Michael Hedges Fans

[Mr.Hanky]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3795547535025238134&q=harp+guitar

[gregc]

Damn, what a talent. I miss Mike~

[elambo]

Not my favorite composition of his, but "seeing" it instead of just hearing it is great. Is there a resource for more videos of his performances?

[Fuchsaudio]

www.nomadland.com is still his active website. I saw him live a few years back in NJ. One of the more amazing and captivating live performers I have ever seen. Two hours of solo guitar and vocals (with subtle use of backing tracks). Nothing short of astounding.

[Mr.Hanky]

There are a few on youtube too, he was just awesome!
Never got to see him which is too bad.
Live on a double planet is still one of my favorites.

Here is all along the watchtower from 1988
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTrh3PMdDD4

[zappafrank]

Count me in as a fan---I was lucky enough to see him live 4 times---even 'bought the T-Shirt'---I miss him too---unbelievable creativity and soulfulness---

Thanks for the vids and 'nomad' links, guys---

ac

[kilgorekid]

I guess I'm not in tune with the times-What happened to Michael?

[kilgorekid]

I googled and found out he was killed in a car crash in 1997.

[infiniteposse]

Great clip. I was introduced to his music randomly through an Xmas gift, his album "Breakfast in the field," from my mom when I was about 13 or 14 or so. I was playing guitar a lot and she thought I'd dig it. How right she was... He seems like such a nice guy and I really appreciate that while he's obviously very technically gifted, there's always soul behind what he's playing. Great stuff.

[Bear]

In my small town, all you have to do is just "check-it-out" at the local *library*! That's where I found out about him...and, quite a few other "video performances". Many people forget about the "library"....they're not *just books*...although I hear the **AA is trying hard to BAN many of the "contribtions". How ironic! I wouldn't have bought his stuff had it not been for the *library*! I can't afford to just buy everything in sight and HOPE that I get a "jewel" like M.H. ....which would NEVER be played on any of OUR local stations.

[riffmeister]

I googled and found out he was killed in a car crash in 1997.

I saw MH play several times in the greater Philly area. In fact, I saw him play just two weeks before he died. That last performance was incredible, the best I'd seen of him. Needless to say, I was in a state of shock when I heard the news of his death.....and I still am in some ways. :(

Michael was one of the most amazing creative guitarist/musicians and I feel so fortunate to have been graced with his music.

[LesPaulMan]

I saw him on the "Taproot Tour", which was back around '91?
To this day, it's one of the best concerts I've ever seen.

We all lost something special the day he died.

[suttree]

I saw him on the "Taproot Tour", which was back around '91?
To this day, it's one of the best concerts I've ever seen.

We all lost something special the day he died.

saw that tour, in toronto. miss the t-shirt, it was horrible, just a big ol' mudflap on the front of it, but i loved it.

i had front row center seats for the show, and he broke a nail and borrowed my nail clippers. made fun of my keychain! one of my best concert memories ever. we did certainly lose something special when he died.

[jordanL]

I first saw MH perform back in college, it was 85 or 86, his Aerial Boundaries album had just came out. I knew nothing about him, but went on the recommendation of a friend. Opening act was a New age pianist, then this guy with hair down to his butt, barefoot and a Martin did one of the most unique performances I ever saw. He came back later that year, and broke out the Harp guitar. Met him after the show, seemed like a nice guy.

I also saw him perform around '94-with Michael Manring.

Such a unique player.

[rgsss14]

Damn, what a talent. I miss Mike~

Miss him too.

"Ragamuffin" was my favorite and is a blast to play (of course not as well as he does).

"Bensusan" is the other one.

[billv]

The song "Aerial Boundaries" still gives me chills after all these years. I'll never forget how astounded I was when I heard the song for the first time on Towson University's old student radio station.

I got to see him live in a split billing show with Leo Kottke. Late '80s. They were both awesome!

[greasykid]

Hey, this is freaky! I just read this joke and was wondering who Michael Hedges was then went to TGP and this is the latest posted-on thread when I got here.


