Storytelling Texas guitarist Hayden Pedigo launches nationwide tour in sa国际传媒官网网页入口
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Instrumental guitarist and consummate storyteller Hayden Pedigo is coming to Fusion on Wednesday, Oct. 22.
Pedigo characterizes his music as 鈥渁mbient, New Agey country music with instrumental guitar.鈥� The unique sound, he said, is rooted in the landscape of northern Texas, where he grew up and continues to live.
鈥淚鈥檓 from Amarillo, which is up in the Texas Panhandle, which I jokingly say is the part of Texas that the rest of Texas pretends isn鈥檛 a part of Texas,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a flat, dry, windy part of Texas. The flatness and the wind has inspired my music so much. It shows up in my music in the silence and the pauses, and also the restlessness and melancholy.鈥�
Between songs, Pedigo tells stories.
鈥淚 tell a lot of stories in between, because the songs don鈥檛 have any lyrics, so I try to fill in some of the blanks by telling stories about the songs and where I鈥檓 from,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 try to bring people to the Texas Panhandle through my songs, wherever the shows are, and I try to be entertaining.鈥�
Pedigo called the panhandle 鈥渁 strange place,鈥� noting that growing up there as an artist was not always easy.
鈥淚t can feel like living on an island. You feel cut off from the rest of the world at times,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou have to work really hard and dig deep to find inspiration.鈥�
Over the years, though, Pedigo has increasingly found inspiration there, and it鈥檚 become an inseparable part of his musical identity.
鈥淚 take a lot of pride in where I鈥檓 from,鈥� Pedigo said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important to take pride in coming from difficult places. I own the beautiful parts of it and recontextualize the hard parts of it to be beautiful, as well.鈥�
Pedigo began playing guitar at the age of 12, and his style has evolved over the years.
鈥淲hen I was 14 or 15, I found the guitarist John Fahey, who innovated a very specific kind of finger-picking style that was a bit more experimental-leaning and warped, and I became obsessed with that,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ver the years, I developed my own voice. And I think my songwriting style, at least with instrumental guitar, is more melodic-forward.鈥�
Other musicians have inspired his stage persona.
鈥淚鈥檓 inspired by old-timey entertainers,鈥� Pedigo said. 鈥淓ven finger-pickers like Merle Travis in the 1950s. When he performed solo, he would tell jokes and stories in between songs. And if you listen to country artists like Buck Owens, he鈥檚 not just playing songs. I feel like a good performance is also about engaging with the audience.鈥�
Pedigo described his own storytelling style as 鈥渕ore oddball鈥� than Travis and Owens.
鈥淚鈥檓 kind of an unreliable narrator with the stories,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I just have fun onstage. Sometimes I do a lot of talking, and sometimes I ask the audience if they have any questions for me, and I answer questions. It can go so many different ways.鈥�
Pedigo released his latest album, 鈥淚鈥檒l Be Waving as You Drive Away,鈥� in June, and he just completed a major European tour.
鈥淚 just played my very first tour of Europe last year. And from that tour to this tour, the growth of the audience was pretty sizable. I鈥檓 just shocked at how well received my music is over there,鈥� he said. 鈥淒ublin and Paris were the two best audiences of the tour. They were really on fire.鈥�
Pedigo鈥檚 upcoming North American tour 鈥� the longest of his career 鈥� launches in sa国际传媒官网网页入口.
鈥淢y family took a vacation to Santa Fe every summer for my entire childhood, and I spent a lot of time in sa国际传媒官网网页入口, too,鈥� Pedigo said. 鈥淪o, New Mexico is a very nostalgic place for me.鈥�
