Hiss Golden Messenger is an American

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

band, originating from

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, led by MC Taylor (born September 9, 1975).

History

The band was formed by Mike (MC) Taylor and Scott Hirsch in 2007. The band's early recordings were released through Taylor's own recording label, "Heaven & Earth Magic Recording Company." The band's debut album, '' Country Hai East Cotton'', was released in 2009 via Taylor's label in a limited edition of 500. This was followed by their international debut album, ''Bad Debt'', in 2010, released via Black Maps. The band's third album, ''Poor Moon'', was released in 2012 via North Carolina-based "Paradise of Bachelors", and received positive reviews. The band's fourth album, ''Haw'', was released on April 2, 2013. Hiss Golden Messenger 2018

Hiss Golden Messenger were signed to

Merge Merge, merging, or merger may refer to: Concepts * Merge (traffic), the reduction of the number of lanes on a road * Merge (linguistics), a basic syntactic operation in generative syntax in the Minimalist Program * Merger (politics), the comb ...

in April 2014 and released their fifth album and Merge label debut, ''Lateness of Dancers'' on September 9, 2014. They have gone on to release four additional full-length records via Merge, as well as remastered versions of ''

Bad Debt Bad debt, occasionally called uncollectible accounts expense, is a monetary amount owed to a creditor that is unlikely to be paid and for which the creditor is not willing to take action to collect for various reasons, often due to the debtor not ...

,'' ''Poor Moon'', and ''Haw''. Their 2019 album '' Terms of Surrender'' received a nomination for

Best Americana Album The Grammy Award for Best Americana Album is an honor presented to recording artists for quality albums in the Americana music genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors ...

at the

63rd Annual Grammy Awards The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held in and around the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles on March 14, 2021. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 201 ...

. In 2021 the band was inter alia part of the

Newport Folk Festival Newport Folk Festival is an annual American folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the Newport Jazz Festival. It was one of the first modern music festivals in America, and remains a foca ...

in July.

Musical style

The band's music contains elements from various musical genres, such as folk,

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

, dub,

country soul ''Country Soul'' contains recordings of a prestardom Glen Campbell, which were made around 1960-1961. This album, just like the other Starday album '' Country Music Star No. 1'', was released after Glen Campbell rose to international fame with hit ...

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

, bluegrass,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

swamp pop Swamp pop is a music genre indigenous to the Acadiana region of south Louisiana and an adjoining section of southeast Texas. Created in the 1950s by young Cajuns and Creoles, it combines New Orleans–style rhythm and blues, country and western ...

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

, and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

. The band's style was also described as "

alternative country Alternative country, or alternative country rock (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative), is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that differ significantly in style ...

" and "

country rock Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...

." The band's main influences include

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

The Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...

, and

Buffalo Springfield Buffalo Springfield was a rock band formed in Los Angeles by Canadian musicians Neil Young, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin and American musicians Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. The group, widely known for the song "For What It's Worth", rele ...

. The band has been compared to

Will Oldham Joseph Will Oldham (born January 15, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace (Palace, Palace Flophouse, Palace Br ...

and Bill Callahan.

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Country Hai East Cotton'' (2008, Heaven & Earth Magic Recording Company) * ''

'' (2010, Blackmaps) * '' Poor Moon'' (2011, Paradise of Bachelors) * ''Lord I Love the Rain'' (2012, Heaven and Earth Magic Recording Company) * ''Haw'' (2013, Paradise of Bachelors) * '' Lateness of Dancers'' (2014, Merge) * '' Heart Like a Levee'' (2016, Merge) * ''Vestapol'' (2016, Merge) * '' Hallelujah Anyhow'' (2017, Merge) * ''Virgo Fool'' (2018, Merge) * '' Terms of Surrender'' (2019, Merge) * ''Quietly Blowing It'' (2021, Merge) * ''O Come All Ye Faithful'' (2021, Merge) * ''The Sounding Joy: Hiss Golden Messenger Meets Revelators on South Robinson Street'' (2021, self-released)

EPs

* ''Glad'' (2013, ''self-released'') * ''Southern Grammar'' (2015, ''Merge'') * ''Lagniappe Sessions - Hiss Golden Messenger'' (2017, Aquarium Drunkard)