A fingerstyle guitarist dies and is quite please to find that he ends up standing before the pearly gates of Guitar Heaven. St. Peter shows him in, and gives him a guided tour.

"This is Chet Atkins room here..." says Peter, and the guitarist is saying "Wow! Chet Atkins!" "And this is Merle Travis' room here and Marcel Dadi's is over there..." and the Fingerstyle Guitarist is totally in awe.

Finally Peter shows the guitarist to his own room. Before Peter leaves, he says to him, "I have to ask. Is Hedges here?" Peter shakes his head sadly and says "I'm afraid he needed to... spend time in Purgatory. But he'll be along soon enough."

The guitarist is disappointed but goes to his room and tries to get some sleep. He's woken up in the middle of the night by someone playing - a Harp Guitar - and it sounds just like Michael. He presses his ear to the wall, and listens more closely. Someone in the next room was now playing... it can't be .... a fingerstyle version of “Pinball Wizard”. The fingerstyle guitarist is confused as it sounds so much like Michael Hedges. The next day he tells Peter that he is almost certain that Hedges is in the next room.

Peter pulls him to one side, and whispers into his ear, "Shhh.... don't tell anyone. That's God. He thinks he's Michael Hedges"

[SnidelyWhiplash]

I had the opprotunity to see Michael in Lexington,KY. in 1994.Hands
down one of the best shows i have ever seen in my life.Got to meet him
backstage.Very humble,unassuming,which is in stark contrast to his
talent.He even let my friend take a look at his sound system and board.
How many artists would take the time to accomidate his fans in such a
fashion.I still miss his artistry and his musicianship.If you listen to the
wind,you can still hear him play.

[Shadscbr]

Like a lot of us here, I was lucky enough to see Michael live. I had just started at Penn State, and a buddy and I made the trip to a church at Lebanon Valley College around 1990. He totally blew me away...what an inspiration.

"i carry your heart" was the song we danced to at our wedding reception.

I almost always have a MH disc in heavy rotation...he is definately missed.

Shad

[riffmeister]

"i carry your heart" was the song we danced to at our wedding reception.

Beautiful marriage between an ee cummings poem and Michael's musical imagination. And what a beautiful sentiment to be dancing to at one's wedding........nice!

[Shadscbr]

Beautiful marriage between an ee cummings poem and Michael's musical imagination. And what a beautiful sentiment to be dancing to at one's wedding........nice!

Thanks Riffmeister :)

I must admit, when the song came on and we danced that first song in front of all those people, the combination of Michael's playing backed by the nice harmonies from 2/3 of CSN...i'm afraid I got a bit choked up..I'm a dork like that ;)

I'm in the process of working on a 7 string version of Aerial Boundries thanks to Kingsley :D

Shad

[kingsleyd]

I'm in the process of working on a 7 string version of Aerial Boundries thanks to Kingsley :D

Did you get THAT on videotape? If so, you know I'm going to have to shoot you now, right? :D

[Shadscbr]

Hey Kingsley!

Yes, I did get your performance on tape...but just as you started playing, Jamie got a phone call, so you have to listen in between his conversation :)

Between your video, and the Stropes/MH book...I should be able to work it out...now I just need to get my "under construction" Kronbauer 7 string acoustic to record it :)

Shad

[les]

One of my favorite guitar players. The sounds that MH could get out of his guitars were amazing... Very, very talented! It is such a shame that he is no longer with us.

[erksin]

I was lucky enough to see Michael many times in very intimate settings around the time 'Aerial Boundaries' was released. He used to have a steady gig a The New Varsity Theater in Palo Alto, CA. At the time (1984), he was still living in his van with his wife and baby. One time, the courtyard gig was rained out, so they put him upstairs in a small conference room - there was only about 12 of us up there - he just played whatever came into his head, took requests, etc. I sat no less than 3 feet from him and still couldn't comprehend his technique. The guy was otherworldly...

I was really crushed when I heard he died - a great soul and generous spirit for sure.

