Duke Performances 2015-16 season announced, Nick Lowe, Patty Griffin, Rosanne Cash & many more

The Duke Performances Music in the Gardens series just kicked off last week and will feature fantastic performances through the end of July, but it's time to start looking forward to their big 2015-16 season which is packed with diverse artists.

The season will kick off on September 10 with Mahmoud Ahmed at Baldwin Auditorium and, over the course of the following seven months, will see the likes of Bettty LaVette, Rhiannon Giddens, The Fairfield Four, Hiss Golden Messenger, The King's Singers, Nick Lowe, Los Straitjackets, Rosanne Cash, Patty Griffin, Sara Watkins, Anaïs Mitchell, Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band, Hurray for the Riff Raff and Edgar Meyer, among many others. Check out the full schedule below.

Video: Hiss Golden Messenger plays "Lateness of Dancers" for Yours Truly

While in San Francisco recently M.C. Taylor, aka Hiss Golden Messenger, stopped at a friend's apartment to film a solo performance of the title track from his album Lateness of Dancers for the music site Yours Truly. Check out that performance below.

Hiss Golden Messenger will release a new three-song EP titled Southern Grammar on February 3 via Merge Records. It will feature the songs "Brother, Do You Know the Road," "He Wrote the Book," and a live version of "Southern Grammar" that showcases the Hiss Golden Messenger touring band.

M.C. Taylor & Friends to play NARAL NC 42nd anniversary show

Singer-songwriter M.C. Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger has had a big 2014 with the release of his Merge Records debut Lateness of Dancers and increased popularity and critical acclaim. In January Taylor will contribute his talents to support and celebrate NARAL NC (NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina).

Taylor and friends will play the organization's 42nd anniversary celebration at the Pinhook in Durham on Sunday, January 18. Tickets are on sale now via Ticketfly for $15.

Hiss Golden Messenger will release a new 12-inch EP on February 5 titled Southern Grammar that will open with a live version of the title track as performed by a nine-piece band just as when the group recently appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman. Check out that performance below.

Video: Hiss Golden Messenger plays "Southern Grammar" on Letterman

Last night Hiss Golden Messenger made their network television debut and they showed up in New York ready to throw down.

The band performed the song "Southern Grammar" as a nine-piece on The Late Show with David Letterman and it's was something to see and hear. Letterman himself seemed to love the performance and fawned over the band as he ended the show. Check out the performance below.

"Southern Grammar" is on Hiss Golden Messenger's latest album Lateness of Dancers.

Album Review: Hiss Golden Messenger - Lateness of Dancers

Over the course of three records, MC Taylor’s Hiss Golden Messenger has questioned where we find God or — more broadly — Truth. Bad Debt looked for it in solitude, Poor Moon searched in ritual and his previous record, Haw, dug into the element of place, specifically North Carolina.

Lateness of Dancers, Taylor’s Merge Records debut, is still searching, but it’s more comfortable with not having complete answers. Taylor’s search for Truth hasn’t come up empty. “Yes, I’m learning now,” he sings on the title track and later in a song for his daughter Ione (“Chapter & Verse”), he admits that all he has are songs and experience and sings, “Ain’t that enough?” in such a way that the answer — yes — is implied.

New music from Hiss Golden Messenger - "Mahogany Dread"

The new Hiss Golden Messenger album Lateness of Dancers is just three weeks from hitting the streets. It's out on September 9, and another new song from the album has just been released.

Check out the album's third track "Mahogany Dread" below. If you haven't already checked out the previously released songs, check out "Saturday's Song" HERE and a live performance of "Lucia" HERE.

Hiss Golden Messenger will play the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro on Saturday, September 13, with Strand of Oaks and Alexandra Sauser-Monnig. Tickets are available via Ticketfly for $12.

Video: Hiss Golden Messenger performs "Lucia" in England

As we've mentioned a few times recently, Hiss Golden Messenger's Merge Records' debut, Lateness of Dancers, is due out on September 9. On his current European tour he took the time to film a performance of a new song.

The filmmaking trio Before the Winter Fires used an old Beaulieu R16 film camera to shoot a performance of "Lucia" in Cornwall, England. Check it out below.

Hiss Golden Messenger will play a free Merge 25 day party at the Orange County Social Club on Thursday, July 24, from 4 to 6 p.m. with Amor de Días.

