Posts Tagged ‘The Black Twig Pickers’
Chosen One: Steve Gunn
Interview with Steve Gunn.
“The main theme of ‘Way out Weather’ is about being all over the place and trying to maintain and remain at peace. Being lost while both accepting and enjoying it I suppose is the goal.”
—Steve Gunn
Words: Mark Carry, Design: Craig Carry
The flawless North Carolina-based independent label Paradise of Bachelors has yet again been responsible for a string of modern-day Americana masterpieces, not least the latest tour-de-force from the ever-prolific, Brooklyn-based guitar prodigy and songsmith, Steve Gunn. Last year’s ‘Way Out Weather’ feels like a natural culmination where every aspect of Gunn’s deeply-affecting songs — poignant story-telling quality, immaculate instrumentation and intricate musical arrangements — is heightened as the towering eight creations hits you profoundly and stirs your soul. 2013’s ‘Time Off’ was the starting point of Gunn’s song-writing path, having collaborated closely with Kurt Vile, Michael Chapman, Mike Cooper, The Black Twig Pickers and a host of others in recent times.
A timeless feel permeates every corner of the record. The recording sessions took place at Black Dirt Studio in Westtown, New York, featuring a formidable cast of musicians (and Gunn’s long-term collaborators) further adding to the widescreen, cinematic sound to ‘Way Out Weather’s sprawling sonic canvas. Longtime musical brothers and kindred spirits Jason Meagher (bass, drones, engineering), Justin Tripp (bass, guitar, keys, production), and John Truscinski (drums), in addition to newcomers Nathan Bowles (drums, banjo, keys: Black Twig Pickers, Pelt); James Elkington (guitar, lap steel, dobro: Freakwater, Jeff Tweedy); Mary Lattimore (harp, keys: Thurston Moore, Kurt Vile); and Jimy SeiTang (synths, electronics: Stygian Stride, Rhyton.)
On the utterly transcendent album closer, ‘Tommy’s Congo’, shades of Sonny Sharrock beautifully surfaces beneath the artefacts of time. The deep groove and rhythm interwoven with this vivid catharsis is nothing short of staggering. The cosmic spirit captured on the closing cut — and each of these sublime recordings — permanently occupies a state of transcendence. As each song-cycle unfolds, the shimmering worlds of Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue or the Stones’ ‘Exile On Main St.’ fades into focus. ‘Way Out Weather’ is dotted with captivating moments from the ways of a true master.
Released earlier this year – on the pioneering Thrill Jockey label – came the eagerly awaited arrival of ‘Seasonal Hire’; a special collaborative album between Steve Gunn and The Black Twig Pickers that combines Gunn’s meditative guitar playing and the Twigs’ energetic mastery of old-time instrumentation. ‘Seasonal Hire’ collects four original tunes and one traditional piece, with Gunn and The Black Twig Pickers’ Mike Gangloff and Sally Anne Morgan all taking turns with lead vocal and songwriting. Like all of the Twigs’ albums, it was recorded live, without overdubs or amplification.
————
For upcoming U.S and European tour dates, click here.
‘Way Out Weather’ is available now on Paradise Of Bachelors.
http://steve-gunn.com/
http://paradiseofbachelors.com/
————
Interview with Steve Gunn.
Congratulations Steve on the sublime new record, ‘Way Out Weather’. It feels like it’s the natural progression on from 2013’s ‘Time Off’ where your song-writing comes to the forefront. Also, the record is a real band album that could be placed alongside the likes of Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue or the Stones’ ‘Exile On Main St’. Please discuss the cast of musicians you have on board and indeed how these songs – that I presume started as solo demos – transformed and evolved into the fully bloomed and fully realised sonic creations on ‘Way Out Weather’?
Steve Gunn: Thanks! ‘Way Out Weather’ was a natural progression for us from the last album. ‘Time Off’ was pretty much a live record, and we didn’t get too deep in talking about the arrangement aspect of the songs all that much. We had been playing those songs on ‘Time Off’ for a long time before we went to record them, so everything was in place and it was mostly cut live. Going into the studio, we kind of knew the songs well and how we wanted to record them. The drummer and I made some instrumental albums at the studio before, and ‘Time Off’ was more or less a sonic continuation of that. ‘Way Out Weather‘ is much more of a studio album, where the songs were arranged and recorded pretty much at the same time. Leading up to the session for ‘Way Out Weather‘, There were a lot of discussions and demoing leading us into it, and snippets of ideas were passed around. There were also talks on how we wanted to approach the recording in the studio, with what kind of gear and what kind of improvements we wanted to make. A lot of hanging around and deeply listening to records happened leading up to the session, followed by long late night chats on how maybe some of those sounds were created. We’d pontificate things like Clarence White’s lead on the Byrd’s song ‘Change is Now’ from the Notorious Byrd Brothers album —‘How in the hell?’ Or we’d pace around the room closely listening to Eddie Hazel’s guitar playing on the ‘Maggot Brain’ album.. Is that two echoplexes on that track? And that wah tone? Dang..
