hammer-ons, particularly on bass notes; he also damped strings with his picking hand to control the length of notes, a method more often used by classical guitarists, but particularly applicable to acoustic guitar. Other facets to his playing were percussive slapping on the guitar body and extensive use of artificial harmonics. He also played guitar-variants like the Harp-Guitar, and the TransTrem Guitar


==Early years==
His first albums, "Breakfast in the field" and "Ariel Boundaries" were milestones for the acoustic guitar, although other instrumentalists already featured, particularly bassist Michael Manring. He then branched out into song-writing and performing. Occasionally, with the albums "Taproot" and "Oracle" he would make a return to more guitar-centred music. Hedges was in fact quite a multi-instrumentalist, also playing piano, percussion, tin whistle, harmonica, and flute among others, on his albums.
The son of Thayne Alden Hedges and Ruth Evelyn Hedges Ipsen, Michael Hedges was born in [[Sacramento, California]]. His life in music began in [[Enid, Oklahoma]], playing flute and guitar.<ref name="Larkin">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=Virgin Books|date=1997|edition=Concise|isbn=1-85227-745-9|page=590}}</ref> He enrolled at [[Phillips University]] in Enid to study classical guitar and composition under E. J. Ulrich, who Hedges credited as his biggest influence from his academic training. Hedges studied as a composition major at [[Peabody Conservatory]] in Baltimore, Maryland<ref name="Larkin"/> where he applied his classical background to [[steel-string acoustic guitar]], also studying [[electronic music]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HD_NyXNyw4 Michael Hedges - Interview Enid, OK], with Janice Anrukaitis (published on YouTube, Aug 24, 2010)</ref>


Hedges made a living by playing and singing in bars and restaurants in Baltimore while a student at Peabody. From 1976 to 1977 he played electric guitar and flute for a local group called Lotus Band, which he left to start performing as a solo acoustic act. In 1980, he made plans to move to California to study music at [[Stanford University]].<ref name="Larkin"/> Hedges was contacted in February 1981 by [[William Ackerman]] who heard him perform at the Varsity Theater in [[Palo Alto]]. On a napkin, Ackerman signed Hedges to a recording contract with [[Windham Hill Records]].<ref name="Larkin"/>
Many acoustic guitarists claim a very broad range of influences and will not fit into any genre, but this was truer of Hedges than of any other. 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, Varese, Webern, and experimental composers such as Morton Feldman. He was often categorized as new age (partly due to his association with [[Windham Hill Records]] record label). He is widely regarded to be the finest acoustic guitar player of the modern era.

==Recordings==
Hedges' first two albums for Windham Hill were ''[[Breakfast in the Field]]'' and ''[[Aerial Boundaries]]''.<ref name="Larkin"/> He wrote nearly exclusively in [[alternate tunings]]. His early recordings and most of the ''Breakfast in the Field'' album were recorded on the Ken DuBourg guitar and his Martin D-28, named "Barbara". Some of the techniques he used include slap harmonics (created by slapping the strings over a [[Node (physics)|harmonic node]]), use of right hand hammer-ons (particularly on bass notes), use of the left hand for melodic or rhythmic [[hammer-on]]s and [[pull off]]s, percussive, syncopated slapping on the guitar body, as well as unusual strumming. He made extensive use of string damping as employed in classical guitar, and was known to insist strongly on the precise duration of sounds and silences in his pieces. He played guitar variants like the [[harp guitar]] (an instrument with additional bass strings), and the [[TransTrem]] guitar.<ref name="Larkin"/> He was a multi-instrumentalist who played piano, percussion, tin whistle, harmonica, and flute. Virtuoso bassist [[Michael Manring]] contributed to nearly all of Hedges' records.

