Texan instrumental guitar innovator and experimenter Hayden Pedigo clearly has a lot of creative energy. The man is now thirty-one years old, has ran for city council in his hometown of Amarillo and had a film made of the process (2021’s Kid Candidate). He has also released numerous albums, the pick of which being his ‘Motor Trilogy’, with I’ll be Waving as You Drive Away being the final part.
Described by Hayden as a ‘microdose psychedelic album’, the key word here is ‘micro’ because what we have is a very subtly experimental instrumental acoustic guitar album, full of tiny flourishes and touches that see it stand out from the norm. Take the halfway point of Houndstooth, a song that contains a very pretty, multi-tempoed guitar part at its core that is lightly shrouded in soft strings. A short burst of dramatic bowed strings is akin to the title track of The Happiest Times I Ever Ignored and its slightly off-timed electric guitar accompaniment adding a point of interest. The strings on Houndstooth are more dynamic, but the effect of questioning the tropes of a guitar tune is there on both.
With this in mind when listening to the album, another that came to mind was William Tyler’s Time Indefinite and his approach to challenging the norms of instrumental acoustic guitar music. Of course, then we have folks like Daniel Bachman and Blue Lake (Weft is another short album of impeccable intricacies) coming to the fore too, and we realise that this is a very exciting time for a genre often considered ‘stuffy’, with Hayden right there in the mix.
If anything, when considering current releases, Hayden is perhaps the most understated of those mentioned, and I’ll be Waving as You Drive Away comes across as a very finely honed record, full of minute details and samplings that appear for the most part as hints and the ghosts of sounds throughout the album’s modest thirty-one minute run time. This is apparent on Smoked, the longest piece at over five minutes and one built on a crisply picked guitar line reminiscent of Chuck Johnson’s acoustic work. Behind this part comes a choral sample that adds depth to the music before accelerating with the aid of Nathan Bieber’s violin and electronic sounds.
Elsewhere, Hermes is lighter in tone, with a deliberately picked stop-start guitar tune framed by delicate string sounds and light synth notes adding to the guitar’s harmonics. All of these touches are there to enhance and enable the main instrument to achieve its fullest potential while adding character and layers to already interesting music. The result is a record that feels meticulously thought out and handled. Without an ounce of fat, this is a sharp, elegant and subtly dynamic album.
I’ll be Waving as You Drive Away (June 6th, 2025) Mexican Summer
Produced, recorded, and mixed by Scott Hirsch
Recorded at Echo Magic (Ojai, CA)
Arrangements by Scott Hirsch and Hayden Pedigo
String arrangements by Nathan Bieber
Performed by:
Hayden Pedigo – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, electric piano
Scott Hirsch- bass, synthesizer, ebow guitar, cymbals
Nathan Bieber – violin
Jens Kuross – piano on “All the Way Across”
Nicole Lawrence – pedal steel on “I’ll Be Waving as You Drive Away”
Forest Juziuk- phaser suggestion on “I’ll Be Waving as You Drive Away”
Bandcamp: https://haydenpedigo.bandcamp.com/album/ill-be-waving-as-you-drive-away
Touring the UK in August/September, see below.
Tour Dates
Ticket links: https://linktr.ee/haydenontour
August 26th – London – Kings Place
August 28th – Manchester – St. Michael’s
August 29th – Larmer Tree Gardens – End of The Road Festival
August 30th – Cardiff – Clwb Ifor Bach
September 1st – Dublin – The Grand Social
September 2nd – Belfast – The Deer’s Head
September 4th – Glasgow – Mono
September 5th – Edinburgh – St. Vincent’s Chapel
September 6th – Newcastle – The Lubber Fiend
September 7th – Leeds – The Attic
September 10th – Aarhus – Alter Festival
September 12th – Berlin – Gretchen
September 13th – Bochum – Die Trompete
September 14th – Leffinge – Leffingeleuren Festival
September 16th – Laval – La Guinguette le 11-22
September 17th – Lyon – Le Sonic
September 18th – Milano – ARCI Bellezza
September 19th – Reggio Emilia – Acid Tank
September 21st – Marseille – Le Molotov
September 22nd – Barcelona – Sala Upload
September 24th – Lisboa – ZDB
September 25th – Vigo – Radar Estudios
September 26th – San Sebastian – Lugaritz K.E.
September 27th – Bordeaux – Base Sous-Marine de Bordeaux
September 28th – Paris – La Boule Noire
