{"id":17596,"date":"2019-11-17T05:30:02","date_gmt":"2019-11-17T10:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=17596"},"modified":"2019-09-25T16:35:05","modified_gmt":"2019-09-25T20:35:05","slug":"hiss-golden-messenger-deeply-personal-yet-inviting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2019\/11\/17\/hiss-golden-messenger-deeply-personal-yet-inviting\/","title":{"rendered":"Hiss Golden Messenger: Deeply Personal Yet Inviting"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-17597\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/hiss.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/hiss.jpg 350w, http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/hiss-150x150.jpg 150w, http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/hiss-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/>The music of Hiss Golden Messenger illustrates the point that the distance is not as great as one might think between folk music and other musical forms. Formed in North Carolina in 2007, Hiss Golden Messenger has long been more of a collective \u2013 with various temporary members coming and going \u2013 more than a proper band. But guitarist, singer and songwriter M.C. Taylor is at the heart of HGM, no matter who else is involved.<\/p>\n<p>Hiss Golden Messenger has released six studio albums \u2013 2016&#8217;s <i>Heart Like a Levee<\/i> is the group&#8217;s latest \u2013 plus a live album, two EPs and a handful of singles. With a sound that incorporates influences from a dizzying array of styles \u2013 everything from jazz to Louisiana \u201cswamp pop\u201d \u2013 Hiss Golden Messenger could make a strong case for being considered a quintessentially Americana act. But even that label is too limiting for Taylor&#8217;s songwriting and delivery.<\/p>\n<p>Going back to 2009&#8217;s <i>Country Hai Easy Cotton<\/i> and continuing through <i>Heart Like a Levee<\/i>, Hiss Golden Messenger&#8217;s albums have consistently earned high marks from critics who appreciate the musical forthrightness within which Taylor presents his often visceral lyrics. Tracks like \u201cTell Her I&#8217;m Just Dancing\u201d have it both ways, spinning out a slinky and inviting tune with lyrics that hold up well to close scrutiny.<\/p>\n<p>While the group&#8217;s music is varied and textured, there&#8217;s a kind of warm and friendly campfire ambiance to many of their recordings, deepened with thoughtful lyrics and strengthened with indelible melodies. The songs on <i>Heart Like a Levee<\/i> explore the tension and connections between what Taylor sees as his responsibilities to his family and his music. But even when focusing on themes like guilt and loneliness, Hiss Golden Messenger manages to set those words into songs that feel uplifting, and that stay with the listeners long after the needle hits the runout groove.<\/p>\n<p><em>This essay appeared previously in NewCity.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The music of Hiss Golden Messenger illustrates the point that the distance is not as great as one might think between folk music and other musical forms. Formed in North [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17597,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[4011],"class_list":["post-17596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essay","tag-hiss-golden-messenger","cat-27-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17596"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17596\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17598,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17596\/revisions\/17598"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}