"The Cowboy Folklorist"
Though he calls himself simply a “songster and storyteller,” Andy Hedges is compiling a rare and rich audio archive of cowboy music and poetry—and bringing the legends of the genre together on stage.
Dear Friends,
Growing up in West Texas, Andy Hedges was fascinated by cowboy culture, and managed to parlay his passion into a musical career as a cowboy songster and poet. But what captivated him most were the stories swapped backstage, and the relationships he built over time with many living legends of the genre. In 2016, Hedges started his own podcast, where he has since interviewed dozens of cowboy and Western artists. With his historical focus and attention to detail, Hedges elevated his hobby to an oral history project—one that isn’t locked away in some ivory tower, but available to anyone with an internet connection. And… not only does Hedges continue to play music himself, in just a few weeks he’ll make his debut at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry.
I hope you’ll enjoy reading more about “The Cowboy Folklorist” in this week’s short feature, which was written and photographed by Meredith Lawrence.
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This week concludes our Summer issue on “The Music Makers,” but if you missed a story, don’t despair—they will live on in our free, online archives until further notice. Between now and early September, we’ll be taking our usual, late-summer hiatus from weekly publishing to focus on new projects, including our upcoming Fall issue on “The Art of Repair.” We’ve got some great new stuff in the works that we’re excited to share with you.
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Editor & Publisher, Craftsmanship
Summer 2023: The Music Makers
There may be no other craft that lends itself to infinite experimentation more than music—an endeavor that has nursed human creativity ever since the earliest days of the Stone Age, on every continent and in every culture. This summer, as music festivals and concert tours return in full force, we offer you a fresh collection of stories highlighting some of our most interesting (and unusual) musicians, instrument makers, and other masters of music.