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Hayden Pedigo is moving fingerstyle guitar forward into a bright, uncertain future. His open-tuned wanderings draw on the grand American primitive tradition of late legends like John Fahey and torch-carrying contemporaries like Daniel Bachman.
But he’s not merely replicating the revolutionary, deceptively simple work of his predecessors and peers. And while he references the moody folk melodies of Nick Drake as another inspiration, he’s far more than the sum of his influences.
Today (April 13), Pedigo announces his sixth studio album, The Happiest Times I Ever Ignored — premiering its lead single and the accompanying, Matt Muir-directed music film, with The FADER. “Elsewhere” is a five-and-a-half minute emotional roller coaster that sticks closely to its timbral center — an acoustic guitar and bass (the latter provided by the forthcoming record’s producer, Trayer Tryon), some light pedal steel flourishes from Luke Schneider — but accomplishes more world building with the interplay of these three instruments than most artists could with a full orchestra at their disposal.
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