The songs for the new album started as solo demo ideas, and I sent them around to the engineer, Jason Meagher of Black Dirt Studio, and the players who came to the session. Most of the ideas were recorded on a handheld device while I was on tour, and when I got home and had some time I sat down and cut and pasted everything together. We had a lot of back and forth regarding what we wanted each track to sound like, and people brought some great ideas to the session. We fleshed the songs out when we all arrived at the studio together, and we cut most of the tracks in less than a week. Collectively everyone involved in the session worked non-stop, and we were workshopping things in another part of the studio while tracking. We had a limited time frame and budget to work with, and we worked long days and went through the tracks one by one without much stopping.
Jim Elkington:Guitar
Justin Tripp: Bass, Guitar, Piano, etc.
Nathan Bowles: Drums, Banjo, Piano
John Truscinski: Drums
Jason Meahger: Bass, Synth, Engineering
—
I love the abstract story-telling and striking narrative that runs throughout ‘Way Out Weather’. I would love for you to discuss the writing process? I envision it’s a sort of stream-of-consciousness akin to Dylan alone at this typewriter as I listen to the compelling songs unfold. Also, the album-title perfectly embodies the flood of music – gripped with emotion and intensity – beautifully captured.
SG: With most of the songs I try to take an anonymous narrative role in telling a story; using a list of visual snapshot descriptions. I travel around and take a lot of notes; either in a notebook, with a camera, sound recorder, etc. Some of these ideas/notes can be pretty banal, and other ideas more intense. I like to play with that mix of day-to-day boring details & heavy emotional subject matter. I really enjoy mixing these kinds of themes together and seeing what kind of story I can tell with them, sometimes the meaning and intentions flip and often that’s the goal. Sometimes the real meaning gets construed later without me even realizing it at first. I really value what meaning others can get out of the descriptions in the songs. It’s often surprising and different from what I am thinking, which is great because it’s nice to keep it personal. I like to throw things out there and see how they circle back.
—
In many ways, the songs stem from the world around you; the Brooklyn neighbourhood, the communities that inhabit the space and indeed the stories that unfold around you. Please discuss the inspiration that Brooklyn and New York serves for you, Steve? I recall Damon of Amen Dunes telling me how their latest album ‘Love’ is their New York record. Would it be a similar case for ‘Way Out Weather’?
SG: I like living in New York because the city has a certain vibrancy and energy unlike any other place (particularly in the US) that I have ever been to. I never get tired of taking long walks in different areas of the city and observing the day-to-day activities and craziness of existing in such a place. NYC serves as a big inspiration to me, and is a rich environment for someone to walk around and get lost in. Some people fail to realize how big the city actually is, and how much it really has to offer. It’s its own universe, and even after being there so long I am constantly discovering new things. With that being said, I also like leaving New York and being in other places. ‘Way Out Weather’ is not a New York record. I travelled a lot last year, and I wanted to widen the scope this time. The main theme of ‘Way out Weather’ is about being all over the place and trying to maintain and remain at peace. Being lost while both accepting and enjoying it I suppose is the goal.
—
The diverse styles and sounds contained on ‘Way Out Weather’ is another aspect of the record’s timeless feel. Please take me back to the sessions at Black Dirt Studio in Westtown, New York. Were a lot of these songs borne from jams and how much of the songs stemmed from live improvisation? It must have been an enriching experience to be part of such a dynamic and formidable ensemble. How long did the recording sessions take?
SG: It was definitely an enriching experience to be in the studio with all of those players. I was very careful with who I wanted to come to the session, and everyone involved brought their own important stamp to the music. Everyone who came to the session are the best musicians I could have asked for to attend the session, and I am super grateful for what they brought to the record. Improvisation is a big part of my musical life, and I think it’s an important thing to embrace if you are a travelling musician. All of the people involved in the session have all kinds of experience playing in so many different contexts, and all our collective knowledge and ability was used in a really great way. The session was also a testament to ourselves with what we are capable of doing in the studio.
For us every environment and live situation is different, and quick adaptation is really key to not letting things go off the rails. We’ve all been playing in bands in many different contexts and styles, and doing things that are inspired and off the cuff are where we often find are best material. We relied on these kind of instincts for the ‘Way Out Weather’ session and we kind of rolled with the songs without scrutinizing it too much.
—
There are an endless array of utterly transcendent moments dotted on the new record, such is its greatness. At the moment, ‘Fiction’- – which begins part B of the record – is my favourite. I particularly love the meandering guitar licks that forms a gorgeous rise in the song. Can you talk me through this song please and indeed your memories of writing and laying the tracks down?
