Michael Hedges Appreciation Thread

cgalves · Post by **cgalves** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 5:47 pm

So theres been alot of interest in heavily percussive acoustic guitar around here lately ... especially in Justin King and Keller Williams...

so what about the man who pretty much revolutionized acoustic guitar in the early 80's and pretty much brought to the forefront acoustic slap guitar ?? anyone ever heard of hedges ??

he combined impeccable fingerstyle technique with unimaginable creativity to create amazingly complex songs ... i recommend you guys get aerial boundaries, his first album ...

http://www.rootwitch.com/Java2.mpg

thats an mpeg of him playing Java Man, check it out, its pretty damn cool.
the ease with which he plays the song almost puts Justin King to shame.

also, the song of his called "Hot Type" is arguably the hardest guitar song to learn, it has an insanely difficult technique ...

heres an article on that technique http://www.stropes.com/refdocs/fun.pdf

Tranman66 · Post by **Tranman66** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 5:54 pm

put justin king to shame? how is that song more complicated then justin king stuff? and how did justin king ever did his stuff without ease?

dmbguitar718 · Post by **dmbguitar718** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 5:59 pm

Tranman66 wrote:put justin king to shame? how is that song more complicated then justin king stuff? and how did justin king ever did his stuff without ease?

hahahah.

Sorry, but michael hedges OWNS justin king. and you know i like him. That isn't michael playing, either.

Hedges is the father of all that is justin king.

search on itunes.

cgalves · Post by **cgalves** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 6:18 pm

dmbguitar718 wrote:
Tranman66 wrote:put justin king to shame? how is that song more complicated then justin king stuff? and how did justin king ever did his stuff without ease?
hahahah.

Sorry, but michael hedges OWNS justin king. and you know i like him. That isn't michael playing, either.

Hedges is the father of all that is justin king.

search on itunes.

yes, hedges is IMO one of the greatest guitarests / composers ever. both king and keller cite hedges as one of their primary influences ...

about java man, yes, it is a very hard song to play, and the way which he plays the song only adds to the beauty of the song itself. thats why i was saying the way which he plays it puts king to shame. its no question that hedges is WAY better than justin king ever was ..

and i was under the impression that it is in fact hedges playing Java man , according to Rootwitch's creator . the timestamp is clearly wrong, however, and that may be throwing you off. michael died in 97, and the timestamp says 98.

jeffro · Post by **jeffro** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 6:24 pm

Hedges rocks! And not only is an amazing guitarist (understatement) but he can also play the flute very well.!

MWR · Post by **MWR** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 7:17 pm

EVERY SINGLE modern acoustic instrumntalist was in some way influenced by Hedges. He paved the way for, as Don Ross woud call it- "heavy wood".

It's not about how fast or flashy he was it's about his tone. Listen to "Bensusan" and you'll know what I mean. That slide up and the little harmonic section, not very hard to play, but it's freaking brilliant.

Also for the three of you who are actually interested in this type of music the sticky has a list of artists to check out. Jaquie Gipson is pretty much completely unknown but she slaps and taps as good as I've ever heard. Check out Tap Dance

StarSlight · Post by **StarSlight** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 7:26 pm

Michael was an absolutely brilliant composer. He really made the guitar do what he needed it to do.

cgalves · Post by **cgalves** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 12:22 am

MWR wrote:EVERY SINGLE modern acoustic instrumntalist was in some way influenced by Hedges. He paved the way for, as Don Ross woud call it- "heavy wood".

It's not about how fast or flashy he was it's about his tone. Listen to "Bensusan" and you'll know what I mean. That slide up and the little harmonic section, not very hard to play, but it's freaking brilliant.

Also for the three of you who are actually interested in this type of music the sticky has a list of artists to check out. Jaquie Gipson is pretty much completely unknown but she slaps and taps as good as I've ever heard. Check out Tap Dance

Damn dude .. thanks for the tip about Jaquie Gipson. I listened to that mp3 and it is amazing! God if only I could figure out what she was doing .... I'd love to be able to jam to something similiar ..

Does she have a noteworthy album out or something? Anything worth looking into??

MWR · Post by **MWR** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 2:32 am

Go check out her website. It's awesome because she looks like a kindergarden teacher but she's bad ass. She plays a baritone 12 string on a quite a few songs. That's quite a beast.

A quote:

"It would be as difficult to imagine Kottke slapping harmonics from his guitar as it would be to imagine Hedges power-plucking a churning rag on 12-string. That a hometown mom and wife from tiny Trinidad, Colorado would be the one to artfully hybridize the styles of these two masters"

If you like the two handed tapping than get Home Town.

Check this one out:

High Wire

res784 · Post by **res784** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 3:57 am

Tranman66 wrote: how is that song more complicated then justin king stuff?

ya lets use this one 30 sec. video as a barometer of all of hedges songs.
two words:

hedges is f'n incredible

rest in peace, MH

Tranman66 · Post by **Tranman66** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 9:51 am

Ok i have to apologize and take back what i said because i wasnt sure who he was. i was judging him on that video only.

c_tietze · Post by **c_tietze** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 11:55 am

dmbguitar718 wrote:
Tranman66 wrote:put justin king to shame? how is that song more complicated then justin king stuff? and how did justin king ever did his stuff without ease?
hahahah.

Sorry, but michael hedges OWNS justin king. and you know i like him. That isn't michael playing, either.

Hedges is the father of all that is justin king.

search on itunes.

Well put. Unlike the slew of one trick ponies out there who know a few cool licks and can slap, Hedges was an innovator in style, tunings and composition.