''Taproot'' is a recording by guitarist

Michael Hedges Michael Alden Hedges (December 31, 1953 – December 2, 1997) was an American acoustic guitarist and songwriter. He was known as a virtuoso who used unorthodox playing techniques, and much of his output was classified as new age music. Hedges ...

released on the

Windham Hill Windham Hill Records was an independent record label that specialized in instrumental acoustic music. It was founded by guitarist William Ackerman and Anne Robinson (née McGilvray) in 1976 and was popular in the 1980s and 1990s. The label was ...

label. It was a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

nominee for Best New Age Album.

Reception

Music critic Vincent Jeffries, writing for

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, wrote of the album "The music is touching in its purity and conveyance of honor and affection... With its yearning melodies and expressive yet mature emotional language, Taproot reinforces Hedges' reputation as a gifted, self-realized composer, musician, and human being."

Reissue

The album was reissued in 2011 by

Valley Entertainment Valley Entertainment is an American independent record label and music distributor based in New York City, United States. The company was founded in 1994 by Barney Cohen and Jon Birge. In 2001, it acquired the prestigious back catalogue of space, ...

Track listing

All compositions by Michael Hedges except where noted. *"Song of the Spirit Farmer" arranged by E. J. Ulrich. *Lyrics to "i carry your heart" by

E. E. Cummings Edward Estlin Cummings (October 14, 1894 – September 3, 1962), commonly known as e e cummings or E. E. Cummings, was an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright. During World War I, he worked as an ambulance driver and was ...

. # "The Naked Stalk" – 1:43 # "The Jealous Tunnel/About Face" – 4:20 # "The Jade Stalk" – 3:55 # "Nomad Land" – 1:54 # "Point A" – 1:33 # "Chava's Song" – 3:14 # "Ritual Dance" – 2:17 # "Scenes (on the road to shrub 2)" – 4:23 # "The First Cutting" – 3:02 # "Point B" – 1:57 # "Song of the Spirit Farmer" – 4:45 # "The Rootwitch" – 2:29 # "i carry your heart" (Hedges, E. E. Cummings) – 4:55

Personnel

*Michael Hedges – guitar, vocals, bass, flute, tin whistle, synthesizers,

TransTrem TransTrem is a vibrato systems for guitar, guitar vibrato system developed by Steinberger in 1984. Its main feature is to maintain the pitch of each string at the proper tuning interval to the others when the vibrato ("Whammy bar") is used. This ...

guitar,

harp guitar The harp guitar is a guitar-based stringed instrument generally defined as a "guitar, in any of its accepted forms, with any number of additional unstopped strings that can accommodate individual plucking." The word "harp" is used in reference to ...

, savage myth guitar, piano, drums, drum program, percussion, sound effects *

Michael Manring Michael Manring (born June 27, 1960) is an American bass guitarist from the San Francisco Bay Area. Biography Michael Manring was born in Annapolis, Maryland,Tom Mulhern, ''Bass Heroes: Styles, Stories & Secrets of 30 Great Bass Players : from ...

– fretless bass ("i carry your heart") *

David Crosby David Van Cortlandt Crosby (August 14, 1941 – January 18, 2023) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He first found fame as a member of the Byrds, with whom he helped pioneer the genres of folk rock and psychedelic music, psych ...

– harmony vocals ("i carry your heart") *

Graham Nash Graham William Nash (born 2 February 1942) is a British and American musician, singer and songwriter. He is known for his light tenor voice and for his contributions as a member of the Hollies and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Crosby, Stills ...

– harmony vocals ("i carry your heart") *Bryan Lanser – snare drum, bass drum, cymbals ("The Jealous Tunnel/About Face", "The First Cutting") *Mike Moore – clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone ("The Jade Stalk", "Nomad Land", "Scenes (on the road to Shrub 2)") *

Mindy Rosenfeld Mindy Rosenfeld is an American flutist, piper and harpist, noted as a founding member of the Baltimore Consort, specializing in Renaissance music. She is also credited as Mindy Rosenfeld Hedges. Life and career Mindy Rosenfeld, graduated with a B ...

– unspecified *Produced by Michael Hedges *Mastered by

Bernie Grundman Bernie Grundman (born 16 December 1943, Minneapolis) is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chr ...

References

{{Authority control 1990 albums Michael Hedges albums Windham Hill Records albums