SG: Thanks. That song came about in the studio when I messing around with this cyclical guitar line and Jim Elkington was accompanying with Dobro. Every song on the album was cut in a very loose fashion, and it’s interesting to you that this one is your favourite because this one was the loosest. The words and vocal arrangement were sort of a made up on the spot, all of the vocal tracks were stacked on top of each other, and the rhythm part at the end was a very last-minute addition as we were listening back to the song trying to figure out what to do with it.
—
The album closer ‘Tommy’s Congo’ epitomises the bold, creative spirit that lies at the heart of ‘Way Out Weather’. Shades of Sonny Sharrock beautifully surfaces beneath the artefacts of time. The deep groove and rhythm inter-woven with this vivid catharsis is nothing short of staggering. Please discuss the narrative to ‘Tommy’s Congo’? As album closers go, this is one of those defining moments, “from the ways of a master”.
SG: I came up with the idea for the song after hanging out in a few Congolese bars in Belgium with my friend and bandmate Tommy. I more or less put together a few memories and inspirations from being there and watching these amazing musicians do their thing. The guitar players always kept their eyes on the party and socialized as they were playing these incredible rhythmic guitar lines — totally badass and kind of unbelievable…
For upcoming U.S and European tour dates, click here.
‘Way Out Weather’ is available now on Paradise Of Bachelors.
http://steve-gunn.com/
http://paradiseofbachelors.com/
————
Chosen One: Nathan Bowles
Interview with Nathan Bowles.
“I like the clawhammer approach to open-tuned banjo because it allows me to express ideas melodically, harmonically, and rhythmically in a way that feels closest to how I think of music in my head.”
—Nathan Bowles
Words: Mark Carry
The Virginia-native, Nathan Bowles has long been synonymous with treasured folk and Americana music of today, having collaborated extensively with the Black Twig Pickers (banjo, percussion), Pelt (percussion), Steve Gunn (drums, piano and banjo), Hiss Golden Messenger (banjo), Jack Rose, and others. This November marks the highly-anticipated release of Bowles’ sophomore solo full-length, ‘Nansemond’ – named after the Virginia wetlands landscape that he grew up in that has long since drifted off the map – that features the windswept beauty of timeless folk gems (‘Jonah/Poor Liza Jane’ and ‘J.H. For M.P.); brooding, cinematic soundscapes (‘The Smoke Swallower’) and soul-stirring Appalachian old-time traditions (‘Sleepy Lake Bike Club’ ). The seven sonic creations contained on ‘Nansemond’ transports you to a place that has long since vanished but with each divine note and rhythmic pulse, fleeting moments of past lives and faded dreams flood into the present just like the deep blue Nansemond River that continues to find its sea.
Aesthetically, ‘Nansemond’ is a marvel of a record. The tender lament of ‘Golden Floaters’ unfolds gradually like the embers of a morning sun; a piece of music akin to Glenn Jones’ own transcendent banjo works. Moments previously, the full-blown traditional opus of ‘John Henry’ is steeped in age-old traditions that feels as if it’s at once immersed in familiar tradition and the compelling unknown. A rich narrative runs throughout ‘Nansemond’’s sprawling sonic canvas as a searching for truth and meaning serves the vital pulse to the shape-shifting compositions. Bowles is joined by Tom Carter (guitar), Joe Dejannette (guitar), Steve Kruger (fiddle/voice), and Jason Meagher of Black Dirt Studio (recording, production, mixing).
The North Carolina-based label, Paradise of Bachelors has delivered yet again another exceptional and utterly timeless work of art – hot in the heels of Steve Gunn’s career–high of ‘Way Out Weather’ which incidentally features Bowles’ peerless musicianship – that represents music to truly savour, now and forever more.
————
‘Nansemond’ is out now on Paradise of Bachelors.
————
Interview with Nathan Bowles.
Firstly, congratulations Nathan on the incredible and stunningly beautiful new record, ‘Nansemond’. It’s a real pleasure to ask you some questions about this very special and enlightening record. I would love for you to discuss the album-title, which is the place name of where you grew up in Virginia? The album itself takes you to these wonderful places – the Chuckatuck Creek, Nansemond River, the lakes and beyond – where the music becomes an enriching experience, dotted with childhood memories and a distant past that is far removed from today. Please recount your memories from these particular places and indeed your childhood, growing up in the wetlands landscape?
Nathan Bowles: Hi, and thank you. Glad you’re enjoying the record. I’m not sure the places are wonderful in and of themselves, they’re just places that played an important part in my growing up. They’re wonderful insofar as they were the physical background for a lot of my imaginings as a child, and as a backdrop for my early music studies on piano and drums. I’m not sure what this question is asking, exactly: I can’t obviously recount memories wholesale. It was a mostly confusing, occasionally exciting, mostly introverted childhood spent between my inner world and the outer realities of muddy lakesides, times with friends romping around the woods, spacing out driving along flat, swampy roads wondering when I was going to leave… the places and feelings evoked in the record aren’t as specifically fond as much as they are specific in their confusion and haziness.
