The Guest List | Hayden Pedigo
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The Guest List is a regular book column that surveys the reading habits of some of our favorite musicians. For this edition, we spoke with Hayden Pedigo. Late last year, the West Texas guitar-picker released the beautifully rendered Letting Go, his third full-length album and first with the label Mexican Summer. We recently caught up with Hayden to find out what he’s been reading lately.
SwR: Are there any particular authors or books that inspired the music on Letting Go?
Hayden Pedigo: The book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer was the biggest influence on Letting Go. For multiple reasons, really. I was going through a rough time in my life. I was dealing with a separation from my family, and that book really pushed me to face that and connect with them again. The title of each song is actually from Into the Wild. I selected random passages and got titles from them. I related to a lot of things in that book; it took me a long time to shake it. Very heavy.
SwR: What are your favorite books about music?
HP: The first book about music that really changed my view of everything was a book by Bill Martin titled Avant Rock: Experimental Music from the Beatles to Bjork. I was fourteen or fifteen when I checked it out from the Amarillo Public Library. It covered a lot of different experimental music, from prog rock to harsh noise, and showed how it was all connected. Everyone should read that book!
Another book was The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century by Alex Ross. I also found that at a young age at the Amarillo library. (Also where I checked out my first Terry Allen CD.) It was an interesting read, going in-depth on a lot of the early avant-garde music coming out of the classical world. Also, the two books John Fahey wrote: How Bluegrass Destroyed My Life and Vampire Vultures. Both were absolutely unhinged and bizarre reads for me.
SwR: You’re a big fan of Terry Allen, as are we. Are there any books you’d recommend that deal with his music and/or art?
HP: I honestly have never read a book about Terry Allen. I’ve listened to his records, seen a lot of his art, read a lot of interviews, and have collaborated with him a few times now. He has really shaped everything I have ever done in music, art, comedy, legit everything. The greatest artist to ever come out of Texas—there, I said it!
SwR: What’s a book that you read early in life that influenced you as an artist?
HP: The Outsiders changed everything for me. That book really feels like a fashion book to me. The way music, clothes, and attitudes are described in that book felt transformative for me. I wanted to wear the collar up on my jean jacket but was too embarrassed to pull it off at twelve years old. The influence that book will always have on young people is kind of insane. It’s one of the best books ever written in my eyes. Perfect.
SwR: Your music is often described as inextricably tied to the landscape of West Texas. What are some books that you think tap into that same sense of place?
HP: Oddly enough, the book Tex—also written by S. E Hinton—has a strangely similar feel to the Texas panhandle where I was raised even though the book is set in Tulsa (if I recall correctly). Each book in that trilogy she wrote has that same dusty flat feeling going on.
SwR: Any bookstores in Texas you’d care to shout out?
HP: Yes! Bitter Buffalo in Amarillo, Texas has some great books (and records). My buddy Lance Garza runs it and has insane book knowledge, He’s also a Texas panhandle history nut.
SwR: What’s the last really good book you read?
HP: Not exactly an entire book, but , as I’ve been working this new record, I’ve been reading the Book of Ecclesiastes for some reason. Not exactly sure how it got involved in this record but it just kind of has been there during the writing phase of these solo guitar pieces. A lot of Psalms too.
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