The new album PHQ by the Peder Hedman Quartet may be an archival release but it sure doesn’t sound like it. With a healthy set of material honed by playing club gigs, the Milwaukee four-piece settled into Madison’s legendary Smart Studio. The music they committed to tape is vital.
Finally seeing the light of day as a vinyl LP, the band moves from the country-skewed “Check Comes Through” (with Hedman sonically brushing the straw off his overalls from his previous band Tweaker) to the dream jangle of the epic “How She Begged.” As a songwriter, Hedman’s imagination was balanced by his earnestness.
In a 2016 interview with the Shepherd Express’ David Luhrssen, Hedman spoke about why he almost gave up on music. “I got the idea that I’m not going to do this anymore—I’m not real happy on stage, I’m not as good as I want to be,” Hedman says. “And then one day I woke up and said, ‘That’s bullshit!’ I just enjoy playing music.”
On PHQ guitarists Hedman and Tim Taylor spar like lightning bugs, tossing off fleeting shards of call and response solos that are to the point, leaving nothing to show-offy indulgence. On a few songs Taylor’s lap steel contributes an otherworldly second voice. The rhythm section of drummer Rusty Olson and bassist Kurt Bauer handle the material, from light-hearted two steps to driving rockers with ease.
“I’ll Be Watching You,” “Last of the Sun” and “Funeral” with the lines “I’ll come to your funeral if you come to mine,” seem eerily prescient considering Hedman died unexpectedly in December of 2017. The album ends with Hedman’s voice asking, “I don’t know, was that any good?” The answer is a resounding “Yes.”
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