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Tonight’s Concert Picks: Hiss Golden Messenger at Union Transfer, Red Baraat at Exit 0 Jazz Fest and Anderson East at Ardmore Music Hall

Hiss Golden Messenger | photo by Andy Tennille | courtesy of the artist
Hiss Golden Messenger | photo by Andy Tennille | courtesy of the artist

Tonight Union Transfer will host North Carolina-based band Hiss Golden Messenger. The group touches on genres spanning from country, blues and rock. The show tonight is one of many stops on their Heart Like A Levee tour promoting their newest album released on October 7th via Merge Records. Check out the video for “Tell Her I’m Just Dancing” below, and click here for more information on this all ages show. Continue reading →

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Just Announced: Hiss Golden Messenger playing Union Transfer in November

Hiss Golden Messenger | photo by Andy Tennille | courtesy of the artist
Hiss Golden Messenger | photo by Andy Tennille | courtesy of the artist

Hiss Golden Messenger has announced a Fall into early Winter tour with a stop at at Union Transfer on Sunday November 13th. Last week the band announced that their new album, Heart Like A Levee, will be released on October 7th. It comes two years after their last release, the critically acclaimed Lateness of Dancers. Continue reading →

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XPN MusicNotes: See Bruce Springsteen literally “dance in the dark,” hear a new Hiss Golden Messenger track

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have become legendary for their  energetic, never-ending performances, but Monday night in Paris the Boss proved too much for the power supply at AccorHotels Arena as they blew a main electrical fuse during the show- cutting electricity to the stage for about 20 minutes and forcing Springsteen to do a little impromptu dancing in the dark.  Watch.

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Tonight’s Concert Picks: Laura Stevenson at The Fillmore, Family Vacation at Boot and Saddle, Hiss Golden Messenger at Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center

Laura Stevenson | Photo courtesy of the artist.
Laura Stevenson | Photo courtesy of the artist.

Long Island singer-songwriter Laura Stevenson released her fourth studio album, Cocksure, last month via Don Giovani Records. Tonight her tour in support of Matt Pond PA hits the Foundry at the Fillmore. Her set tonight is sure to feature some new songs off of Cocksure, as well as some of her classics from earlier records like 2013’s Wheel. Get tickets and show info at the XPN Concert Calendar, and check out Laura’s brand new music video for “Jellyfish.” Continue reading →

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Eaux Claires Day 1: Mud, Sweat and Tears

Photo by Jeremy Zimmerman | jeremy-zim.com
Photo by Jeremy Zimmerman | jeremy-zim.com

The journey to Eau Claire (pronounced “Oh Clare”), Wisconsin for the inaugural Eaux Claires (EXC) indiefolk mammoth of a festival started like a freak folk dream that never really stopped. From the time we pulled into the two hour wait line outside the muddy camping grounds Thursday night – during which antsy campers skipped up and down the aisles of cars and coolly flaunted their half-shaven haircuts on cig breaks – the party kept rolling with no signs of slowing down.

Lines of hipster drones sweated outside the gates from 10 a.m. Friday morning until they could break through to music mecca curated by the one and only Justin Vernon, aka Bon Iver. (Our staff photog Jeremy cleverly nicknamed the festival #BonnarooIver.) Make no mistake about it; everything on these grounds felt handpicked by JV from the focus on Midwestern artists – every artist on the bill had a personal connection to Vernon, even those of non-Midwestern descent – to the oddly terrifying family zone – more on that tomorrow. Continue reading →

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Hiss Golden Messenger to include World Cafe recording of “Southern Grammar” on new EP

Hiss Golden Messenger
Hiss Golden Messenger | Photo by Rich McKie

After his World Cafe session aired on XPN in October, Hiss Golden Messenger‘s MC Taylor hinted that something else related to those recordings was in the pipeline.  Now the North Carolina-based musician has announced a new vinyl EP called Southern Grammar to follow up this year’s Lateness of Dancers full-length, an effort that will feature the World Cafe performance of the title track.

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Download by a World Cafe performance of “Mahogany Dread” by Hiss Golden Messenger

Hiss Golden Messenger | Photo by Rich McKie
Hiss Golden Messenger | Photo by Rich McKie

Hiss Golden Messenger recently visited the World Cafe studios. The North Carolina folk-rock duo of M.C. Taylor and Scott Hirsch, originally from California, relocated to the East Coast when Taylor decided to study folklore at the University of North Carolina. Continue reading →

Support for My Morning Download, from Flying Fish Brewing Company
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Hiss Golden Messenger boasts a rugged rock backbone at JBs

Hiss Golden Messenger | Photo by John Vettese
Hiss Golden Messenger | Photo by John Vettese

If all you know about Durham country-folk outfit Hiss Golden Messenger is that it’s the contemplative project of songwriter M.C. Taylor, think again. The band’s newest, Lateness of Dancers, was released this year by Merge Records and Paradise of Bachelors, and it expands the band’s vernacular into the realms of rugged country and hard-hitting rock and roll beats, in addition to the spaciness and solemnity that we’d heard previously. Along the same lines, the Hiss Golden Messenger live experience has expanded from Taylor and longtime collaborator Scott Hirsch playing a low-key set to a more robust, invigorating experience that was in fine form last Tuesday night at Johnny Brenda’s. Continue reading →

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Tonight’s Concert Picks: Hiss Golden Messenger at Johnny Brenda’s, Smooth Hound Smith at PhilaMOCA, and York Street Hustle at Boot and Saddle

Hiss Golden Messenger
Photo via www.facebook.com/HissGoldenMessenger

Indie folk duo Hiss Golden Messenger take over Johnny Brenda’s tonight following the recent release of their fifth album Lateness of Dancers. Former members of heavy punk band Ex-Ignota and alternative rock group The Court & Spark, MC Taylor and Scott Hirsh have been performing together for over two decades, and broke off to try their hand at a different genre. Their first album Country Hai East Cotton was released in a limited edition of 500 records produced on Taylor’s personal record label. For tickets and more information check out the XPN Concert Calender. Below, watch their recent performance of title track “Lateness of Dancers.” Continue reading →