————
The album itself feels like a collection of suites that are tied together by the geographical trajectory of your hometown and family roots, where ‘Nansemond’ becomes one gorgeously crafted mood-piece. Please talk me through the opening ‘Sleepy Lake Bike Club’ – which serves the fitting prologue to the record’s sonic voyage – and the construction of the song’s beautiful soundscapes?
NB: The sequencing is wholly sonic; there’s no attempt to trace any geographic trajectory. ‘Bike Club’ is the title I gave that piece after reflecting on the images it brought it up as I was composing, scattered memories of biking around the wooded paths with a few friends and coming up with idiotic excuses to hurl the bikes into little creeks or play games of chicken around corners. It’s wistful but sad, too, maybe. Those games always ended prematurely when the sun set and came out to nothing, really.
————
In terms of influences, the album is rooted in both the familiar traditions of Appalachian and folk music from the south (and beyond) and the avant-garde and cinematic drone. For example, the beguiling minimalist drone of ‘The Smoke Swallower’ is wonderfully placed before the traditional folk tune of ‘Jonah/Poor Liza Jane’. Can you discuss these worlds of music that lies at the heart of your transcendent solo works and indeed the artists and records that have introduced you to these worlds of sounds? It’s clear you have one foot steeped firmly in tradition but the other is rooted in experimental and this for me, is the essence of your unique blend of music.
NB: I’m not sure what the question is here. It’s all music to me. ‘Experimental’ is a pretty crappy term; I’m not experimenting, I’m playing — even the most freely improvisational elements of my music are focused in their ultimate aims. Traditional Appalachian music catches my ear as much as the best freely improvised music and everything in between, and I think I’m as picky and discerning across all of those genres. It’d be impossible to isolate what particular ‘worlds’ influence the music I’m making.
————
The pieces on ‘Nansemond’ are primarily based on your compelling banjo-based melodies. Would this often be the starting point when writing a piece of music, Nathan? Can you discuss the banjo’s possibilities and the reasons you believe the banjo is such a unique and special instrument?
NB: The songs are generally composed on banjo, excepting instances when they’re improvised around a rhythm or scale (‘Smoke Swallower’ for instance). I like the clawhammer approach to open-tuned banjo because it allows me to express ideas melodically, harmonically, and rhythmically in a way that feels closest to how I think of music in my head. I feel very lucky to have found that kind of match with an instrument. I’m not sure how to express it beyond that.
————
You consider yourself first and foremost a percussionist; collaborating with a wide array of the leading U.S. contemporaries, including Steve Gunn, Hiss Golden Messenger, Pelt, and The Black Twig Pickers to name but a few. I can imagine being part of these various projects must tap into (on a subconscious level at the very least) the solo music you are creating? What do you think are the values you have learned from these varied and awe-inspiring collaborative ventures?
NB: Collaborating is what makes one a truly better musician; listening, adapting, finding spaces, understanding dynamics. These are applicable to solo music, it just means you have to listen very closely to yourself and your environment. Patience is an important lesson.
————
You are joined by a formidable cast of musicians on ‘Nansemond’. Please talk me through the players on these sessions and what were the sessions like? Were the pieces of music very much written and mapped out prior to recording, Nathan? Any happy accidents occur during this process?
NB: Tom and I improvised ‘The Smoke Swallower’ and ‘Chuckatuck’ in the studio, to different degrees. ‘Smoke Swallower’ was built around a banjo scale and a rhythm… ‘Chuckatuck’ was a little more defined, though the arrangement and separate movements happened as a result of studio collaborating. John Henry is a tune that Steve Kruger, fiddler, and I play a lot when we get together around town, and Joe is a singular bassist and guitarist/recording engineer that could easily hop in on that tune. The rest of the tracks are composed but also heavily improvised during each recording.
————
The album’s penultimate track, ‘Golden Floaters/Hog Jank’ is my current favourite, and I love particularly how these two pieces merge together, and the slow-building banjo patterns that casts such a hypnotic spell. Can you recall writing this piece of music, Nathan? It’s such a beautiful and moving piece of music, reminiscent of Glenn Jones such is its brilliance.
NB: Wow! Thanks. ‘Golden Floaters’ originated as a tuning and a kind of circular riff after a hallucinatory experience on the gulf coast of Florida. Much of the melody and arrangement was improvised during the recording. ‘Hog Jank’ is a slide riff that I’ve been toying with for a while now. It made sense as a bridge, tuning-wise and mood-wise, between ‘Golden Floaters’ and ‘Tire Swing’. I’m currently integrating it into another piece I’ve been working on… we’ll see what comes of that.
————
What’s next for you? I am sure you must have quite a few ideas currently floating in your mind.
NB: There’s a handful of collaborations in the works that I’ll keep on ice for the moment. Oh, but there’s a Steve Gunn & Black Twig Pickers collaborative record on Thrill Jockey dropping in February. And another Black Dirt Oak thing in the mix… and … well, you’ll have to wait and see. Needless to say I’m very busy.