Live albums

* ''042207 - Live in Big Sur'' (2008, Heaven & Earth Recording Company) * ''Root Work - Live WFMU 2009'' (2010, Heaven & Earth Recording Company) * ''Plowed: Live in Bovina'' (2011, Heaven & Earth Magic Recording Company) * ''London Exodus'' (2013, self-released) * ''Parker's Picks Vol. 1: Live at Parish, Austin, TX 10/18/2016'' (2017, self-released) * ''Forward, Children: A Fundraiser for Durham Public Schools Students'' (2020, self-released) * ''School Daze: A Fundraiser for Durham Public Schools Students'' (2020, self-released) * ''Live in Leeds at the Brudenell Social Club 12/12/19'' (2021, Merge Records) * ''Wise Eyes: Live at The Neptune, Seattle, WA, 2/25/22'' (2022, self-released) * ''Greetings From Charleston!'' (2022, self-released) * ''Mystic What: Live in Kansas City and St. Louis'' (2022, self-released) * ''Troupe of Very Remarkable Trained Pigs: Live in Walla Walla, WA, February 26, 2022'' (2022, self-released) * ''A Midsummer Night's Dream: Live at EartH Hackney, June 15, 2022'' (2023, self-released)

Singles

* "Hiss Golden Messenger Plays Elephant Micah Plays Hiss Golden Messenger", split with Elephant Micah (2012, ''Paradise of Bachelors'') * "Yankee Road"/"Shiloh Town", split with Moviola (2012, ''Pale Rider'') * "Jesus Shot Me In The Head" (2012, ''

Tompkins Square Tompkins Square Park is a public park in the Alphabet City portion of East Village, Manhattan, New York City. The square-shaped park, bounded on the north by East 10th Street, on the east by Avenue B, on the south by East 7th Street, and on ...

)'' * "Every Knee Shall Bow" (2013 on ''We Are Not For Sale: Songs of Protest'' by the NC Music Love Army via

Redeye Distribution Redeye Distribution, is an American independent record label based in Hillsborough, North Carolina, United States. It was founded in 1996 by Tor Hansen, Kim Hansen, Glenn Dicker. The label focuses on independent music. History Redeye is represen ...

) * "Brother, Do You Know The Road?" (2014'','' Merge) * "Rock Holy" (2014, ''Merge'' from ''Or Thousands of Prizes'', October) * "The Beast and Dragon, Adored" (2014, ''Merge'' cover of Spoon song from ''Or Thousands of Prizes'' Cover EP, Google Play exclusive digital single) * "Bad Debt" ''Live At Luna Records'' (2017, ''Luna Records)'' * "Standing In The Doorway" (2017, self released) * "Passing Clouds from Hiss Golden Messenger Meets Spacebomb" (2018, Spacebomb Records) * "Domino (Time Will Tell)" (2019, Merge) #40 US AAA * "Everybody Needs Somebody" b/w "Watching The Wires" (2019, Merge) * "I Need A Teacher" (2019, Merge) #29 US AAA * "Let The Light Of The World Open Your Eyes (Alive at Spacebomb Studios)" (2020, Spacebomb Records) * "Sanctuary" (2020, Merge) #12 US AAA * "Hardlytown" (2021, Merge) * "Glory Strums (Loneliness Of The Long-Distance Runner)" (2021, Merge)

Miscellaneous

* ''Jesus Christ'' (2011, ''Heaven & Earth Magic Recording Company'') * ''Golden Gunn'' (2013, ''

Three Lobed Recordings 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * ''Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 n ...

'' - Hiss Golden Messenger & Steve Gunn) * ''Parallelogram'' (2015, ''

'' - Hiss Golden Messenger / Michael Chapman split) * "Brown-Eyed Women" written by

Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician best known for being the principal songwriter, lead guitarist, and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence ...

and Robert Hunter, for the 2016

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

compilation album ''

Day of the Dead The Day of the Dead ( es, Día de Muertos or ''Día de los Muertos'') is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality. It is widely obser ...

References

External links

*
Official blog
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 2007 Country music duos American folk musical groups American folk rock groups American alternative country groups American blues musical groups American country rock groups Indie rock musical groups from North Carolina Musical groups from North Carolina Rock music duos Merge Records artists