mhedges1981-03-20.flac16

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Show:

Michael Hedges
1981-03-20
Singer's Alley - Ellicott City, MD


Michael performs on the first day of Spring.

This show was at a very early date in his career and before
Windham Hill had signed him.

Guitar luthier Ken DuBourg, maker of one of Michael's
guitars heard on this recording and on his studio albums, is
in the audience.


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Source:

Two unknown omni-directional Audio Technica mics* >>
Unknown Technics home component cassette deck >>
TDK-SA-X cassette tape @ High Bias & no Dolby NR >>
HDD via unknown soundcard >>
CD-R (directly from the taper) >>
DAE via EAC secure mode with 100 percent track quality
and no errors (the only DAE in lineage) >>
HDD >>
FLAC

*please refer to the "Taper Notes" at end of this info file
for an explanation of mic configurations used during the
show (two configurations were used, one for each set).


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Seeder Notes:

Already have this recording? This show was circulated
online in mp3 format during the Fall of 2000. Many fans
scooped it up then so there are lossy mp3 files and
subsequent mp3 sourced CDr's floating around in the trading
pool. Upgrade now to this lossless source!

Upon its initial release into circulation, this material
clocked in at 1hr:26mins:32sec and spanned two CD's.
Typically, I would not consider altering any recording but
two factors got me thinking about an adjustment for this
show. First, it was very close to fitting on one 80min CD.
Secondly, the master recording was already a little choppy
in spots due to the taper trying to save tape (read the
"Taper Notes" for more info about this).

I took a careful look across this recording to see if any
extraneous clapping, extra tuning, or dead noise could be
gently trimmed down to accommodate one disc. For example,
if Michael spent :50 seconds tuning a few of his strings to
the proper pitch (without talking) this was a candidate for
removal. Or, if there were :25 seconds of clapping this
might of been trimmed to :10 seconds and only claps would of
been removed, if Michael said anything, like "thank you",
etc. during the clapping then that would stay.

I can appreciate that one of the joys of live recordings are
listening to what happens between songs. With this in mind,
I made sure to only remove clapping, extra tuning and dead
noise. Those three aspects, that is it. Note also that
there still is clapping, guitar tuning and dead noise on
this recording, I just trimmed a little out. Edits were
done with care and were not harsh (although there are some
harsh cuts as per the master tape). All in all, about 7:00
minutes were removed.

This is explained here in detail to help clear up any
confusion as to why there are versions of this show
circulating across two CD's and this version tucked in on
one CD and to describe exactly what differs between them.

On another note, when I listen to this show I'll usually
give the low end a slight boost. I choose to NOT apply any
EQ adjustments to this source though as I felt it was a
little too subjective to warrant. Please tweak your
listening device to suit your tastes.

Also, the "Taper Notes" below help fill in some gaps
regarding what Michael was talking about when you hear him
speak but get cut off in random spots.

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Setlist & Tracklist:

Set I~
01 - Silent Anticipations
02 - Baby Toes
03 - Captain Kennedy (Neil Young)
04 - Wondering Where the Lions Are (Bruce Cockburn)
05 - The Unexpected Visitor
06 - Vital Signs (unreleased)
07 - Out on the Parkway (original lyrics)
08 - Watermelon Man (Willis Ramsey)
09 - Face Value (unreleased)
10 - Blackbird (Lennon/McCartney)
11 - Missile Command (unreleased)
12 - The Funky Avocado

Set II~
13 - Layover
14 - Head and Heart (John Martyn)
15 - Two Days Old
16 - Breakfast in the Field (on electric 12-string)
17 - Watching My Life Go By
18 - Running Blind
19 - Lenono
20 - You've Got to Hide Your Love Away (Lennon/McCartney)

Encore~
21 - The Happy Couple

_________________________________________________________
Give Back:

Enjoyed this footage?

Please support The Children of Michael Hedges Fund.

More info is available here...

http://www.nomadland.com/Fund_Info.htm


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Artist Links:

http://www.nomadland.com/

http://www.rootwitch.com/

http://www.stropes.com/index.php?fa=7&glbm=1

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Credit:

Thanks to Alan for taping this show. Great catch!

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Taper Notes:

Set in the upstairs of a makeshift lounge/bar in the
historic district of Ellicott City, Maryland, the virtually
unknown talents of one Michael Hedges were to grace the
walls of this small pub which seated about 75 people
comfortably. The stage area was dimly lit, the room had
four big support beams in the middle of it which obstructed
the view if you sat towards the back of the room. The
floors were old and wooden and would creak in spots. The
white paint on the walls was peeling and cracked. The beer
was cold as was the draft coming up from the staircase, but
the air was charged, and the room was warm whenever Michael
would play and sing.

This was easily a typical setting for this Peabody
Conservatory music student endeavoring to be a part of the
music scene in the Baltimore area. Michael's talents gave
him an exceptional advantage, and soon he amassed a cult
following that grew to thousands of diehard fans.

This recording represents the essence of Michael's musical
seed. It features songs that were considered too immature
for release on the Windham Hill label. They were too good
to be omitted here, and their importance insures their place
in music history. Songs like, "Vital Signs," "Face Value,"
and "Missile Command," are destined to become Michael Hedges
classics.

Michael gave me personal permission (verbally) to bring in
two microphones and record his performance that evening. He
was not yet signed to Windham Hill Records, but he mentioned
the label and that he had sent them a demo tape and was
going to a showcase in California with hope of being signed
to Windham Hill. He was signed to the label in April of
1981. This was my 4th or 5th attendance of one of Michael's
gigs in the Baltimore area. I wanted to tape this show
because all the local music calendars showed this gig to be
the last Hedges gig in Ellicott City for awhile.

The show was recorded with two omni-directional Audio-
Technica mics going into a Technics xxx? home component
cassette deck [all this was cleared with Michael several
days in advance] onto a single TDK-SA-X C90 cassette at Hi
Bias setting with the Dolby NR de-selected.

Set one the mics were placed for an ambient config, but
after the first set I had to move the stage right mic out of
the way of the patrons who were just creating too much noise
for my taste, so I put the mic pretty close to the PA
cabinet just like the one on stage left. The result is a
bit less ambient as you can hear, but I felt I had to do
something to cut down on audience noise... Hindsight being
20/20 I wish I hadn't. It's not too bad, just sounds like a
different source starting the second set.

This representation is virtually untouched, meaning I
haven't EQed the lower frequencies to a proper level... The
high end is as it was on the original tape, kinda clipped at
the peaks, but that was at the source [it came out of the
speakers like that].

In an effort to save tape I tried to cut down on the dead
air as the most important thing I felt was capturing the
music. Sometimes the listener will hear me cut into
something Michael was saying... I would stop the tape if I
thought michael was taking too long between tunes, then
rewind it to a good spot and hit RECORD again.

He dedicated "Breakfast in the Field" to Pat Metheny, but
all you can hear Michael saying is "..Pat Metheny." Then
Michael talks about the guitar he used on "Breakfast.." as
his "..Scorpion" guitar, and there again is a place I was
paused waiting for him to start talking or playing again.
The guitar was a slim 12 string electric, looked like an old
Hagstrom with like 4 single coil pickups and the old DPDT
switches on it.

Anyways, Enjoy this for what it is. Michael Hedges at a
very early date and before Windham Hill had signed him.

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