There is a timelessness to the music of Hiss Golden Messenger. But, one soon learns that there is much more to the music of MC Taylor than tradition, this is something entirely unique and entrancing that could only come from one with his unique background. The groundbreaking North Carolina band checks into The Drake Hotel tonight for a rare concert appearance.
Taylor grew up in California, played in hard core punk and indie rock bands before throwing in the towel on the whole group concept, pulling up stakes and moving to North Carolina. Taylor fell in love with the musical tradition and culture of the region, and he’s attempted to give his slightly bent take on the music ever since.
“There’s a lot of musical history here, as far as American traditional music goes,” says Taylor, who resides in Durham, North Carolina, in the Piedmont region. “I came to this area in part because I wanted to be around that kind of musical culture, but I’d be hard pressed to cite anything specific that comes directly from traditional music. I come at it at a slightly obtuse angle.”
Hiss Golden Messenger is slotted into the Americana genre, at home beside the likes of Iron and Wine and My Morning Jacket, but upon closer inspection, much of his music has as much in common with vintage soul music. For Taylor, it is all about the rhythm. And, that’s not something you could say about many twang-forward troubadours.
“Rhythm is central to Hiss Golden Messenger and that’s not shared with a ton of other people in the independent music world,” he explains. “I’m obsessed with how a bass and drummer work together. For me, everything begins with that rhythm and you build around it. It’s more like old soul or R&B. It’s very important to the genesis of that music.”
The band released its fifth studio album, Lateness of Dancers, in the fall of 2014 to some serious critical acclaim. It’s rooted in place. And it talks of bigger themes than you’d find in most modern music: life and death, and aging and trying to find a way to be that is true both to who you are and with whom you’ve decided to share your life.
“The past five or six years have been a time of pretty serious change for me, I have a couple of kids, and I’m trying to find my way in that new reality,” he explains. “But, you know, I’ve always been introspective and, you know, a thinker. Whether or not the thoughts are deep, who knows? I’m generally a quiet person, so it’s pretty funny that I’ve fronted a band.”
Taylor also has a graduate degree in folklore from the University of North Carolina, which might explain some of the tendencies he has to grapple with larger themes in an historical context. But, he’s careful not to get too bogged down in the details.
“I have to be careful,” he says. “I mean, if you look at the actual words I’m writing on the page, they aren’t particularly narrative. It’s more like, with my words, there is a vibration that people can pick up I don’t write story songs, and I don’t want to…. I’m really drawn to Haiku poets.A lot of that is about trying to convey a feeling without a lot of words. It might not be incredibly specific but you can pick up on the emotion behind it.”
Now that the album has been out almost a year, Taylor says he’s begun working some new tunes into the setlist. One more reason to head down to the Drake tonight, July 21 (doors open at 8:30 p.m.), to check out this gifted performer in an intimate venue.