Google Play releases Merge Records mini-documentary, free downloads

With the Merge 25th anniversary celebration kicking into full gear with the festival coming up in a couple of weeks, the Music in the Gardens series going on in Durham, an art exhibit opening next week in Chapel Hill, reissues coming out each month and even more stuff, the label took the time to film a short documentary for Google Play that premiered earlier this week.

The 24-minute documentary features label co-founders Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance along with other Merge staffers and musicians Bob Moud, Wye Oak, Mary Timony, Jon Wurster, Julian Koster and many more folks, as well as some fantastically curmudgeonly soundbites courtesy Stephin Merritt. The whole thing is narrated by Daniel Handler, author of the Lemony Snicket books. Check out the full documentary below.

Hiss Golden Messenger shares "Saturday's Song," announces fall tour

Hiss Golden Messenger's Merge Records debut, Lateness of Dancers, is still more than two months away (it's out on September 9), but a new song from the album has just been released. Check out "Saturday's Song" from the album below.

In addition to releasing the new song, Hiss Golden Messenger has announced a fall tour that includes an album release show at the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro on Saturday, September 13. Strand of Oaks and Alexandra Sauser-Monnig will open. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, June 27, via Ticketfly for $12.

Hiss Golden Messenger will also play the sold out Merge 25 Festival at the Cat's Cradle on Friday, July 25 as well as the free day party at the Cradle on Thursday, July 24 with Amor de Días.

Merge 25 Festival adds free day parties in Carrboro

The big Merge 25 Festival kicks off in exactly a month and while tickets are sold out for the Thursday and Friday night shows at the Cat's Cradle, the label has just added a few outdoor day parties behind the club at the Orange County Social Club on those days.

The shows will be from 4 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 24, and Friday, July 25, at the Orange County Social Club. Amor de Días and Hiss Golden Messenger will play Thursday and Radar Brothers and Saint Rich will play Friday.

Tickets are still available HERE for the show on Wednesday, July 23, at Baldwin Auditorium in Durham featuring Lampchop, Mount Moriah and William Tyler. Tickets are also available HERE for the big Saturday, July 26, outdoor show in Carrboro hosted by Margaret Cho featuring Neutral Milk Hotel, Caribou, Teenage Fanclub, Bob Mould, Mikal Cronin, Ex Hex, The Love Language and The Music Tapes.

Hiss Golden Messenger releasing 'Lateness of Dancers' this fall

As we mentioned a few months back, singer-songwriter M.C. Taylor, better known as Hiss Golden Messenger, signed with Merge Records and he would be releasing a new album later this year. Now we have the details of that album to share.

The new album is titled Lateness of Dancers and will be out on September 9. It was recorded last fall in Hillsborough and features Phil and Brad Cook, William Tyler, Scott Hirsch and Alexandra Sauser-Monnig. Check out a teaser video for the album below.

Hiss Golden Messenger will play the Merge 25 Festival at the Cat's Cradle on Thursday, July 24, with Superchunk, Reigning Sound, The Rock*A*Teens, The Clientele, Telekinesis, Eleanor Friedberger and Amor de Dias. The show is sold out.

New music from Hiss Golden Messenger - "Brother, Do You Know the Road?"

As Hiss Golden Messenger kicks off a European tour tonight, May 15, in Dublin, Ireland, they have released a brand new single that will not be featured on their forthcoming Merge Records debut, due out later this year.

The new song is the six-minute track "Brother, Do You Know the Road?" and features Scott Hirsch, Terry Lonergan, Phil Cook, and Brad Cook backing frontman M.C. Taylor. Check out the song below. It also available to download via iTunes.

Hiss Golden Messenger will play the Merge 25 Festival at the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro on Thursday, July 24. Four-day passes and individual tickets for Thursday night are sold out.

Hiss Golden Messenger signs with Merge Records

Singer-songwriter M.C. Taylor who we all know as Hiss Golden Messenger released a fantastic new album last year (Haw) and re-released a lost album earlier this year (Bad Debt) and now he's signed a deal with Merge Records.

While there are no details yet of Hiss Golden Messenger's first release with Merge, the label says a new full-length is to be expected. In the meantime, Taylor will spend quite a bit of time playing shows in Europe over the next few months but maybe we'll see him at the Merge 25 Festival in July if he makes it back from the UK in time.

Check out a review of Hiss Golden Messenger's latest release Bad Debt HERE.