[Sebastian]

Feeling maudlin reading this thread.

I saw MH on the Stanford campus. He broke a string and bet the audience he could change it in a minute. We counted. Under 60 seconds and he was back again.

[tedm]

we were both friends with randy lutge, and his mom, the managers of the varsity. had lunch with him at liddicoates, and talked music, guitars, synths, and computers with him a lot in the mid '80s, and used to see him as early as the mid/late '70s doing the varsity gigs for free. I miss the guy.

I was lucky enough to see Michael many times in very intimate settings around the time 'Aerial Boundaries' was released. He used to have a steady gig a The New Varsity Theater in Palo Alto, CA. At the time (1984), he was still living in his van with his wife and baby. One time, the courtyard gig was rained out, so they put him upstairs in a small conference room - there was only about 12 of us up there - he just played whatever came into his head, took requests, etc. I sat no less than 3 feet from him and still couldn't comprehend his technique. The guy was otherworldly...

I was really crushed when I heard he died - a great soul and generous spirit for sure.

[erksin]

we were both friends with randy lutge, and his mom, the managers of the varsity. had lunch with him at liddicoates, and talked music, guitars, synths, and computers with him a lot in the mid '80s, and used to see him as early as the mid/late '70s doing the varsity gigs for free. I miss the guy.

I really miss that place - spent the better part of two years hanging out at The Varsity every week. Great concerts, midnight movies, interesting people. Too bad it's gone...

[starfish]

I'm a big guy, one of those archetypal walk softly but carry a big stick, never cries, etc. (Of course the reason for that is probably because I connect emotionally with great emotional music).

I admit my eyes welled up when NPR anounced Michael died during the drive home on that fateful day in 1997. It was very sad indeed.

I was lucky enough to have seen Hedges 14 times live over the years. For me, the highlights were Finney Chapel in Oberlin, Ohio in September 1989 and Tucson, AZ in October 1994 with Michael Manring.

I'll never forget The Finney Chapel gig, Michael standing on his head while Spare Change was playing back on a 4-track deck. I thought to myself, punk rock died in 1979 and was reborn a brilliant acoustic guitarist. Reincarnation of the highest spiritual order.

RIP Michael - we will always remember you!

[Tom Drake]

Well, I've never posted here but this thread is too profound to pass up, and, oddly, I was thinking of MH last night after a dream about a loved one who'd passed away, which had me thinking of other loved ones who'd gone on, which led me to MH....

Like the poster "erksin" I too saw MH often at the New Varsity in Palo Alto back in 81-83, as well as at the Stanford Coffee House (or whatever it was called) and I can sincerely say his music changed my life...at the time I was a senior in HS (Gunn), and we punks used to hang out at the Varsity and the streets of University Avenue. We were, at the time, very much all about the Dead Kennedies and the Clash and the Jam and a life of climbing up on the hoods of all those Silicone Valley Mercedes Benzs to urinate, scrawling graphitti across the booming gentrification etc etc...but increasingly I found myself up in that New Varsity loft overcome by Michael's music, where he played for free to micro sized crowds.

...I travelled around for a year after HS and softened a bit, returning to Palo Alto to take some Foothills Community College classes and stumble across George Winston playing for free at a Tower Records store, and returning to the the Varsity to find MH playing for sold out crowds in the main courtyard.

I started working for a house painter and we spent a month painting that courtyard, and my girlfriend at the time (who would become the my first wife and the mother of my now 16 year old daughter) worked at a healthfood store frequented by MH, down on California Avenue (near the famed Gryphon instrument shop), so we struck up a passing aquaintance friendship and I was utterly, completely and totally star struck.

I traded all my punk and Euro-pop albums for CSN, CCR, wore the grooves off of all the early Windham Hill stuff, grew my hair out, bought an acoustic guitar and, well, never looked back (well, ok, I do have some Clash and The Jam on CD!).

