Quinn Hedges - 'My Angel'

Quinn Hedges is a folk-rock singer-songwriter based out of Rocklin, CA who has released three independent albums: ‘Quinn Hedges’, ‘Without You,’ and ‘Step Outside.’ Quinn, an accomplished musician who plays many instruments and has a degree in music, is versatile in many styles including Jazz, Folk, Blues, and Rock. With every album release, Quinn’s success grows. He was voted “Best of the City” in Sactown Magazin. His song "Without You" was a semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Competition. He has opened for national touring acts such as Nicholas David (from NBC's, "The Voice"), Matt Schofield, Duncan Sheik, Zach Deputy, Shana Morrison, and Michael Chapdelaine. He had the honor of of performing the National Anthem at a Sacramento Kings vs. Los Angeles Lakers game. His current release, the album ‘Slightly South of Stormy Clouds’ is being hailed as his best work to date. Off the album, his single “My Angel,” serves as a great introduction into the artistry of Quinn Hedges.

“My Angel” starts with an 8-bar intro featuring acoustic, rhythm guitar interlaced with tasteful riffs that fans of folk guitar will love. The guitar playing is clean and crisp, rhythmically spot on. Quinn enters with a voice that is warm and inviting, presenting a beautiful, distinctive tone that draws you in, “I’m amazed at her strength, ability and humanity.” As the verse progresses, the guitar chords become more sophisticate, giving the song some nice harmonic nuance. The chorus is sung after each verse for an Americana-folk type format. At the end of the first verse, Quinn sings “And nobody ever stops to ask her name,” then he replies, “But if they ever do, just tell them she’s an angel. But if they ever do, just tell them she’s my everything.” Quinn sings with deep sensitivity that serves to connect listeners to the themes he is singing about: humanity, fragility, social justice.

As the song progresses, the instrumentation builds. This build is subtle and delicate, displaying very tasteful composition. A mandolin, playing in the upper registers, adds texture and sweetness to the song. A nice bass line keeps the pulse and percussion comes into the mix giving the song a nice sway. Quinn repeats the line, “oh, oh my angel” with just the right amount of passion (never over the top) and gorgeous harmonies are added. At the same time, a melodic violin line sings on top. Throughout this addition of instrumentation, the production is first-class and the mix is just right.

‘Slightly South of Stormy Clouds’ was a collaboration between Quinn and John B Hedges and many other world-class contributors. The stellar lineup of talent includes: Quinn Hedges - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Mandolin; Banjo John B Hedges – Piano; Aaron McHenry - Drums Xavier Foley - Upright Bass; Ren Martin-Doike - Viola, Violin; Zoe Martin-Doike – Violin; Tessa Seymour – Cello; and Bernie Hedges – Dobro. Multi-grammy Award winning Engineer, Bob Ludwig, tied it all together. This collaboration is superior and the results shine. “My Angel” is about a woman who Quinn describes as “a soldier.” She is someone with “strength, ability and humanity” and she has “witnessed with her own two eyes” things that “she wound ’t wish upon those you despise.” He then sings, “And nobody ever stops to shake her hand.” In the song, it is Quinn who stops to shake her hand - with his music. His song honors and acknowledges someone who the rest of society seems to pass by. Through this song, Quinn opens a window into our own humanity and pays tribute to the “angels” in our society. He reaches out a hand, musically.

“My Angel” is a gorgeous song that showcases the artistry of Quinn and his collaborators. The word artistry is used with great respect because there is an art to tasteful and subtle musicianship, to adding just the right amount of instrumentation, to the use of dynamics, phrasing and poetry, to singing with passion, but not over doing it. Quinn is an artist, a singer-songwriter, who has created a lovely and sophisticated song that is completely accessible to the listener. "My Angel" is is deeply moving for the soul and equally moving for the ear. Bravo. You can purchase "My Angel" on iTunes. For more information on Quinn Hedges, visit his website.

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