The crowd was abruptly hushed when Alex Sauser-Monnig took the stage at Rough Trade in Brooklyn on September 18th opening for Hiss Golden Messenger. Monnig’s more traditional Appalachian folk sound is sparse and hauntingly beautiful, and her crystal clear voice cut through the room stifling even the faintest whispers. One third of the folk trio Mountain Man, Sauser-Monnig played an almost fully a capella set, using her guitar sparingly (and when she did, her voice took center stage anyway). Songs like “Long Leaf Pine” and “Fellows” were pure and ethereal, almost too angelic to be real. She would later join Hiss Golden Messenger on stage for their set and contribute some amazing harmonies.
Durham-based Hiss Golden Messenger is led by the incredibly talented M.C. Taylor, and their following in Brooklyn is impressive considering how they’ve managed to slip under the radar. But their new record released this month titled Lateness of Dancers is one of the best of the year, and they more than lived up to that with this performance.
Opening with the electrifying “Red Rose Nantahala”, HGM played a diverse set of songs from across most of their records, and each member of the band was totally on and fully absorbed into the performance. With the mesmerizing Phil Cook on keys and banjo, Scott Hirsch on bass, Matthew McCaughan on drums, and Matt Douglass on saxophone, plus Sauser-Monnig stepping in to sing backup, the sound was rich and full-bodied. Not to mention, this is probably the happiest band you’ll ever lay eyes on, all smiles and full of joy to be playing these songs together. “Saturday’s Song” and “Mahogany Dread” both had people in the crowd dancing before the mellowed out “Day O Day” turned the hip shaking into more of a hazy sway.
Taylor is a humorous, but soft-spoken guy, and hit the nail on the head when at the start of the set he told the audience, “We just want to make you feel something on a Thursday night,” because boy, did they. Taylor ushered us into what he called the “dance portion of the evening” with “Blue Country Mystic” and “Call Him Daylight”, both high-energy rock and roll numbers, though it goes without saying that the entire evening was dance-worthy.
There’s something really old school about HGM’s sound, maybe because of the groovy blend of keys and saxophone, or because of Taylor’s easygoing warmth as a singer. There’s a cool seventies vibe infused in his lyrics and instrumentals. “Lucia” is a prime example of this, and the live version was equal parts funk, soul and country, punctuated by Taylor’s mild rasp. HGM’s brand of Southern rock is complex and multidimensional, and with the backing harmonies from the rest of the band, even tends toward a gospel sound. “Raven” and “Southern Grammar”, both off Lateness, were a continuation of this, and finished out this foot-stomping set nicely before seguing into the more chilled out “Chapter and Verse”.
For their finale, Taylor and co hopped off stage into the crowd, situating themselves in the center of the room to be surrounded by fans on all sides as everyone joined in singing a very acoustic rendition of “Drum”. The fans were psyched for this, harmonizing enthusiastically and keeping time with knee slaps and claps. To say it was a magical moment would be a great understatement. The energy in that room was electric and full of love, sending everyone home feeling incredibly lucky to have experienced such a moving show.