‘Nansemond’ is out now on Paradise of Bachelors.
————
http://www.nathanbowles.com/
http://www.paradiseofbachelors.com/
————
Chosen One: Hiss Golden Messenger
Interview with M.C. Taylor, Hiss Golden Messenger.
“I think I am generally trying to experience a particular feeling when I listen to music, something that makes me feel openhearted and happy, even if the music is in a minor key. Like, happy to be alive and lucky to be experiencing this genuine feeling of emotional fullness that seems so fleeting and elusive. Humans live very emotionally mediated existences and it’s wonderful to experience things that make you want to get up and fly.”
—M.C. Taylor
Words & Illustrations: Craig Carry
“The way to do it is to put as much life into the song as I can. You can either get it to breathe or you can’t.”
(—Levon Helm)
The Band’s Levon Helm’s feelings on music can wholeheartedly be appreciated – and experienced – in the songbook of Hiss Golden Messenger. Much like The Band’s defining records – such as their debut “Music From Big Pink” and subsequent self-titled classic from 1969 – the music of North Carolina-based Hiss Golden Messenger will similarly continue to live and breathe long after the dust has settled for many generations to come.
Hiss Golden Messenger comprises the Durham, North Carolina songwriter M.C. Taylor and multi-instrumentalist and recordist Scott Hirsch, who resides in Brooklyn, New York. Additionally, Terry Lonergan plays drums and percussion and – together with Hirsch and Taylor – combine to form one of the finest rhythm sections around. The dynamic between the trio recalls, for me, those beautiful Giant Sand records featuring the immense talents of Howe Gelb, Joey Burns and John Convertino. Anything and everything, it seems, is possible. The history of Hiss Golden Messenger can be traced back to the late nineties to another much-acclaimed American band – San Francisco’s The Court & Spark – who featured both M.C. Taylor and Scott Hirsch as well as Alex Stimmel and James Kim. From 1998 onwards, The Court & Spark produced a string of country, folk and rock influenced albums including their classic 2001 LP “Bless You” culminating in their 2006 “Hearts” album on the Absolutely Kosher label. The band stopped the following year – after six albums – with Taylor moving to North Carolina and Hirsch to New York.
Hiss Golden Messenger’s four albums to date – culminating in the most recent “Haw” on the North Carolina-based Paradise Of Bachelors label – can rightly place the band to the forefront of the Americana music tradition. Like Uncle Tupelo before them, and fellow alt country acts such as Portland Oregon’s Richmond Fontaine and Tucson Arizona’s Calexico today, Hiss Golden Messenger’s songbook is not simply one to appreciate but to rather cherish and savor. Much like The Band during the sixties and early seventies, Taylor’s Hiss Golden Messenger fuses the sounds of a myriad of traditions – ranging from country, soul, rock, jazz and R&B – melding them into a cohesive whole while seeking to return rock ‘n’ roll to its rural and folk roots in the process. Much like Dylan’s The Rolling Thunder Revue, Gelb’s Giant Sand, Tucson’s Calexico or Nashville’s Lambchop – while comprising a clear creative nucleus – the band naturally evolves in numerous directions picking up an array of talented musicians along the way. Hiss Golden Messenger has featured a plethora of wonderful musicians who have contributed to recording sessions, from Nashville’s William Tyler (Lambchop, Silver Jews) to members of such bands as Brightblack Morning Light, Megafun, Pelt and The Black Twig Pickers. The sheer talent and craft of musicianship, together with the magic of spontaneity and composition brings to mind The E Street Band at its finest or Van Morrison’s “Astral Weeks”, such is the breadth and scope of musicianship on display.
This April marked the much-anticipated release of “Haw”, Hiss Golden Messenger’s fourth album and follow-up to their much-loved and widely acclaimed “Poor Moon”. “Haw” is a milestone record, not only for Hiss Golden Messenger and M.C. Taylor, but for music at large. Named after the River Haw (a tributary of the Cape Fear which flows through 110 miles of Piedmont North Carolina), the album is an ambitious, timeless, gothic gem. Interestingly, the title “Haw” can be representative, not only of the Haw River which flows through Taylor’s hometown, but it is also the name for the Siouan tribe that once lived in the river’s valley (who may have also been alternately known as the Saxapahaw or Sissipahaw). History’s last mention of the tribe is the Yamasee War of 1715-17 when they joined the Yamasee against the English colonists. Subsequently, the Haw disappear from the colonial historical record. Over some three hundred years later, the River Haw flows on.
