The first time I heard Hayden, I was on summer vacation down at the Jersey shore over the summer before 11th grade. His first album, Everything I Long For (1995), had just been released and one night, when I stayed up all night, I saw the video for the first single, “Bad as They Seem,” on 120 Minutes.



It was droning and sad and bizarrely catchy. His major label debut didn’t get him much further than moderate fame amongst 120 Minutes-watching indie rock night owls and after the release of his second album, The Closer I Get (1998), his contract was bought out.

It was right around this time that he wrote the title track to the soundtrack of Tree’s Lounge, an indie written by, directed by and starring Steve Buscemi.



Since then, Hayden has released a handful of albums on his own Hardwood Records, including Skyscraper National Park (2001), Live at Convocation Hall (2002), Elk Lake Serenade (2004), In Field & Town (2008) and earlier in 2009, The Place Where We Lived.

I dig all of Hayden’s later stuff. It’s far more folky than his first couple of records, and while he’s still one seriously morose guy, his emotions are a bit more measured. Maybe that’s why I like that first album so much. It’s dark and unapologetic. It’s a deeply heartbroken album. Listen to one of my favorite tracks off Everything I Long For, “Driveway,” below.