![]() ![]() (Zachary Leiter) Alexa Rose sings a blue-tinted, bittersweet Americana ballad.Enable “Document outline” ( View > Show document outline ) for easier navigation of chapters. But even if they have, that plateau is much higher than the hills of North Carolina where they began. Only time will tell if Hiss Golden Messenger has indeed plateaued. However, Sanctuary is entirely correct in one regard: Taylor certainly knows how to sing. Taylor and Hiss Golden Messenger do not have all the answers, and their music is better when they remember that. “Feeling bad / Feeling blue / Can't get out of my own mind / I know how to sing about it” opens the song as gentle plucking gives way to more exuberant strumming. “Sanctuary” stands out as Quietly Blowing It’s biggest success. Both of my parents were public school teachers, so it’s in my blood.” “I Need a Teacher” is among the band’s boldest and most throbbing songs, and it’s rather catchy. ![]() “We’re big fans of public educators,” said Taylor to the audience before the song. “I Need a Teacher” remains the band’s most well-known song- Terms of Surrender’s front-and-center ballad of gratitude to public school teachers. “Sanctuary” and “I Need a Teacher” were particularly well-received by an audience mostly composed of casual fans. The set, which included songs from eight different albums, was well constructed. Even if many of the band’s songs sound similar, it is still not always disappointing, purely because their songs are so entertaining. There’s only one adjective that fully encapsulates the band’s half-manic, half-homey energy: alive. Caught in warm showers of light, Hiss Golden Messenger is both rootsy and rocking. In the ornate Thalia Hall, craft beer, popcorn, and cowboy hats were everywhere. To see a Hiss Golden Messenger concert is to transport yourself for a few hours to a warm summer night in the park, watching the stars twinkle above as Taylor recalls his childhood. The band’s energy remains joyful, hopeful, and optimistic. Still, stagnation is not all bad if you’re stuck somewhere pretty good. However, his lyrics are at their best when they are questioning and bittersweet the songs in Quietly Blowing It are too uplifting and positive. Taylor’s politics continue to shine through: The songs raise awareness of income inequality and support public educators, in particular. Since 2013, Hiss Golden Messenger has released a whopping nine full-length albums, the most recent-the 2021 album Quietly Blowing It-feels more populist than powerful. The problem for Hiss Golden Messenger is that the band’s off-kilter tonal qualities, outdoorsy sounds, and uplifting political messages-which drove its initial popularity-now feel repetitive rather than innovative. In many ways, the concert felt like a long, intimate demonstration of Taylor’s skill as a musician, punctuated on occasion by blaring rock solos and the band’s most popular songs. The entire band is talented, but Taylor’s vocals and guitar solos are especially strong. Taylor’s voice is at once soothing and on-edge, and his sense of vocal emphasis is highly engaging. Their music-at times haunting, at times hallowed-is constantly inviting and sometimes thrilling. Taylor has become something of a musician’s musician, trying to lay a path for roots rockers back to Americans’ hearts decades after the roots-rock boom faded. Their 2019 album Terms of Surrender was Grammy-nominated for Best Americana Album. Taylor, whose folksy style of roots rock has brought the band from their humble origins in Durham, North Carolina, to national prominence. Hiss Golden Messenger is unquestionably centered on lead singer M. Fans occasionally sang along, but mostly seemed caught in awe. But mostly, they just got louder and more energetic, and the crowd with them. As their set progressed, the band grew louder, and their long mid-song solos became more technical and diverse. The crowd bounced lightly, shaking along with the music. Band members danced across the stage, kicking, bending, and conversing. Hiss Golden Messenger, by contrast, burst at the seams with energy. “Most of my songs are kinda sad,” she said at one point in the night, “but my life is pretty good.” She sang about wild peppermint, snow days, and staying up late at night eating cereal. With a soft-spoken, swooning voice conveying sadness and a little shyness, Rose twirled ballads of Appalachian life. From small-town western Virginia, Rose is a little-known but up-and-coming Americana singer. In March at Thalia Hall, Alexa Rose opened for Hiss Golden Messenger. ![]()
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