Hedges and Manring are both artists...
I love to paint, also...let me put it in visual art terms
Think Picasso, Matisse, Chagall...original inspired thinkers. But you gotta work at it.
These guys are creating art...boldly going where no one has ever gone.
Art sometimes is not easy...I love modern classical music, but sometimes you gotta work at it. Same with modern painting.
That being said, some stuff is crap...but I suspect the two guys above (their music) is not crap. The Manring thing is a little audience participation thing to liven up a concert. The Michael Hedges piece, I thought, was stunning.
I love all kinds of stuff...in reality there is more to music than soul music and bluegrass.