

[Screen shot from this YouTube video by Dan Schram]

DONATE TO NARAL PRO-CHOICE NORTH CAROLINA HERE

M.C. Taylor, aka Hiss Golden Messenger, had a hell of a 2014. Among his accomplishments — signing with Merge Records, who released Lateness of Dancers to critical acclaim; appearing on Letterman; touring the U.S. and Europe extensively; serving as de facto lead vocalist for the Songs: Ohia and Magnolia Electric Co. tribute shows in honor of Jason Molina; and producing and appearing on Alice Gerrard‘s Grammy-nominated Follow the Music. After being everywhere in 2014, Taylor inaugurated 2015 back on his home turf, with an extravaganza of a show that combined a bunch of his recent activities into one wild ride of an evening. As Hiss Golden Messenger now tours as a full unit, Taylor decided to bill this as “M.C. Taylor and Friends” rather than the band name; the night’s main lineup included some, but not all, of HGM’s touring component. This special show was a benefit for NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina, who have been leading the ongoing fight for choice in North Carolina.

After kicking off with a couple of Poor Moon classics, the “friends” started to come out in force. Gerrard joined Taylor for three numbers, including a cover of Merle Haggard’s “You Take Me For Granted”. Then it was Phil Cook‘s chance at the vocal mike, a turnabout from his normal role in HGM. The lucky crowd then got a second look at Taylor’s collaboration on the Songs: Ohia / Magnolia Electric Co. material, which was first debuted in the Triangle last January. Magnolia Electric Co.’s Jason Groth came up onstage for those three songs, including perhaps Molina’s finest number, “Final Transmission.” Then it was back to HGM for a bit, until the night’s final number, Taylor’s first known cover of Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door,” shown on the video above.

This performance was recorded by my friend and prolific Triangle-area recordist Dan Schram, whose video is showing below. Dan kindly provided me the audio files, to which I applied a little additional mastering and mixing “sparkle”. The sound quality is outstanding. We hope you enjoy it, and more importantly, that you will support the cause for which the music was made, NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina.

Download the complete show: [MP3] | [FLAC]

Stream and download individual tracks:



Watch “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” on YouTube:



M.C.Taylor and Friends

2015-01-18

NARAL NC Benefit

The Pinhook

Durham, NC USA

Recorded by Dan Schram

Produced by acidjack

Soundboard + Rode NT5>Tascam DR-680>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, compression, reverb on SBD)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects, imaging)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks

01 [intro]

02 Call Him Daylight [Hiss Golden Messenger]

03 [banter1]

04 Blue Country Mystic [Hiss Golden Messenger]

05 [banter2]

06 Get Up and Do Right [Alice Gerrard]*

07 [banter3]

08 Follow the Music [Alice Gerrard]*

09 You Take Me For Granted [Merle Haggard]*

10 If I Play With Fire [Alice Gerrard]*

11 [banter4]

12 Leave It There [Charles A. Tindley]

13 Ain’t It Sweet [Phil Cook]&

14 [banter5]

15 What Comes After the Blues [Magnolia Electric Co.]^

16 [banter6]

17 Talk To Me Devin, Again [Magnolia Electric Co.]^

18 Farewell Transmission [Songs: Ohia]^

19 [banter7]

20 Southern Grammar [Hiss Golden Messenger]

21 [encore break]

22 Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door [Bob Dylan]

Band:

M.C. Taylor – vocals, guitar

Kyle Keegan – drums

Brad Cook – bass

Matt Douglas – saxophone

* w/ Alice Gerrard – vocals

& w/ Phil Cook – vocals, guitar

^ w/ Jason Groth

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina. You can buy Hiss Golden Messenger’s records from Paradise of Bachelors and Merge Records, as well as HGM’s online store.