Note This

MICHAEL HEDGES: Taproot (Windham Hill, 1990)

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX is not a particularly popular phrase in music schools. Students are taught to emulate the greatness of other musicians, to understand what the composers wanted when they wrote their music, and to follow the pedagogy set forth eons ago. So often in the musical performance world, the expression of the human experience and the true meaning of the music are completely lost as students become glorified monkeys, artistically and craftily banging away at our cymbals.

Not so for Michael Hedges. He thought outside the box. In fact, he completely eliminated the box. Hedges was a guitarist who was first and foremost a composer; his innovative playing styles were merely tools- the means to his end- of expressing his compositions.

His style of composing and performing defied categorization, and he used terms such as "violent acoustic," "heavy mental," "acoustic thrash," "wacka-wacka," "new edge," "edgy pastoral," "savage myth," and "deep-tissue gladiator guitar" to describe his work.

Karl Wohlwend, guitarist with local Celtic band Knot Fibb'n and professor of guitar at Capital University and Otterbein College, says this of Hedges: "The sound of his playing is immediately recognizable, and it is easy to tell whether any guitarist heard nowadays is 'Before Michael' or 'After Michael.'" Hedges' solo guitar work, as first heard on his 1981 recording Breakfast in the Field, displayed a deep, compositional approach to the instrument. His focus on composition inspired him to coax a new array of unusual sounds from the instrument, and thus gave birth to a new style of playing. His use of percussive effects, harmonics, altered tunings, right-hand fingerboarding, intense polyphony, damping, and multi-part strumming are all trademark examples of the answers he found in his quest for sound.

Taproot, Hedges' 1990 Windham Hill release, is "an autobiographical myth told in music." The recording chronicles his life as well as family members and spiritual influences that helped shape him.

He starts with "The Naked Stalk," a simplistic melody line with gentle eighth note accompaniment, which is solo guitar and refers to Hedges himself. Next, "The Jealous Tunnel/About Face" is much more complex, even angry at times, referring to the complexity of adding someone significant to our lives and all the complications it brings with it. It grows in complexity and energy until snare drum and whistle are added, thus the "about face." In the end of this piece, he has successfully integrated himself into this new relationship. Though changing who he is somewhat, he doesn't lose the energy or essence of himself in this transformation.

This recording, as well as much of Hedges' life, was heavily influenced by the writings of Joseph Campbell, and Hedges sought to create his own myth, as Campbell discusses in his works. Listed on the album cover are the myth characters, referring to his wife, children, mother, healers in his life, and ancestors.

"The Jade Stalk," referring to his wife, is a most sensuous piece with a throaty clarinet solo cradled with guitars, synthesizer and bass. "Nomad Land" and "Point A" are introspective, brief looks into his own mind, his own self. "Chava's Song," one of my favorite cuts, has Hedges playing a harp guitar accompanied by piano. It starts with a simple walking bass line, then adds piano sparsely, building to a simple melody line. "Chava's Song" refers to his mother, and tenderly thanks her for giving him life and teaching him love. The final track, "I Carry Your Heart," is perhaps the most sentimental and emotional. Based on a poem by e. e. cummings, the lyrics are "I carry your heart with me, I carry it in my pocket, I'm never without it, wherever you go, I go." Sadly, Hedges died in a car accident in 1997 at the age of 43. What a gift he gave his loved ones in this recording- one I'm sure they treasure. And what a gift he gave us in his courage to say what he truly wanted to say through his innovative, experimental, exceptional music. His myth will live on, and we thank him for thinking outside the box and taking us along on his journey.

To discover more about Michael Hedges, go to www.nomadland.com.

- R. BETH HICKS

R. Beth Hicks has been a freelance flutist in Ohio since 1987, and currently plays with the Celtic band Knot Fibb'n. Beth is also a Licensed Massage Therapist practicing at Medical Massage Clinic in Upper Arlington, Ohio.