Frustrated that his published work reflected only the instrumental side of his creative output, Hedges convinced Windham Hill to release ''[[Watching My Life Go By]]'', a 1985 studio recording of his vocal originals written over a span of five years—songs often performed at his concerts leading up to the album's release.<ref name="Larkin"/> His fourth album, a live recording called ''[[Live on the Double Planet]]'', was assembled from 40 of his live concerts from 1986 to 1987.<ref name="Larkin"/>

His musical education was largely in modern 20th-century composition. He listened to [[Martin Carthy]], [[John Martyn (singer)|John Martyn]], and [[the Beatles]], but his approach to composition owed much to [[Igor Stravinsky]], [[Edgard Varèse]], [[Anton Webern]], and [[Steve 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.<ref name="Larkin"/> He was often categorized as a [[new-age music]]ian because of his association with Windham Hill.<ref name="Larkin"/>

Hedges toured briefly with [[Leo Kottke]]. These shows included solo performances by Kottke and Hedges and, as a finale, a number of duets including performances of Kottke's "Doodles" with Hedges playing a high-strung [[parlor guitar]].

Hedges' ''Aerial Boundaries'' album, released in 1984, included a tribute piece to the works of acoustic guitarist [[Pierre Bensusan]], simply entitled "Bensusan". Bensusan posthumously returned tribute on his 2001 release ''Intuite'' ("Favored Nations"), with a composition entitled "So Long Michael".

==Personal life==
Hedges was married to flautist [[Mindy Rosenfeld]] but the couple divorced in the late 1980s.<ref>{{cite book |title=Contemporary musicians: profiles of the people in music|url=https://archive.org/details/contemporarymusi00mich_3|url-access=registration|author=LaBlanc, Michael L. |publisher=Gale Research Inc|year=1990|isbn=9780810322110}}</ref> He was the father of two children, Mischa Aaron Hedges and Jasper Alden Hedges.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.geni.com/people/Michael-Hedges/6000000001819694091|title=Michael Hedges|website=Geni.com|date=December 31, 1953 |access-date=13 Jan 2016}}</ref>

==Death==
According to his manager Hilleary Burgess, Hedges was driving home from [[San Francisco International Airport]] after a visit to a girlfriend in [[Long Island, New York]]. His car apparently skidded off a rain-slicked S-curve and down a {{convert|120|ft|m|adj=on}} cliff. Hedges was thrown from his car and appeared to have died nearly instantly. His body was found a few days afterward.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nomadland.com/pressdem.htm |title=Local news report |website=Nomadland.com |date=December 5, 1997 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Bendersky|first=Ari|title=Guitarist Michael Hedges Dies In Car Accident|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/guitarist-michael-hedges-dies-in-car-accident-19971204|website=Rollingstone.com|date=December 4, 1997|access-date=13 June 2013}}</ref> After his death, his album ''[[Oracle (Michael Hedges album)|Oracle]]'' won the 1997 [[Grammy Award for Best New Age Album]].

Hedges' unfinished last recordings were completed for the album ''[[Torched (Michael Hedges album)|Torched]]'' with the help of Burgess and friends [[David Crosby]] and [[Graham Nash]], who also provided backing vocals on one track.<ref>{{cite web|author=Matt Guthrie |url=http://www.nomadland.com/Torched.htm |title=Michael Hedges: Torched |website=Nomadland.com }}</ref>

==Guitars==
Hedges regularly used the following instruments:<ref>{{cite web|author=Matt Guthrie |url=http://www.nomadland.com/Stage_Rig.htm |title=Michael Hedges' Stage Rig |website=Nomadland.com }}</ref>
* 1971 [[C. F. Martin & Company|Martin]] D-28 guitar (nicknamed "Barbara") with a combination of a Sunrise S-1 magnetic pickup and FRAP contact pickup under the treble strings
* A 1978 Ken DuBourg custom made steel string guitar (stolen and returned many years later)
* A custom 1980s [[Takamine Guitars|Takamine]] guitar with his name on the headstock
* [[George Lowden|Lowden]] L-25 guitars
* Martin J-65M guitars
* 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 Steinberger TransTrem bridge
* circa 1913 black Knutsen harp guitar (often incorrectly referred to as a Dyer) with a FRAP/autoharp pickup combo—and rattlesnake tail wedged under the sub-basses at the headstock
* Custom Ervin Somogyi acoustic (as credited on ''Breakfast in the Field'')

