Hiss Golden Messenger - American spirit

You're a scholar of folklore and popular culture. How have these studies influenced your work as an artist?

I don't approach my work as a musician like a scholar, an academic. This is an aspect of Hiss Golden Messenger that has been misunderstood, though I can see why. I'm not interested in dealing with music from a clinical point of view - as certain academics tend to do - in any way. To my mind, that's destructive and demeaning to the music. Despite having spent years doing public folklore work - which meant I was paid to record regional musicians county by county across the eastern part of North Carolina - I couldn't identify a traditional fiddle or guitar tune by ear. Even so, I've certainly learned to be a better listener, and I've set myself the personal mission of understanding what it was that made the most moving music I recorded so compelling. That remains my biggest lesson and my goal.

Paradise of Bachelors [the label that releases Hiss Golden Messenger's work, ed.] calls "Haw" your most ambitious record. Do you agree? Do you get a sense of your own evolution, as an artist and musician?

If listeners think that “Haw” is my most ambitious work, then I think that's fine with me, and I'd never take that idea away from someone. Music is subjective. Personally, I feel that these records I'm making now are waystations on a very personal journey, and each of them is tormented and joyful for different reasons. It's interesting that people like them. I'd never be so dishonest as to suggest that listeners out there play absolutely no role in how I think about my music, but I make music primarily for myself, for my family, and for my friends.

I'm a musical polyglot/omnivore, and I don't see why I shouldn't or couldn't reference Waylon Jennings and Pharoah Sanders in the same song – they were both Americans, they both played music of the land. I work hard to make sure I don't repeat myself – not so much musically as emotionally. I try to communicate a precise emotion to myself while I'm singing. But emotions are so complex and multifaceted. I always feel like I have a great deal of work to do, and that I've achieved very little so far.

The label also refers to springtime lyrical themes: regeneration, the cycle of life, and so on. How would you describe the new record, lyrically and musically? Are the references to Christianity simply a byproduct of tradition, or a deliberate choice?

The Bible is a book of rules and stories that I, as an American, am familiar with. I'm not a believer – that should be obvious from my music. But I'm deeply interested in understanding my relationship with faith, which is why I talk about prophets and biblical travelers. I've never sung anything on any Hiss Golden Messenger record that was an outright celebration of Christianity. I believe organized religion has the capacity to bring great happiness and fellowship into the world, along with a sense of security and purpose. And it can just as easily do the opposite.

Yes, I'm interested in the seasonality of music. Whenever possible, I try to schedule a record's release to match the mood that comes through in it. “Poor Moon” sounded autumnal, so we put it out in November. “Haw,” despite its darkness, sounds like a record for spring. There's a certain brightness running through it.

Your musical ideas seem to both diverge from and converge toward what one – or at least I – would expect from a “roots” record. What was your goal, in that sense?

Our goal – mine and Scott Hirsch's – has always been to play within certain styles of American music, country chief among them, well enough to subvert it and bend it to our own musical will. To own it, to have our own personal voice within those realms. We know how to make a record now that brings together everything we love about “roots” music, to make it serve our emotional needs, without it coming off as fake. Does that make sense? We're not interested in perfection, in musical virtuosity. That has no bearing on what we do.

I write alone almost all the time, but Scott is always the first to hear the songs. Together we work out the arrangements, the instrumentation, the rhythm section. Honestly, we've spent so much time together that it's hard to tell who does what. He's a very close friend of mine, and I'm still, even now, genuinely excited by the idea of getting to work with him. Scott and his wife, Emily, just had their first child – a baby girl named Issa – this very morning, so it's a very exciting time for me, and especially for them!

I have no idea. I try not to think too much about things like that. I don't know what “genuine” even means. Authenticity doesn't exist. It's a category invented by self-appointed keepers of culture.

I really enjoyed the split you did with Elephant Micah – I think the two of you are truly at the cutting edge of American roots music today. Can you tell us something about your relationship?

Joe O'Connell and I first played together when he was 17 (I'm a few years older). Even then it was obvious he was an immense, immense talent. We only stayed in touch remotely for many years, and eventually reconnected fully through our mutual friend Nathan Salsburg. It's always a big event at our house when Joe puts out a new record, and I'm pretty sure we're only seeing the tip of the iceberg with him. He seems like a deep river.

Sure, I guess we're trying to convey the fact that the music we make comes from our homes, just as they are. All you have to do is stick a microphone out the window. It's a well-worn idea, putting these sounds into a record, but, I mean, I know those sounds so well. For instance, the dog barking on “Hark Maker” is a sound I know very well. And that dog, frankly, used to annoy me, but it was also a sound that let me know I was home – it felt right that it should be on the record.

What's your live lineup for this record? Will you be able to tour with the full band, at least in the United States?

I'd always like to tour with the full band, but financially it can be tough. We'll see. If I had to choose between touring with a band and recording (both of which cost money), I'd most likely choose the former.

Start with "Bad Debt" and follow the path up to the present.

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google