We were fortunate enough to see MH with Leo Kottke up here in North Idaho a few years before he died...I can only listen to Aerial Boundaries about once a year, though; no music has ever had such a profound and positive effect on my life and the choices I made, and I still choke up hearing those opening chords. MH was not simply a musical genius but a beautiful man, a testament to the power of art, I guess.

Thanks for this thread and inspiring me to visit those memories! ...and I was just looking in to gawk at some gear!

td

[starfish]

Silent Anticipations

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8099481473045301749&q=michael+hedges

[starfish]

Tons of video here:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=michael+hedges&search=Search

[johneeeveee]

I googled and found out he was killed in a car crash in 1997.
I had a part time day gig at a small grocery store in Palo Alto, Ca, where Michael Hedges shopped occasionally. To be honest, I was never a huge fan of that style of guitar, but had seen him live a few times and always respected his talent and dedication. He was also a very sweet man, and loved to talk music and guitars.

He came in one day wearing his own shiny new concert T-shirt, and I walked up to him and said, "Laundry day, Michael?". We both laughed and went about our business. I believe he was killed the very next day. Very sad.

Great talent, great guy - jv

[DrSax]

i've mentioned MH many times here, a huge fan. Was utterly blown away when i saw him the first time, pretty much changed my idea of performance, the guitar, composition, heck alot of stuff. These vids are great, but man, you just had to BE there, up front, to have felt the energy this guy conveyed. It was amazing. I'm not one for hero worship, but i was pretty devasted when he was killed.

[tvegas99]

His music had such a profound effect on me, I saw him several times in the Philly area and I would always take a friend with me...you didn't have to be a guitar fan to be so moved by him...it seems that level of creativity just isn't around anymore...his music really changed the lives of so many...this was the song that got me started on him over 20 years- My love runs leaf and vine always brings a tear to my eye...thanks for the thread

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNMUdV5IzAc

[Boobala]

Below is a link to video of Michael Hedges in 1991 giving a college seminar in Pittsburg. There are 6 videos in the series.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x30em1_michael-hedges-guitar-seminar-part_music

Strange thing I noticed; He writes left-handed but plays right-handed.

[Stubee]

A friend took me to my first Hedges concert as a birthday present. I played guitar but had never heard of this guy. It was at a small auditorium, we were in the 2nd row. I still remember the guitar sound when he walked out, playing. He played two sets, nearly two hours total. I was just floored by him, understood a lot of the stuff he did but could never duplicate it. I saw him twice after that, always great.

I don't play like him at all, but have worked up versions of "Face Yourself" and "Woman of the World" that I do once in awhile. I miss him.

[Shadscbr]

Below is a link to video of Michael Hedges in 1991 giving a college seminar in Pittsburg. There are 6 videos in the series.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x30em1_michael-hedges-guitar-seminar-part_music

Strange thing I noticed; He writes left-handed but plays right-handed.

Thanks for the link Boobala! That was really cool :)

Shad

[Irreverent]

...I had tickets to see him for the first time in the mid 90's. Call schedule came out and I had to work. GAVE the tickets to a friend, who ended up NOT GOING to the show. I made him pay me for the tickets he (stupidly) didn't use. Mr. Hedges sadly passed within the next year or so. Never got to see him. Huge bummer.:(

[The Pup]

I saw him perform the last year of his life...he played three sets for about forty people...I was thrilled.

[paaes335]

Did you get THAT on videotape? If so, you know I'm going to have to shoot you now, right? :D

Hey Kingsley, this is Pete A from the Seacoast Guitar show a few years back (as well as one of the openers for DeGrassi in Stonechurch)
Great seeing you here! Hope you're still gigging away.

For anyone reading this post, Kingsley was tapping away before he ever heard of MH and is a brilliant player/writer.

MH was awe inspiring, live and recorded. Saw him a year before his untimely death at a small venue in Maine. He toook people's heads off that night!

[ecm1117]

I've been on a MH kick these days and found this. This is a great thread!

[Mr.Hanky]

I've been on a MH kick these days and found this. This is a great thread!

Glad you resurrected it.