==Discography==
[[File:Michael Hedges street on the Northern Oklahoma College Campus in Enid, Oklahoma.jpg|thumb|Michael Hedges Blvd., on the Northern Oklahoma College (former Phillips University) campus in Enid, Oklahoma.]]
* ''[[Breakfast in the Field]]'' (Windham Hill, 1981)
* ''[[Aerial Boundaries]]'' (Windham Hill, 1984)
* ''[[Watching My Life Go By]]'' (Open Air, 1985)
* ''Santabear's First Christmas'' (1986)
* ''[[Live on the Double Planet]]'' (Windham Hill, 1987)
* ''[[Taproot (Michael Hedges album)|Taproot]]'' (Windham Hill, 1990)
* ''Princess Scargo and the Birthday Pumpkin'' (1993)
* ''[[The Road to Return]]'' (High Street, 1994)
* ''[[Oracle (Michael Hedges album)|Oracle]]'' (Windham Hill, 1996)
* ''[[Torched (Michael Hedges album)|Torched]]'' (Windham Hill, 1999)

== See also ==
* [[List of ambient music artists]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}


== External links ==
== External links ==
* [http://www.nomadland.com/ http://www.nomadland.com/]
* [http://www.nomadland.com/ Official site]
* [http://www.innerviews.org/inner/hedges.html Michael Hedges Interview by Anil Prasad]
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980218185455/http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/concerts-and-events/pn/jan98/hedges.html |date=February 18, 1998 |title=Peabody Reports Michael's Death }}
* [http://www.harpguitars.net/players/month-player,2-06.htm Michael Hedges: Harp Guitar Player of the Month]
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hedges, Michael}}
[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:1997 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American guitarists]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:American acoustic guitarists]]
[[Category:American male guitarists]]
[[Category:Guitarists from Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Enid High School alumni]]
[[Category:American fingerstyle guitarists]]
[[Category:Grammy Award winners]]
[[Category:Peabody Institute alumni]]
[[Category:Phillips University alumni]]
[[Category:Road incident deaths in California]]
[[Category:Windham Hill Records artists]]

Latest revision as of 15:46, 26 October 2024

For the sound engineer from New Zealand, see Michael Hedges (sound engineer).

Michael Hedges
Background information
Birth nameMichael Alden Hedges
Born(1953-12-31)December 31, 1953
Sacramento, California, U.S.
DiedDecember 2, 1997(1997-12-02) (aged 43)
Mendocino County, California, U.S.
GenresNew acoustic, world, new-age
Occupation(s)Musician, songwriter
Instrument(s)Guitar, flute
Years active1974–1997
LabelsWindham Hill
Websitemichaelhedges.com

Michael Alden Hedges (December 31, 1953 – December 2, 1997) was an American acoustic guitarist and songwriter. He was known as a virtuoso who used unorthodox playing techniques, and much of his output was classified as new age music. Hedges died in an auto accident, and won a posthumous Grammy Award for his album Oracle.

Early years

[edit]

The son of Thayne Alden Hedges and Ruth Evelyn Hedges Ipsen, Michael Hedges was born in Sacramento, California. His life in music began in Enid, Oklahoma, playing flute and guitar.[1] He enrolled at Phillips University in Enid to study classical guitar and composition under E. J. Ulrich, who Hedges credited as his biggest influence from his academic training. Hedges studied as a composition major at Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Maryland[1] where he applied his classical background to steel-string acoustic guitar, also studying electronic music.[2]

Hedges made a living by playing and singing in bars and restaurants in Baltimore while a student at Peabody. From 1976 to 1977 he played electric guitar and flute for a local group called Lotus Band, which he left to start performing as a solo acoustic act. In 1980, he made plans to move to California to study music at Stanford University.[1] Hedges was contacted in February 1981 by William Ackerman who heard him perform at the Varsity Theater in Palo Alto. On a napkin, Ackerman signed Hedges to a recording contract with Windham Hill Records.[1]

Recordings

[edit]

Hedges' first two albums for Windham Hill were Breakfast in the Field and Aerial Boundaries.[1] He wrote nearly exclusively in alternate tunings. His early recordings and most of the Breakfast in the Field album were recorded on the Ken DuBourg guitar and his Martin D-28, named "Barbara". 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, syncopated slapping on the guitar body, as well as unusual strumming. He made extensive use of string damping as employed in classical guitar, and was known to insist strongly on the precise duration of sounds and silences in his pieces. He played guitar variants like the harp guitar (an instrument with additional bass strings), and the TransTrem guitar.[1] He was a multi-instrumentalist who played piano, percussion, tin whistle, harmonica, and flute. Virtuoso bassist Michael Manring contributed to nearly all of Hedges' records.

