One of his generation’s most inventive and celebrated solo guitarists, the self-proclaimed “violent acoustic” performer Michael Hedges built his reputation on a singular approach that combined harmonics and intricate picking to evoke the sound of several guitars at once. Born in Sacramento, California, in 1953, he pursued classical guitar studies during his undergraduate years before completing a composition degree at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. In 1980 he joined Stanford University’s distinguished electronic music program; while playing in nearby Palo Alto he caught the attention of Windham Hill founder Will Ackerman, who promptly offered him a recording deal. His first album, Breakfast in the Field, reached listeners in 1981.
Over the following years Hedges cultivated his “man-band” concert presentations, employing a two-handed tapping technique on a specially constructed double-necked acoustic-and-bass guitar. Though his Windham Hill association led many listeners to group him with new age artists, he rejected that classification and instead proposed the labels “violent acoustic,” “heavy mental,” “new edge,” and “deep-tissue gladiator guitar.” He regularly ventured into rock and pop territory, featuring well-received versions of Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” and “All Along the Watchtower.” His second release, Aerial Boundaries in 1984, earned him an initial Grammy nomination, and after Watching My Life Go By appeared in 1985 the label established the Open Air imprint to separate his work from the narrowing expectations of the new age category.
The 1987 live recording Live on the Double Planet introduced two pieces played on the uncommon harp guitar, while Taproot in 1990 marked his return to singing for the first time since Watching My Life Go By. Four years passed before The Road to Return surfaced; on that album vocals became central and, alongside acoustic guitar, he performed on flute, drums, synthesizer, harmonica, and electric guitar. Oracle in 1996 signaled a return to purely acoustic settings, yet it proved to be the final album issued while he was alive. On December 2, 1997, his body was found near the site of a car accident just outside his hometown of Mendocino, California; he was 43. His last completed track, the acoustic “Java Man,” surfaced on the 1998 collection The Sounds of Wood and Steel. Torched followed the next year. The later anthologies Best of Michael Hedges (2000), Platinum & Gold Collection (2003), and Pure Michael Hedges (2006) all appeared posthumously on Windham Hill.