Album Review: Hiss Golden Messenger - Bad Debt

Bad Debt - originally recorded in 2010 and released in limited quantities shortly thereafter - is the birth of M.C. Taylor’s Hiss Golden Messenger as we know it today. The rare record with the evocative red hand print was made more scarce by a warehouse fire, but it is now available again with an expanded track list thanks to Carrboro’s Paradise of Bachelors label.

M.C. Taylor recorded Bad Debt on a cassette recorder in his kitchen in Pittsboro where he lived at the time, which explains the most obvious sonic difference between this album and its successors. Bad Debt is stripped bare. This is the skeleton upon which all other Hiss Golden Messenger albums are built. There are no drums, strings, or horns. It sounds distant and faded, like an old tape pulled from a box in the attic.

Hiss Golden Messenger to play 'Bad Debt' in Carrboro

Photo by Harlan Campbell

As we mentioned a few months back, Hiss Golden Messenger will be reissuing his 2011 album Bad Debt on January 14 and now M.C. Taylor and the gang has scheduled a big release show in the Triangle.

They'll play the album at the Cat's Cradle Back Room in Carrboro on Friday, February 21. Tickets will go on sale today, January 10, via Ticketfly for $12.

You can stream the full album Bad Debt for a limited time via Pitchfork. You can also check out the song "Drum" from the album below.

Hiss Golden Messenger reissuing Bad Debt in January, listen to "Drum"

Hiss Golden Messenger's second album Bad Debt is set for a deluxe reissue in January. The album was released overseas in 2010, though most of the CDs were destroyed during the London riots and it was released in limited numbers is the U.S. in 2011.

The new reissue will be out on January 14 via the label Paradise of Bachelors and they have just shared the last song on the release, "Drum," with the world. Check it out below along with a complete album track list.

Pre-orders of the album come with an unreleased album titled London Exodus which is available as an immediate download. You can stream the entire bonus album HERE.

Hiss Golden Messenger to play free Chapel Hill show

Singer-songwriter M.C. Taylor, aka Hiss Golden Messenger, has joined up with Paste Magazine to play their ongoing series Live @ Aloft Hotels.

Taylor will play the Triangle stop of the series which will be at WXYZ Bar in Chapel Hill on Tuesday, October 22. The show starts at 7 p.m. and it is free but you'll be able to RSVP for yourself and a guest HERE soon (but there is a disclaimer that RSVPing does not necessarily guarantee you admission, so get there early).

Hiss Golden Messenger and Friends will also play a big show at the Haw River Ballroom in Saxapahaw on Saturday, October 26, with Phil Cook and the Guitarheels and The A's. Tickets are on sale via Ticketfly for $8.

Duke Performances announces 2013 Music in the Gardens lineup

Photo by Kevin Norris

Spring is here, even though it hasn't felt like it much yet, and it's time to start making room in your schedule for the 2013 Duke Performances Music in the Gardens series, which kicks off on June 5.

Just like the most recent seasons, this year's lineup primarily focuses on music from the Triangle including Hiss Golden Messenger, American Aquarium, The Tender Fruit, JKutchma & The Five Fifths, Kenny Roby and Diali Cissokho, and Kaira Ba. The out-of-towners this year are David Wax Museum and Matthew E. White (who is pretty much an honorary Triangle resident at this point considering his strong ties to the local scene).

New music from Hiss Golden Messenger - "Sufferer (Love My Conquerer)"

M.C. Taylor, aka Hiss Golden Messenger, will release a new album on April 2 titled Haw via the Paradise of Bachelors label and they've released the second track from the album. It's a fantastic song titled "Sufferer (Love My Conquerer)" and you can stream it below.

Haw features a variety of guest musicians including guitarist William Tyler, Phil Cook of Megafaun, Mark Paulson of Bowerbirds and many others. The full track list for the album Haw is also available below and there are even more details about the album HERE.

We'll keep you posted when an album release show is announced.

The Mountain Goats to headline 'Rock for Roe' benefit

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, local musicians led by John Darnielle (The Mountain Goats) will hold a benefit show for NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina in Durham later this month.

The event will take place at The Pinhook on Saturday, January 20, and will feature Darnielle, possibly joined by members of Midtown Dickens, playing a requests set. Also on the bill is Blooz Travellerzz, a collaboration between M.C. Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger and Mount Moriah, playing classic rock covers and Creedence Queerwater Revival, a collaboration between members of Midtown Dickens and Trip Knight covering Creedence Clearwater Revival songs.

Tickets will go on sale HERE at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, January 9 for $20.