Frustrated that his published work reflected only the instrumental side of his creative output, Hedges convinced Windham Hill to release Watching My Life Go By, a 1985 studio recording of his vocal originals written over a span of five years—songs often performed at his concerts leading up to the album's release.[1] His fourth album, a live recording called Live on the Double Planet, was assembled from 40 of his live concerts from 1986 to 1987.[1]

His musical education was largely in modern 20th-century composition. He listened to Martin Carthy, John Martyn, and the Beatles, but his approach to composition owed much to Igor Stravinsky, Edgard Varèse, Anton Webern, and Steve 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.[1] He was often categorized as a new-age musician because of his association with Windham Hill.[1]

Hedges toured briefly with Leo Kottke. These shows included solo performances by Kottke and Hedges and, as a finale, a number of duets including performances of Kottke's "Doodles" with Hedges playing a high-strung parlor guitar.

Hedges' Aerial Boundaries album, released in 1984, included a tribute piece to the works of acoustic guitarist Pierre Bensusan, simply entitled "Bensusan". Bensusan posthumously returned tribute on his 2001 release Intuite ("Favored Nations"), with a composition entitled "So Long Michael".

Personal life

[edit]

Hedges was married to flautist Mindy Rosenfeld but the couple divorced in the late 1980s.[3] He was the father of two children, Mischa Aaron Hedges and Jasper Alden Hedges.[4]

Death

[edit]

According to his manager Hilleary Burgess, Hedges was driving home from San Francisco International Airport after a visit to a girlfriend in Long Island, New York. His car apparently skidded off a rain-slicked S-curve and down a 120-foot (37 m) cliff. Hedges was thrown from his car and appeared to have died nearly instantly. His body was found a few days afterward.[5][6] After his death, his album Oracle won the 1997 Grammy Award for Best New Age Album.

Hedges' unfinished last recordings were completed for the album Torched with the help of Burgess and friends David Crosby and Graham Nash, who also provided backing vocals on one track.[7]

Guitars

[edit]

Hedges regularly used the following instruments:[8]

  • 1971 Martin D-28 guitar (nicknamed "Barbara") with a combination of a Sunrise S-1 magnetic pickup and FRAP contact pickup under the treble strings
  • A 1978 Ken DuBourg custom made steel string guitar (stolen and returned many years later)
  • A custom 1980s Takamine guitar with his name on the headstock
  • Lowden L-25 guitars
  • Martin J-65M guitars
  • 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 Steinberger TransTrem bridge
  • circa 1913 black Knutsen harp guitar (often incorrectly referred to as a Dyer) with a FRAP/autoharp pickup combo—and rattlesnake tail wedged under the sub-basses at the headstock
  • Custom Ervin Somogyi acoustic (as credited on Breakfast in the Field)

Discography

[edit]
Michael Hedges Blvd., on the Northern Oklahoma College (former Phillips University) campus in Enid, Oklahoma.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Colin Larkin, ed. (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Concise ed.). Virgin Books. p. 590. ISBN 1-85227-745-9.
  2. ^ Michael Hedges - Interview Enid, OK, with Janice Anrukaitis (published on YouTube, Aug 24, 2010)
  3. ^ LaBlanc, Michael L. (1990). Contemporary musicians: profiles of the people in music. Gale Research Inc. ISBN 9780810322110.
  4. ^ "Michael Hedges". Geni.com. December 31, 1953. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  5. ^ "Local news report". Nomadland.com. December 5, 1997.
  6. ^ Bendersky, Ari (December 4, 1997). "Guitarist Michael Hedges Dies In Car Accident". Rollingstone.com. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  7. ^ Matt Guthrie. "Michael Hedges: Torched". Nomadland.com.
  8. ^ Matt Guthrie. "Michael Hedges' Stage Rig". Nomadland.com.
[edit]
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