Want some excellent gospel music recommendations? Look no further than our latest What's In My Bag? episode featuring North Carolina indie folk band Hiss Golden Messenger. Lead singer/songwriter MC Taylor and touring collaborator Phil Cook raided Amoeba San Francisco's gospel section, finding some truly magnificent records, including a collection by Alex Bradford, who Cook described as "a precursor to Little Richard." Along with bandmate Scott Hirsch, the band found some killer records and shared their passion and enthusiasm with us.
Hiss Golden Messenger was founded in 2007 by MC Taylor and Scott Hirsch. The pair had relocated to Durham, NC after growing up in California and playing in hardcore band Ex-Ignota and indie rock group The Court & Spark. After the dissolution of the latter band, Taylor and Hirsch began releasing work on Taylor's label Heaven & Earth Magic Recording Company. In 2009, Hiss Golden Messenger's debut LP Country Hai East Cotton was released in a limited run of 500. A selection of songs from this first album was rechristened From Country Hai East Cotton and released on the Black Maps label in 2011, following the success of their first international release, 2010's Bad Debt.