Background
Hedges attended Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma, studying classical guitar. It was here that he studied under his compositional mentor, E. J. Ulrich. Subsequently Hedges was a composition major at Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Maryland who applied his classically-trained musical background in combination with various unusual techniques to the steel-string acoustic guitar. He covered a wide range of musical styles and was considered an extremely dynamic performer in concert. Michael made ends meet playing and singing in pubs and restaurants in the Baltimore Metro area during his tenure at Peabody. In 1980, he made plans to move to California to study music at Stanford University. Hedges' performances were first recorded by The New Varsity Theater manager, videographer and friend Randy Lutge, who made and has archived many video recordings of Michael's earliest performances at The New Varsity; busking, in the ticket line, upstairs and on the main stage at The New Varsity Theater. For years Hedges played The New Varsity Theater regularly where he met and played with many great musicians, sharing the stage with Tuck & Patti Andress, John Fahey, Preston Reed and many more, further honing his live performance. Hedges was contracted in February 1981 by William Ackerman who heard Hedges performing at The Varsity Theater in Palo Alto and immediately (using a napkin from The New Varsity) signed Hedges to a recording contract on the Windham Hill label. He was married to flutist Mindy Rosenfeld but the couple divorced in the late 1980s.
Read more about this topic: Michael Hedges
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