Those of us lucky enough to have shared stages playing music around Milwaukee in the 1980s – or being there to enjoy it – are low today after receiving news of the passing of talented guitarist Peder Hedman, who suffered a heart attack.

The tall, slim Hedman was perpetually smiling – or so it seemed – and his trademark, almost sardonic-sounding Milwaukee drawl always made him sound like he was already thinking of the punch line to a joke he was just about to tell you. In short, he was a good guy to be around.

Like some, I met Peder when he was playing with artist, poet and musician Kent Mueller in the Null Heirs in the mid-’80s, but it was later, with Liquid Pink, that Hedman really hit his stride, playing sharp-edged garage pop. That sound was captured on an LP released by Atomic Records in 1989.

He also performed in Tweaker, which hearkened back to the energetic early days of The Who:

Tweaker would also have its influence, leaving its mark on other musicians.

"I'm heartbroken to learn about the passing of Peder Hedman," wrote expat Milwaukee musician Steve Koester on Facebook. "Peder was a hero to me. I grew up listening to his band Liquid Pink when I was in high school. Then about a decade later, our band Punchdrunk became tight with his band Tweaker and we played a ton of shows together.

"I loved Tweaker and Peder with all my heart. They were like a combo of the Meat Puppets, 13th Floor Elevators, and Townes Van Zandt all sent thru that odd Milwaukee prism. Peder was a great songwriter, a committed singer and a heroic guitarist. They played American music in a way that I don't think was fully comprehensible to a lot of people but, to us, it was heartfelt, funny, psychedelic, full-throttle, sweet, chaotic and perfectly weird."

Here’s one from the Null Heirs, too, for good measure:

And one from the Peder Hedman Quartet:

Hedman also played with Voot Warnings and with Detroit Jewel, among others. We’ll miss his music, of course, but more than that, we’ll miss his seemingly endless glow.

Fellow musician Veronica Rusnak has written a lovely elegy, which she posted yesterday.

"He was always kind to me and Brian and our family," Rusnak wrote. "He was open to all sorts of music and supported his friends in a number of ways, and while he could snark with the best of us, he was so genuinely moved and excited by music and musicians, and encouraged them in so many ways.

"Some of the last words I heard from him Saturday night were complimenting the musicians on how well they played. Peder Hedman gave the Milwaukee music community so much in so many ways. It's been less than a day since we learned of his passing, and I suspect it's going to be weeks before we truly realize what an enormous loss this is."

You can read it in its entirety here.