Fred Paul Hedges (March 27, 1921—June 19, 1999) was a master guitar builder and guitar teacher from Ewing, Illinois, and based in Mount Juliet, Tennessee.[1] He started playing guitar when he was 12 years old.[2] He was a musician as a hobby and was a cabinetmaker and die maker by trade.[2] He lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he was a machinist and union labor leader[citation needed], before moving to Nashville, Tennessee.[3]
Freddie Paul Hedges was a long-time friend of Grand Ole Opry star Billy Grammer who hired Hedges to help establish Grammer and J.W. Gower's newly formed guitar company.[4] In the 1960s, Hedges helped make finishing touches to the guitars and set up machines to mass-produce acoustic guitars for Grammer & Gower Guitar Co. in Nashville.[4][2] In 1974, Hedges and his two sons opened Shiloh Music Center in Mount Juliet.[3][2][5] Fred Hedges is credited for hundreds of people learning to play the guitar and other stringed instruments in Nashville, Tennessee.[citation needed] However, due to poor health, Hedges stepped back not long after opening and his sons took over.[2]
He has two sons, George and Richard, and three daughters, Gail Harrison, Pauline Williams, and April Hedges.[3][5] Hedges died on June 19, 1999, in Durham, North Carolina.[5]
References
edit- ^ "Freddie Paul Hedges". U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947. n.d. Retrieved 2022-01-03 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e York, Max (1975-10-26). "New life for guitaring". The Tennessean. Nashville, TN. Retrieved 2022-01-02 – via newspapers.com=.
- ^ a b c West, Livi (2019-04-17). "Music Makes Us Family". Life Between the Lakes. Retrieved 2022-01-02.
- ^ a b "History". The Grammer Guitar. n.d. Retrieved 2022-01-02.
- ^ a b c "Freddie Paul Hedges". The Tennessean. Nashville, TN. 1999-06-23. Retrieved 2022-01-02 – via newspapers.com=.
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