The Best Guitar Player I've Ever Seen...

...Is without a doubt Michael Hedges. I've seen Phil Keaggy, and he's amazing. But not even close to Michael Hedges. Many of you may not know that I love playing guitar. I haven't played much in recent years. But I love it.

A friend of mine, Jacob French, played a beautiful song during the offering at church this past Sunday. He composed it in an alternate tuning, and it reminded me of Hedges.

A good friend of mine turned me on to Michael Hedges when I was in high school. This guy is just absolutely mind blowing. Actually, he was absolutely mind blowing. It is such a tragedy that he died in a car accident years ago. He was still fairly young, and who knows how much better he would have become.

As a guitar player, I would typically go to shows, then return home inspired to play, write, and create. After seeing Michael Hedges, and I was fortunate enough to see him a half a dozen times or so, I would return home and not pick up my guitar for days. How could one possibly approach this? Below is a video that expresses one side of his talent (hint: there's no other instruments playing...all of that sound is coming from him on that guitar!).

You can tell he's entertaining. But he's also classically trained. During live shows he would do covers of Dylan and the Beatles. Then he would blow you away with an intricate classical piece. But mostly he performed songs he had written composed in crazy alternate tunings on his guitar. He also played other instruments including the harp guitar.

If you play guitar, enjoy and be inspired. But be warned, this video could give you pause to pick up your guitar anytime soon.