The Tracking Angle: Michael Hedges—In Memory of a Master

This article was originally published in early 1998.

I could almost feel the collective reverberation of shock from guitarists, musicians and music lovers the world over when I learned of the death of guitarist Michael Hedges, killed in a car crash in Mendocino County, California last December 5. According to authorities, Hedges, 43, lost his life on State Route 128; it is speculated that his car skidded off a curve and down a steep embankment a few days before his body was discovered.

Truly, the world has lost a towering musical figure. Hedges was (man, how it pains me to use the past tense) a brilliant acoustic guitarist who, like Hendrix on the electric guitar, transcended and redefined the capabilities of the instrument along with previously-held expectations of what "could" be done on the instrument.

His playing was, in the true sense, radical—Hedges employed a cornucopia of innovative playing techniques such as unique alternate tunings, percussively slapping the strings (and at times, the body of the guitar), two-handed picking and much more. He often played unusual instruments such as the harp guitar, a multi-necked, multi-stringed behemoth that most people can't even hold, let alone play.

Typically, the few times he played the electric guitar, he approached it in a wholly unconventional way, using a Steinberger guitar, an instrument constructed from space-age composite materials and equipped with a device called the TransTrem, a bridge which, by the flick of a lever, allows the performer to change tunings during a performance. (Check out the songs "Point A" and "Point B" on Taproot, Windham Hill WD-1093.)

Hedges also sang beautifully, blessed with a richly expressive soaring tenor that scaled the emotional heights like few others. And when Hedges used sidemen, he chose empathic musicians who perfectly complemented his musical vision, most notably bassist extraordinaire Michael Manring, a brilliant musician in his own right. (I once saw him play three basses at once during a Hedges concert, making it look effortless.)

As is the case with all genius musicians, Hedges' prodigious technique always served his music, which is full of radiant beauty, profound depth of feeling, a huge tone and, always, an expansive, open quality that seems to embrace and envelop not only the listener, but also the entire universe. Not one note Hedges ever played was ever used to show off, though at times his playing can leave the listener gaping in open-mouthed astonishment.

The breadth of his music is also astonishing, ranging from deceptively simple-sounding fingerpicked melodies to complex constructions that sounded for all the world like three or four guitarists playing at once. Hedges was also noted for his unconventional choice of cover material—who else would have the audacity to perform everything from Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" to the Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows" to Frank Zappa's "Sofa No. 1" and make them sound utterly his own?

Michael Hedges left us seven recordings of (not counting the 1988 promo-only Strings of Steel compilation [Windham Hill WH-17532]) of sheer musical and sonic magnificence. Every one of his albums is nothing less than musically stunning, from his 1981 debut Breakfast in the Field to his most recent, Oracle. It's more a question of picking your favorite than saying, this one was cosmic, this one wasn't so good as is the case with most artists. (My favorites are Watching My Life Go By and Oracle.)

Not only that, every one—I mean every one of Hedges' albums was superbly recorded, with pristine clarity, phenomenal presence and extraordinary detail resolution. In addition, the recordings exhibit phenomenal frequency response and dynamic range, accentuating Hedges' use of alternate tunings that involve lowering the bass strings far below the guitar's normal range, as well as his dramatic playing dynamics. Purists may quibble that Hedges recorded his guitar in a larger-than-life perspective, deliberately creating a huge, speaker-to-speaker sonic image in some of his recordings-but in my opinion, it's an artistic decision that works, enhancing the presence and impact of the music.

The albums exhibit different flavors of sonic excellence, yes—Oracle is slightly warmer and richer-sounding; Breakfast in the Field more "sparkly" in the highs; Watching My Life Go By virtually perfect in every sonic and musical aspect-but all excellent nonetheless. As producer, Hedges paid meticulous attention to the sound. Examples: The LP of Breakfast was recorded without overdubs on an MCI JH 110A analog recorder at 30 ips using a pair of AKG 452 EB condenser mikes, mastered by Stan Ricker at Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab and pressed at RTI. Oracle was engineered by Rob Griffin and Hedges himself, and mastered by Bernie Grundman using 20-bit A to D converters and then "processed to retain the added clarity of 20-bit on a standard compact disc." In fact, I know of no other artist whose albums exhibit such consistent sonic superiority.

Many times, I've listened to the recordings of Michael Hedges and come away emotionally overwhelmed. Now that he's gone, the feeling is even more so. His albums are among the most treasured in my collection and have been for a long time. Michael Hedges, long may your guitar ring in heaven.