Hiss Golden Messenger Defend Public Schools

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North Carolina’s Hiss Golden Messenger is one of my favorite current live acts going. And not just because lead-man M.C. Taylor’s wife is a public school teacher like my own. But that certainly helps.

Hiss Golden Messenger has fought to remain a voice of light in the growing darkness. To see how they have been this for me, just browse some of the posts marked “Hiss Golden Messenger” here at Holiday at the Sea. Taylor’s honest approach to fighting for hope is something that resonates with me the way few current artists have.

The band’s new project, Forward, Children: A fundraiser for Durham Public Schools students, sees the release of a live recording from one of the band’s home-town concerts on 01/11/20 of this very year; just before the Quarantine hit. Taylor says of the release on the band’s Facebook page:

Good morning! Today, we put out into the world ‘Forward, Children: A fundraiser for Durham Public Schools students.’ This is a fully multi-tracked, mixed and mastered 15-song live Hiss album from our performance at the Cat's Cradle—one of our most venerable hometown venues in the North Carolina Triangle—on January 11th, 2020. It is available for download on Bandcamp now and will hit all streaming services on April 3rd. ALL proceeds—every penny—from this record benefit students in the Durham Public Schools system that are currently struggling with food insecurity in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. At a time when anxiety seems to be our default emotion, I realize that this is a big ask, but I implore you to donate as much as you can to help feed our kids that depend on public school in order to eat. And while listening on the streaming services is the way that many of us interact with music these days, purchasing this album on Bandcamp puts far more food on the table. Dig deep, please. There are so many people to thank in the making of this album—so many that I could easily take up the rest of this section naming them all. Special love, however, goes to the Hiss band: Phil Cook, Chris Boerner, Alex Bingham and Al Smith, and our engineer Luc Suèr, who recorded and mixed this show. When I hear a performance like this in light of where we all are now, it’s amazing what stands out to my ear: Community. Gathered joy. Spirit, and a little bit of sorrow. What a Saturday night feels like in our little shared corner of the universe. May we find those times again soon. Changed, perhaps, for the better. Thank you all for listening.

Stream the album here:

Purchase the album (and help Durham public schools) here.

  • Visit Hiss Golden Messenger’s official website.

  • Purchase the album (and help Durham public schools) here.

  • Follow Hiss Golden Messenger at Facebook.

  • Follow Hiss Golden Messenger at Twitter.

  • Support Hiss Golden Messenger at Bandcamp.

  • Purchase Hiss Golden Messenger’s music at Amazon.

Hiss Golden Messenger: "Happy Birthday, Baby" Live at Adult Swim

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Hiss Golden Messenger’s MC Taylor has been making the rounds lately in support of the phenomenal album “Terms of Surrender.” Taylor recently stopped by the Adult Swim studios to perform “Happy Birthday, Baby.” Plus, Phil Cook.

If songs like this don’t push you to reconsider all your stupid notions about “Dad Rock,” then I don’t know what to tell you. I love that Taylor is a family man and weaves that throughout his music.

  • Visit Hiss Golden Messenger’s official website.

  • Follow Hiss Golden Messenger at Facebook.

  • Follow Hiss Golden Messenger at Twitter.

  • Support Hiss Golden Messenger at Bandcamp.

  • Purchase Hiss Golden Messenger’s music at Amazon.

Hear 3 Songs from Hiss Golden Messenger's Upcoming album "Terms of Surrender"

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North Carolina’s Hiss Golden Messenger is one of my favorite current acts. M.C. Taylor writes of love, loss, longing and anger. Things aren’t the way they should be and there’s something deep in each of us that knows it. But there is power in love. Of course there is darkness in the world, but it never drowns out the Light. This is the protest music we need. There is power in community. Hiss Golden Messenger waves this flag with what you might call “Southern (By way of Topenga Canyon) Folk Roots Americana With A Possibility of Jamband”(™).

Hiss Golde Messenger’s newest album “Terms of Surrender” is due out September 20 on Merge Records. But we are lucky enough to be able to preview three songs from the album now.

Watch the official video for “I Need A Teacher"

Preview the track “Cat's Eye Blue”

Preview the track “Happy Birthday, Baby”

  • Visit Hiss Golden Messenger’s official website.

  • Follow Hiss Golden Messenger at Facebook.

  • Follow Hiss Golden Messenger at Twitter.

  • Support Hiss Golden Messenger at Bandcamp.

  • Purchase Hiss Golden Messenger’s music at Amazon.