Hiss Golden Messenger

Centered on songwriter MC Taylor, Hiss Golden Messenger took shape in Durham, North Carolina, after the end of The Court & Spark—initially with Scott Hirsch and later as a variable-lineup group built around Taylor’s songs. The project occupies a space between folk, alternative country, country rock, blues, gospel and Southern soul, with a songwriting approach that favors loose arrangements, clean guitars and a very organic sense of rhythm. After early recordings in the late 2000s, the project gained visibility with Bad Debt (2010) and Haw (2013), before signing to Merge for Lateness of Dancers (2014). That continuity continued with Heart Like a Levee (2016), Hallelujah Anyhow (2017), Terms of Surrender (2019), Quietly Blowing It (2021) and Jump for Joy (2023). Onstage, Hiss Golden Messenger appears on both indie circuits and folk/americana bills, with notable festival appearances such as Newport Folk Festival. Over the years the project has established itself as a loose collective nourished by traditional American music as much as by a contemporary sensibility.