Hayden Pedigo Brings His Whole Heart to Bar Le Ritz

 It is of utmost importance to Hayden Pedigo that you know he’s from Amarillo, Texas. A place where the plains stretch on forever and the edge of town feels like the end of civilization as we know it. This great empty expanse called the Texas Panhandle is the background for Hayden Pedigo’s musical project. In numerous interviews, he’s cited Amarillo’s beautiful desolation as his greatest inspiration. What this all ends up sounding like is delicately finger-picked instrumental guitar work that uses moments of silence as its secret spice. I had never heard of Hayden when my friend invited me to this show, and I have quickly fallen in love.

    I arrived at Le Ritz a couple of minutes before the opener, Burs, began. Burs are an alt-country quartet from Toronto, but only half of the band showed up. Lit by Le Ritz’s soft purple glow, Ray and Lauren serenely plucked their acoustic guitars and sang songs about friendship and loss. It was a painfully intimate acoustic set, and everybody on stage was clearly very nervous. Ray spoke slowly and deliberately, as if the next word was always on the tip of his tongue but never quite there. Lauren would turn red and anxiously laugh at herself between sentences. Despite the shaky stage presence, the two of them talked a lot when they weren’t playing, detailing the specific memories tied to every song, with clear emotional weight to every story. This all added up to a very memorable act. The duo representing Burs poured their hearts out on stage and the silently gazing audience could feel every nerve. It didn’t hurt that the music itself was transcendentally gorgeous as well, especially when Ray would move from his guitar to the pedal steel. Their set was short and impactful, with some songs so honest they brought tears to the singer’s eyes. I will be seeing Burs again next time they’re in Montreal.

    There were about 30 people spread out in the venue, and I got the all too familiar feeling that I was the youngest person in there. One thing stuck with me more than usual at this show, however, which was the abnormal height of the audience. There must have not been a single person in there under 5’10”, and at least half the crowd was taller than me at 6’2”. I have not drawn any conclusions as to what this means for Hayden Pedigo’s core demographic. Must investigate further.

The show took place on the fourth Thursday of November, landing it squarely on American Thanksgiving. So here was this young Texan, in Montreal for the first time in his life, making his way to Le Ritz’s stage to play for 30 people instead of being in Amarillo with his family. I was glad that this didn’t seem to bother him too much. The small crowd was something he seemed grateful for, as he asked us nicely to please sit on the floor so he could serenade us. This low perspective was a new one for me at a Ritz show and helped mitigate the bizarre problem of the giant crowd. Maybe the height thing is a common issue at Hayden’s shows. This can’t be a coincidence. 

Hayden delivered his instantly iconic opening line “I’m Hayden Pedigo and I’m from Amarillo Texas” with his strange stuttered southern accent and began playing his first tune. Rocking silently on the floor, I was bewildered by his ability to captivate and dazzle the room with nothing but his guitar playing. His songs feel like a warm hug, even when the mood is more solemn like on the title track from last year’s The Happiest Times I Ever Ignored. The album is named for a leftover line found in comedy writer Douglas Kenney’s notebook shortly after his tragic, assumed suicide in Hawaii. Hayden gave us some of Doug Kenney’s history before playing this song, and the chords spoke to my core. 

Hayden carried on what Burs had started and was unchangeably himself onstage. He talked about his ongoing battle with stage fright and how far he’d come since the days of quaking, sweaty hands and cracking voice. He recounted an anecdote of a recent reacquaintance with full-blown panic attacks on stage, vowing that he will never learn from his mistakes and continue to push through it. During a particularly long pause he took to tune his guitar, he told us he had a new video game planned called ‘panic attack simulator,’ where the goal is to not have a panic attack. He said the final level would be tuning your guitar in front of a patient audience, and that he has never beaten this level himself.

Of the roughly ten songs he played, most of them were from his upcoming album, whose title he told us against his label’s wishes, and I will not repeat because I don’t want him getting in trouble. The new songs bring an upbeat energy unlike that of his previous efforts. The new style is even more inspired by the music of John Fahey, with one song being advertised to us as his flawed attempt to make a perfect John Fahey song. During another song, he brought Ray from Burs back on stage to accompany his playing via pedal steel. They said that they had decided to do this 5 minutes before doors and only had that amount of time to practice. The pieces fit naturally, and Hayden was extremely grateful for Ray’s support.

About halfway through the show, he stopped what he was doing to let the comfortably seated audience have their go at a Q&A session with him. Most of the questions were about his music or his native Amarillo. I learned here that every Saskatchewan joke is commonplace when poking at Amarillo as well. He told us that on a clear day, you can see the back of your own head. He gave a personal and insightful answer to somebody asking how they could quit their job and just follow their dreams. He frankly told us that he himself was not quite at that point yet. It’s true that he hadn’t worked a job in a few years, but he was also still not making very much off his music and in a position where he still must miss Thanksgiving to work. It’s rare to see a touring artist in a position like this and even rarer to see one willing to be open about it.

After playing his final track, which he claimed to be his best song ever before awkwardly walking that statement back, he closed the night off with another “I’m Hayden Pedigo and I’m from Amarillo Texas.” He then moved to the merch table where anyone could go speak with him. I made sure to wish him a happy Thanksgiving on the way out.