When Hiss Golden Messenger returned to Louisville to play at Zanzabar, he graced our audience with a beautifully intimate set in our performance studio for WFPK Live Lunch. Frontman MC Taylor didn’t come alone either, bringing with him frequent collaborator Phil Cook, an incredible musician in his own right whose previously visited WFPK to perform his solo material. Together, the duo performed a number of songs off of Hiss Golden Messenger’s latest album, “Terms of Surrender,” as well as some older favorites. Speaking in between songs, Taylor praised the influence Kentucky has had on his life and music, citing Slint and Wendell Berry as being particularly influential.

“One thing that occurs to me, we’re in Wendell Berry territory here too. And I think I can say with some confidence if it were not for the influence of Wendell Berry’s poetry in particular has had on me and continues to have on me, I probably would not be sitting here doing this for you right now. I find his work to be incredibly instructive and profound in the best ways. So thank you Kentucky for giving us Wendell Berry.”

You can watch the entire performance in the video below.