Always on the move as one of Portland's most trusted string-slingers, Hayden has performed avidly since the mid 00s throughout the pacific northwest and beyond, as both a bandleader and sideman to diverse acclaimed artists including Jarrod Lawson, Farnell Newton, Darrell Grant, Devin Phillips, Shelly Rudolph, Andy Stokes, Lloyd Jones, LaRhonda Steele, Mel Brown and many more.

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Hayden plays over 150 shows each year and has been called to join a broad range of national touring acts from bayou soul singer-songwriter Marc Broussard to Chicago blues survivor John Primer,  hip-hop artist Maimouna Youssef to doo-wop greats The Drifters. Furthermore, Hayden has filled opening slots for modern jazz-fusion mavens Marbin and soul icon for Booker T. Jones, the latter alongside vocal collaborator Sarah Clarke.

 

Hayden's albums Get Somethin’ (2018) and Grab & Go (2020) were followed by the stand-alone single Shag Bag (2022) which featured iconic keyboardist Ronnie Foster (of 70s era George Benson fame) and garnered international acclaim as a classic groove piece sounding like an early to mid 70s CTI or Blue Note recording.

 

Most recently, Hayden centered his creative efforts around the baritone guitar with Baritone Gold (2024), a collection of a dozen 60s-inspired originals that span from surf to soul-blues with classic soundtrack vibes. This upcoming album commences Hayden’s own record label, Peace House Music, which will connect the dots in relaunching his earlier Peace House Sessions video series, which spotlighted Mark Lettieri, Liv Warfield, Lindsey Webster, Steve Swatkins and many more.

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As a composer and producer, Hayden’s works have appeared in TV and film including the Sony Pictures #1 box office hit The Perfect Guy, award-winning BET series Being Mary Jane, The Cowboy Channel and also with top brands such as LANDR and Red Bull.

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A graduate of the PSU Jazz Studies program, Hayden's guitar stylings are deeply informed through the jazz tradition while equally steeped with blues, funk and soul: the authentic mixture is a result of a lifetime's listening, learning, teaching, practicing and performing.

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