“Haw” draws much inspiration from history, the passage of time, Biblical narratives, and, perhaps most of all, from the land itself. Like the great American poet Charles Wright or photographer Robert Adams, the land is represented in a spiritual manner. The landscape is to be appreciated, cherished, devoted. As Robert Adams has written: “We rely, I think, on landscape photography to make intelligible to us what we already know. It is the fitness of a landscape to one’s experience of life’s condition and possibilities that finally makes a scene important or not.” (from Adams’s essay “Truth And Landscape”). The album also features songs about love, faith, fatherhood, reverie, pain, struggle, hope and redemption. All life’s emotions are distilled into Taylor’s impeccably crafted songs. Indeed, such writers as Steinbeck, McCarthy and Wright can be seen in Taylor’s dark tales – often drawing its narrative from Biblical scenes and characters – creating modern-day parables in the process.
“O Let me be the one I want / O Let me love the one I want” sings M.C. Taylor on album opener “Red Rose Nantahala” over the lush backdrop of soulful southern blues and gothic country. The song provides a perfect introduction to “Haw” as such contrasts of darkness and light and hope and despair are established at Haw’s source, where Taylor’s pleas of “O Lord make me happy” are repeated over Hirsch’s intense, guitar-heavy, visceral playing. Gorgeous strings, brass and gospel backing vocals are added to the many layers of Hiss Golden Messenger’s unique sound on “Sufferer (Love My Conqueror)”, where Taylor sings: “You suffered enough my lonely one” before a heavenly string arrangement fills the air, adding a beautiful sense of hope to its majestic close.
M.C. Taylor’s son Elijah is the subject of the upbeat “I’ve Got a Name for the Newborn Child”, a song written while his wife was expecting their first child. The song is both beautifully direct and played like a lullaby offering faith, reassurance and much love. The song also draws parallels, for me, to Rainer Ptacek’s beautiful song “Rudy With A Flashlight” a song about his own son (a song that would be covered later by Evan Dando’s The Lemonheads). The intricate instrumental treasure “Hat Of Rain” ventures forth next, a stunningly sparse guitar and drum arrangement recalling the immersive instrumentals of Burns and Convertino’s Calexico where a heightened sense of atmosphere is conveyed while aesthetically offering a wonderful linking device to one of the album’s centerpieces, “Devotion.” With a slowed-down tempo, Taylor’s vocals are more fragile here, almost fading in the mix somewhat, echoing the dark lyrics about the workaday life: “The taxman comes, he takes all my wages” sings Taylor, which is reminiscent to me of Springsteen’s “Nebraska”, and “Factory” in particular: “It’s the working, the working, just the working life.” “Come protect my soul” are the opening lyrics to the song, again reinforcing the notion of a Protector or some kind of a guiding light – a theme expressed throughout “Haw”, while also a song full of much contrast, principally between the hope and joy provided by childhood and the worry and fear brought along with the pressures of parenthood.
“I’ll turn my face to the waterside” are the opening lyrics to “The Serpent Is Kind (Compared To Man)”, again referencing the river Haw which is used wonderfully as a linking or framing device across the album, much like Minnesota photographer Alec Soth’s “Sleeping By The Mississippi” where the histories and much-storied river offers the framework for Soth to build his own personal journey. The song is a country gem and lyrically, the song deals with “working the land” like the central character’s father: “He said: “Don’t be afraid when the snake is in your hand / the serpent is kind (compared to man).” Again, sequencing of the album is effortless, as the upbeat, irresistible guitar led “Sweet As John Hurt” follows, a song which directly references the river Haw (“I come from the bottom of the River Haw”) while pedal steel guitars combine to the Hiss Golden Messenger sound to wonderful effect, its stunning arrangement echoes Richmond Fontaine’s classic 2003 “Post To Wire” LP where pristine country-tinged songs wonderfully augment Willy Vlautin’s character-based songs.
My own personal highlight is “Cheerwine Easter”, the kind of song that can (quietly) move mountains. The song’s biblical references extend to include the story of Daniel and the lion’s den. The highlight of the song, for me, is when Taylor quietly sings: “This is the day of reckoning” before Bobby Crow’s meandering two-minute saxophone solo evokes the spirit of Clarence Clemons, the saxophone and piano arrangement is as awe-inspiring as the sounds of Ethiopiques legend Mulatu Astatke. Musicianship of such brilliance is equally apparent on instrumental interlude “Hark Maker (Glory Rag)” where the fiddle playing by Joseph Decosimo is immaculate. The piece is recorded over a field recording featuring the sounds of barking dogs, chirping birds and an enveloping dusk. Darkness is falling and the sun (both the earlier “yellow dawn” and “golden sun” have now faded and receded beneath the horizon). “Busted Note” highlights the scope and range of Terry Lonergan’s drumming prowess, while Taylor is once more backed by the wonderful singing voice of Sonia Turner bringing gospel traditions to the country and soul sonic palette of Hiss Golden Messenger’s sound, recalling Lambchop’s timeless “Nixon” album.
