Michael Hedges
Here is the third (not in any significant order) of the Windham Hill guitarists who attracted so much attention (well, relatively speaking) in the late '70s and early '80s. I can't say he is my favorite, but he's pretty spectacular from the technical point of view. Breakfast in the Field and Aerial Boundaries were in the collections of the same people who liked Ackerman and de Grassi. I always wondered how he made the sounds in "Aerial Boundaries" (from the album of the same name), and didn't really see how it was possible for one person with one acoustic guitar. Well, here's a live performance proving that it is. I think he has some electronic help in creating that huge booming sound, but the actual production of the notes seems to be all him.
I was not previously familiar with this one, "Because It's There," but I think the strange instrument he plays does appear on some of the albums.
Hedges apparently didn't want to be known only as an instrumental virtuoso, and his later albums included vocals, and his own songs as well as covers. I haven't heard much of that; it's good, but not as appealing to me as his guitar work. He died way too young, in a 1997 car crash, at the age of 43.
Light On Dark Water 
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