It feels more rooted in the Piedmont, thanks to a band that includes MegafaunвЂ™s Phil Cook, Black Twig Picker Nathan Bowles, and William Tyler. Haw is fuller and more adventurous even than 2011вЂ™s Poor Moon, with a broader musical palette. вЂњCheerwine EasterвЂќ, named for a regional soft drink, is gentle country soul with a sturdy beat and, out of nowhere, a low and lovely sax solo courtesy of Bobby Crow. So вЂњSufferer (Love My Conqueror)вЂќ includes not only that odd string section, but also gentle bursts of rural psychedelia and backing vocals tinged with both gospel and the Gospel. There are shades of Charlie Poole and Charley Patton in these songs, but also tinges of AM Gold country, jazz, rock, and singer-songwriter pop. But Hiss Golden Messenger is never beholden to tradition. With a degree in folklore from UNC, Taylor has a deep knowledge of Southern folk music, especially that of the Piedmont region of North Carolina. Taylor is more concerned with spiritual doubt than any kind of comforting certainty.ДЄfter nearly a decade with the San Francisco Americana act the Court and Spark, Taylor moved from his native California about as far east as he could, settling in the Tarheel State in the late 2000s. Based out of Durham, North Carolina, Hiss Golden Messenger offers a fine corrective to the recent rash of folk anthems: The songs on Haw pose questions rather than offer easy reassurances, and head Messenger M.C. In less thoughtful incarnations, the nuances of craft are often jettisoned in favor of fervency.

At its best, this trend imagines pop music as a potentially communal thing,В intended for public experience rather than headphones isolation.

Over the last few years, young folk revivalists have turned to traditional American music as a vehicle for spiritual catharsis: Mumford and SonsВ tick off rousing anthems like theyвЂ™re punching a clock, the Lumineers engineer pre-industrial sing-alongs, and Old Crow Medicine Show soldier on as a jam-band comprised of historical re-enactors.

Hiss golden messenger