Album closer is the timeless prayer-like ballad “What Shall Be (Shall Be Enough)”, recalling such country and folk singers as Woody Guthrie and Rainer Ptacek, the addition of such a wonderfully sparse song to proceedings reminds me of the additions of “Afraid” (on Nico’s “Desertshore”) or “And You Need Me” by Dave Cousins (on “All Our Own Work” by The Strawbs) where a hidden treasure quietly speaks to the heart of the listener. A new dawn is here as a new sun rises to herald a new day and a new beginning.
“Haw” is an album made to keep the dark away, to remember the important things in life and to value them above all else. It is an album about seeing light through the darkness, songs of perseverance and hope. And that is the true gift M.C. Taylor has given to each and every one of us lucky enough to cross paths with the beautiful “Haw”. May it continue on its beautiful meandering journey forevermore.
————
“Haw” is out now on Paradise Of Bachelors.
————
Interview with M.C. Taylor, Hiss Golden Messenger.
Firstly, congratulations on the absolutely magnificent “Haw”, an album of such beauty and hope and as timeless as albums come. My first time seeing you perform live was during your tour in Europe last May on your “Practically Friends” tour alongside your longtime friend and collaborator William Tyler.
It must have been such a joy to travel, tour and perform live together around Europe?
Thank you for the kind words and enthusiasm. William is a good and inspirational friend. He is a hard-working musician with an expansive vision of what music can be. I love him.
————
It’s also such a fitting “pairing” as both yourself and William have been responsible for the creation of two utterly majestic records this year – “Haw” and “Impossible Truth” – you had mentioned how you hoped to someday get to record a set of songs with William as a duo. Are there plans to do so at some future stage? (I sincerely hope so).
Well, a duo record would be fun to make. We haven’t talked at any length about doing that. But we did recently record about 75% worth of a record in a group with Phil and Brad Cook (of Megafaun) and Terry Lonergan (of HGM). The material on that one is all covers, stuff like Link Wray, Mickey Newbury, David Wiffen and Don Williams, material we all love. I’m not sure what will come of it, but it was a nice day to spend recording music with good friends.
————
You are based in Durham, North Carolina. Of course, the landscape and environment play such a significant part in your songwriting and outlook as a songwriter.
And “Haw” in particular seems to draw a lot from your own homeplace, particular in songs like the beautiful country-tinged gem “Sweet As John Hurt”.
I’d love to gain an insight into what it was like growing up in North Carolina?
Apart from music, what else inspired you growing up, what places/people had the biggest influence on you as songwriter and musician?
Well, I didn’t grow up in North Carolina. I grew up in California, lived for many years in San Francisco, and moved to the North Carolina Piedmont region in 2007. I started exploring American traditional and vernacular music when I was maybe 18 or so. The roots of a lot of that music are Southern, and I felt it was incumbent on me to actually live in the American South to gain a better understanding of a very complex place. All I ever wanted was to play rhythm guitar in a country band.
My father is a guitarist and a singer and has been a big influence on me in terms of the way that music can exist around a house and in a family. I remember the good feeling of being in the house on a Sunday morning when I was a small child and hearing him playing and singing. I recall it more as a feeling than anything else. That was church, for our family, that sort of loose gathering to listen and sing and just be together. I want that for my own family too.
Since I was very young, I’ve been obsessive about music, it’s among the most important things in my life. I feel fortunate to be able to play it and be around it.
————
Themes of family, heritage, identity and history are so wonderfully evoked in your songs, creating timeless modern-day parables of near biblical proportions in the process.
I would love if you could talk about your own family tree and roots? Is there an Irish connection there somewhere in fact?
There has been a lot of music in my family. My paternal grandfather was a singer, as is my dad, who also plays guitar. My mom’s father was also a singer; during World War II he was in the service as an entertainer, mainly singing and playing trumpet. My brother is a classical trumpet player and he freelances with a variety of orchestras; he is married to a classical French horn player. My sister is a great singer (both she and my dad sang on Poor Moon). Music has always been interwoven throughout my life. As far as collecting records, though, I think I’m probably in the deepest.
My mother’s side of the family is from Wales, a town called Pontypool on the edge of the South Wales coalfields. We visited there once, it seemed like a hard town. My father’s family is German. No Irish connection as far as I’m aware, though I feel a kinship with Ireland. I love playing there and traveling through there. I’m always a little sad when I leave, and not just because of Ryanair baggage overage fees.
————
The title “Haw” must be one of my all-time favourite titles for a record. As you have said before, it can mean a number of things: Named after the river Haw; after a native American tribe that disappeared; and, indeed “haw” as in to laugh. I’m very curious to find out at what stage of the recording of the album did you decided upon the title? (What’s most incredible to me is how such a complex, ambitious and multi-themed album can get distilled into a one-syllable-word and three letters.)
I think the title came after most of the tracks were recorded but I was finishing up some overdubs in the town of Graham, about 30 minutes west of Durham. There is an exit for the Haw River off the highway, and I had already sung about the Haw in “Sweet as John Hurt.” I wanted something simple but evocative (for me, anyways), and it was right there waiting for me. I recall really hoping that nobody else had used it as a record title, which they hadn’t.
