An acoustic guitar, a few well-chosen guests and a farewell to Texas: a closer look at his acclaimed 2025 album.
Hayden Pedigo has already turned a run for city council into a documentary. His painted record sleeves could furnish a small gallery of their own. Yet his most compelling project may be the patient one: finding how much a carefully shaped guitar piece can say. I’ll Be Waving As You Drive Away, released June 6, 2025, gives that work a rich setting of strings, electric guitar and small, unexpected sounds.
Pedigo is an established musician enjoying fresh acclaim, with a catalogue that reaches back well before this album. Metacritic lists an 85 score for the release. KLOF Mag calls it a sharp, elegant and subtly dynamic album
. Its appeal reaches beyond the guitar specialists: there is a strong sense of place and a very human farewell at its center.
Amarillo, John Fahey and an Unusual Public Life
Pedigo grew up near Amarillo, Texas. At fourteen or fifteen, he found John Fahey’s records. They gave the young guitarist a starting point. In a KLOF interview, he also points to Anthony Phillips, the first guitarist in Genesis. The open sound of those early prog records helped him find a path of his own.
The landscape tied those sounds together. Amarillo is the number one most defining influence on my music
, he told the magazine. Space, wind and the flat horizon shaped the writing. His pauses bear the mark of a place where the sky seems to go on forever. Even the gaps between notes have roots.
This record ends a three-part series with Letting Go and The Happiest Times I Ever Ignored. Scott Hirsch produced it at Echo Magic in Ojai, California. The day after he came home from those sessions, Pedigo moved to Oklahoma City. As he recalled to Texas Standard, the move felt like a final chapter. The title had found a real goodbye to go with it.
“Long Pond Lily”: Follow the Small Disruption
The opener draws its character from a small clash of sounds. In Beats Per Minute, Nathan Skinner notes how electric-guitar lines cut across the acoustic part. The acoustic sound holds the shape while those electric details tug at its edges. That tension puts the writing in motion.
A tune like this also changes what counts as an event. With no vocal up front, a brief new phrase or shift in tone can carry the drama. The small scale rewards close attention and leaves room for the listener’s own train of thought.
“Hermes”: The Value of a Well-Placed Pause
KLOF describes “Hermes” through its stop-and-start guitar line, light synth notes and delicate strings. That combination gives the piece a clear point of entry: pay attention to the gaps. A pause can make the next note feel newly important.
Pedigo told the magazine that these pieces are tightly composed. What might seem like a casual turn has been placed with care. The mix of sounds reflects the influences he describes: the focus of solo folk guitar, with a prog listener’s interest in tone and form.
“I’ll Be Waving As You Drive Away”: Letting a Goodbye Stand
Nicole Lawrence plays pedal steel on the title track, as the official credits confirm. Skinner picks it as a high point, though he finds parts of the album too fussy. That gives a useful balance to the raves. Extra detail can add depth; it can also get in the way.
Pedigo’s move away from Amarillo gives the farewell another layer. A place can shape you even as you leave it behind. Matt Muir’s official video offers a visual companion to that final wave, while the music leaves listeners room for a goodbye of their own.
Why Hayden Pedigo Belongs on IRC
IRC has followed the art of solo guitar through Andrew LaVogue and Gwenifer Raymond. This is a good next stop on that route. The craft is there for anyone who wants to trace each part. So is a simple way in: a tune, a change of light, a place you once called home.
From: Amarillo, Texas
Based in: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Style: Instrumental indie folk, fingerstyle guitar, experimental acoustic music
Featured album: I’ll Be Waving As You Drive Away — June 6, 2025; Mexican Summer
For Listeners That Like
John Fahey, William Tyler, Jack Rose and Andrew LaVogue. Fahey is a stated influence; the others are listening reference points.