Hiss Golden Messenger is sometimes labeled as a jam band, comparable, in some ways to the Americana and country-rock of the Grateful Dead. In his recent solo acoustic appearance at The Barns at Wolf Trap, Mike Taylor — the sole constant member, frontman, singer, and lyricist for the band — showed off a different side of his artistry, one that emphasized his songwriting, which is more similar to classic singer-songwriters like Bob Dylan, Nick Drake, and Joni Mitchell.
Yet, Taylor doesn’t shy away from his love of the Dead. His last appearance in our, area, he told the audience on Oct. 17, was with Bertha, the Grateful Dead drag band, at the Kennedy Center last December. It was the first — and, so far, only time — he’s performed in drag. A photo of the event went viral, appearing on WorldStarHipHop, and generated more attention and comments than anything else he’s done in his career. Many of the comments, Mike noted, weren’t positive, and the anger some people expressed got a little scary.
As a band, Hiss Golden Messenger stretch out the songs and improvise. But many of his songs, Taylor said, “started out as something much more concise.” His first few albums under the HGM moniker were made as solo lo-fi recordings in Taylor’s home in North Carolina.
For all the folk and Americana influences in his work, Mike grew up listening to and playing in punk rock bands. He got started young, buying his first tour van at 17. (He’s 50 now, so he’s been doing this for 33 years.) In a recent trip to the DMV, he went out to see the Dischord House in Arlington, where he ended up running into Ian MacKaye. MacKaye, who Taylor admitted has a reputation for being surly, invited him in and they hung out for a couple of hours while MacKaye was working with his vast catalog of recordings.
Before opening with “Way Back in the Way Back,” Taylor greeted the audience, saying he was going to “play some songs that feel appropriate for the times.” He mentioned being in “the belly of the beast”; the thing about being in the belly of the beast is that it’s the one place where the beast can’t eat you. He wrote “I’ve Got a Name for a Newborn Child,” when he was expecting his first kid, who is now 16 and recently got their driver’s license. Watching them drive away for the first time, Mike said, was a poignant experience.
Watch Hiss Golden Messenger perform “I’ve Got a Name for a Newborn Child” for Paste Magazine on YouTube:
We’re not far away from getting new HGM music; an album has been recorded. Someone asked if they’ll be touring it, to which Mike replied, “I have to tour it,” because that’s how musicians make their money today. He played some of the new songs, one of which is called “Lasers.” One gentleman in the audience was particularly boisterous, interjecting at several points, during the show, but Taylor welcomed it, saying it was a good way to kick off the tour.
This show had more exposition than a full-band HGM show, and Mike apologized, saying he just had “a lot to say.” He shared that he’s spent a lot of time in the past year in therapy. He’s always been a fairly solitary person, but “I’m not sure that’s serving me well.” For all he said about being solitary, he came out after his set and chatted with folks.
The set also included “Hardly Town,” “Red Rose Nantala,” “I Need a Teacher,” and “Jenny of the Roses”; there’s an indecipherable song title scribbled in my notebook, and I didn’t get a few of others.
I brought my partner, who likes music but doesn’t go out to see it often, in part because she can get overwhelmed in highly stimulating environment. The Barns is a calming environment, and this show was perfect for her. She had a great time. I recommend my neurodivergent friends check out the venue’s calendar, as many of their shows are good for folks who don’t feel comfortable at louder, more intense shows.
Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Rett Madison opened the show. I didn’t catch the very beginning of her set, coming in when she was introducing “Flea Market.” She grew up in West Virginia and describes her late mother, Jackie, who passed away from suicide in 2019, as an “Appalachian diva.” Her second album, Play One for Jackie, is dedicated to her mother’s memory. The title track, “One For Jackie, One For Crystal,” is a murder ballad about a man who got away with hurting her mom when she was a kid. For her upcoming third album, she spent six weeks in Nashville co-writing songs. She wrote “Jeans in the Dresser” with Hilary Lindsey and Lori McKenna and “Angry at a Dead Man” with members of Little Big Town. “Eleven Wednesdays,” she explained, was about taking an ex to the dentist. She also played the title cut from her first album, Pin Up Daddy.
Rett teased the audience about whether the songs were based on true stories. One of the advantages I have in writing genre fiction is that no one is going to think I’ve been a brain-eating zombie; the irony is that they’re all really about me, even when they can’t be true stories.
I always enjoy my trips to The Barns, and this was a lovely evening. Both Madison and Taylor have a lot of great songs, and the intimate environment allowed them to connect with the crowd.