————
Hiss Golden Messenger’s rhythm section – the truly special triangle of yourself, Scott Hirsch on bass and Terry Lonergan on drums – creates such a magical connection where the spirit of discovery and spark of creativity is always in evidence (for me, it brings to mind the triangle of Gelb, Convertino and Burns on early Giant Sand records where “anything” seems possible).
I would love if you could talk about both Scott Hirsch and Terry Lonergan, how you met and what they bring to the Hiss Golden Messenger sound?
Scott and I have been playing together in bands since we were 18, so just shy of twenty years. We both grew up in Southern California. I met Terry on a whim in 2007 and it’s proven to be a very important relationship; at this point there aren’t many other drummers that I’d want to play with. Terry grew up in New Orleans and Jackson, Mississippi, and his drumming is steeped in rhythms of the South, which is important for me to have as the backbone of full-band HGM recordings. As a team, Terry and Scott are really locked in. I’ve always loved rhythm sections that are a team—Carlton and Family Man Barrett, Roger Hawkins and David Hood, Dave Pegg and Dave Mattacks. Scott and Terry are in that lineage for sure.
————
The album is beautifully framed lyrically by the lines “O Lord let me be happy” (Red Rose Nantahala) and “what shall be shall be enough” (on album closer). The album deals with much darkness and pain while ultimately revealing a beautiful sense of hope and “life” – very much like such albums as “On The Beach”, “Nebraska” or “Blood On The Tracks”. Lyrically, how would you describe “Haw”?
Haw was a darker record for me. There is more confusion on Haw than on the previous HGM record, Poor Moon. That’s what I think, anyways—others think differently. Blood on the Tracks is a good reference point, the tone of that record was a topic of conversation a lot while we were working on Haw, particularly the early version before he re-recorded it.
————
Such a breathtaking diversity of sounds and song traditions are delved into so effortlessly on Hiss Golden Messenger albums, particularly on “Haw.” From the sublime gospel-tinged “Sufferer (Love My Conqueror)” to the awe-inspiring “Cheerwine Easter” (the 2-minute saxophone solo is reminiscent of the great Mulatu Astatke). Elsewhere, folk, blues, country and soul influences can be heard.
I would love to discover what records had the biggest impact on you growing up?
Was there a particular record that made you want to become a musician?
And, indeed, which albums continue to influence you the most today?
It’s hard to say what albums influenced me the most. I always count Traffic’s Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys as a big record in my life. I recorded it off the radio when I was young and it remains a really important one to me still. Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back was huge for me, that’s still an intensely dense and lyrical album. All records by the Byrds and CSN were on pretty heavy rotation in my house growing up. The Band’s Music From Big Pink was huge too, as was Fairport’s Liege & Lief and Full House. Karen Dalton’s In My Own Time is always near the record player, and so is Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard. And then all of my friends or peers that are making music, that’s another big inspiration—William, of course, and Megafaun, the Black Twig Pickers and Pelt, Nathan Salsburg, Mount Moriah and a lot more.
I think I am generally trying to experience a particular feeling when I listen to music, something that makes me feel openhearted and happy, even if the music is in a minor key. Like, happy to be alive and lucky to be experiencing this genuine feeling of emotional fullness that seems so fleeting and elusive. Humans live very emotionally mediated existences and it’s wonderful to experience things that make you want to get up and fly.
————
In terms of songwriting, your songs are so beautifully written whereby the song’s characters become so real and life-like much in the same way as the great novels do. Writers like Steinbeck, James Welch (particularly “The Death Of Jim Loney”) and Richmond Fontaine’s Willy Vlautin (“Lean On Pete”‘s Charley Thompson character, for example) come to mind for me. A stunning use of imagery is also evident in your writing.
I would love to know what process is involved for you in the writing of a song – are they drafted numerous times beforehand, are they sometimes researched, are they written with the resulting “song” in mind?
Can you remember the first song you ever wrote?
Thank you. I love John Steinbeck, although I don’t know Welch or Vlautin and now I’m going to have to check them out. I generally have a couple notebooks full of sketches and notes going at any given time. When it comes time to starting writing songs, I usually go back through my notes and try to discern what thematically is going on in those pages. Some weird emotional highlight reel of my life.
————
Which novels and writers do you admire the most?
I don’t know if I can rank them, but some recent reads include Jim Dodge’s Stone Junction (for the second time), Larry McMurtry’s All My Friends Are Gonna Be Strangers, Charles Wright’s Country Music, the Bible. I have a stack of John Macdonald mysteries that are staring me in the face right now.
————
What is next for you, Mike?
Writing and recording, always. Working on coming up with the next HGM record. Also waiting on the birth of our daughter (our second child), which could literally happen at any time.
————
————
“Haw” is out now on Paradise Of Bachelors.
http://hissgoldenmessenger.blogspot.ie
http://www.paradiseofbachelors.com
————
