Hiss Golden Messenger at the Raccoon Motel -- October 11.
Friday, October 11, 7 p.m.
Raccoon Motel, 315 East Second Street, Davenport IA
Touring in support of his most recent album Jump for Joy that Rolling Stone called "a whirlwind ride of rock and folk elements that is both playful and bouncy," the Grammy-nominated indie-folk Hiss Golden Messenger headlines an October 11 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, the group's latest also hailed by The Guardian as "their best yet – a warm distillation of country-soul and folk, and every song tells a story."
Originating in Durham, North Carolina, in 2007 Hiss Golden Messenger was formed by Michael Carrington "M.C." Taylor and Scott Hirsch, following the dissolution of their previous band, the alternative country group The Court and Spark. Hiss Golden Messenger's early recordings were released through Taylor's own label, Heaven & Earth Magic Recording Company, and the band's debut album Country Hai East Cotton was released in 2009 via Taylor's label in a limited edition of 500. This was followed by their international debut album Bad Debt in 2010, released via Black Maps, and third album Poor Moon, which was released in 2012 via the North Carolina-based Paradise of Bachelors. A year after the band's fourth album Haw was released in 2013, Hiss Golden Messenger was signed to Merge and released their fifth album and Merge label debut Lateness of Dancers. The group has subsequently gone on to release four additional full-length records via Merge, as well as remastered versions of Bad Debt, Poor Moon, and Haw, and in 2019, Hiss Golden Messenger debuted their Terms of Surrender recording that received a nomination for Best Americana Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.
The band's music contains elements from various musical genres, such as folk, country, dub, country soul, rhythm and blues, bluegrass, jazz, funk, swamp pop, gospel, blues, and rock, with their main influences including the Beatles, The Byrds, and Buffalo Springfield. As stated at AllMusic.com, "Hiss Golden Messenger's fusion of classic rock, folk-pop, and sparse blues in various guises has seen Taylor compared to the likes of lo-fi legends Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and Bill Callahan. While one of Taylor's first statements as Hiss Golden Messenger, 2010's Bad Debt, was a stark, home-recorded voice-and-guitar session, most of the work he created with Hirsch was more ambitious, blending a range of roots music flavors -- blues, country, soul, R&B, and boogie rock -- with the emotional palette of Taylor's songwriting. Their music could easily swing from introspection to giddy joy, with 2013's Haw, 2021's Quietly Blowing It, and 2023's Jump for Joy documenting him at his most expressive."
Hiss Golden Messenger brings their tour to Davenport on October 11 with an additional set by Monde UFO, admission to the 7 p.m. concert is $41, and tickets are available by visiting TheRaccoonMotel.com.
