Haley Heynderickx

Very few songwriters have ever captured a back-to-nature ethic quite so gracefully or empathetically as Haley Heynderickx. She wants listeners to get outside, to touch grass, to step out of cycles of instant obligations and into those of slow wonder, a gospel she sings over nylon-strung guitars and cantering drums. Born in California but raised in Oregon, Heynderickx—pronounced like that other Pacific Northwest guitarist—shuffled toward the national spotlight in 2017, when her kitchen-table entry to NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest for “The Bug Collector” went viral by soothing anxious nerves. Her voice all lilt and wonder, she sang of caring for a lover, of trying to create a perfect and safe day. Tours with the likes of Ani DiFranco followed, as did her lauded 2018 debut, I Need to Start a Garden.

With the patience of someone who has studied the seasons, Heynderickx released her second LP, Seed of a Seed, in 2024, its sharpened production suggesting the glory of Fleet Foxes and Feist. In 10 songs, she asked poignant existential questions—What can we learn from the woods around us? Are we always ready to be a part of nature? Have we sold one another out for easy pleasure?—without offering glib answers. “There’s an artistry in the day to day to day to day,” she sang in the finale, her voice slowly arcing as she outlined an ethic of practice, of looking around and relishing the world we still have.