Hayden Pedigo carries a West Texas absurdist mystique, a line drawn explicitly in the Amarillo native’s support from Terry Allen on 2017’s Greetings From Amarillo. Yet even as the 29-year-old’s persona as a high plains eccentric expands, his music mesmerizes behind subtle, intricate finger-picked guitar instrumentals, meditative yet complex. This year’s sixth studio LP, The Happiest Times I Ever Ignored, draws apt comparisons to John Fahey and William Tyler. The Mexican Summer release proves Pedigo’s most polished, as he returns from tour opening for Jenny Lewis. Local songsmith Cactus Lee opens strumming new single “Alpine Skier.”
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— Doug Freeman