Hiss Golden Messenger

***“This three-song collection that we’re calling Southern Grammar is good for a few good reasons. It gives the song ‘Brother, Do You Know the Road?’—formerly an orphan tune with no fixed address—a proper physical home. It also offers up a song called ‘He Wrote the Book’ that was a near-casualty from the Lateness of Dancers sessions. Incidentally—and this I didn’t realize until we had gathered the material for this record—’Brother, Do You Know the Road?’ and ‘He Wrote the Book’ share a lyric that goes: ‘And though the storm’s passed over / And the sun is in its place / It’s been a long time / And the rain, how I know it.’ Sometimes that feels just about as close to a summation of the HGM philosophy as I can get at. And this is the first and only time that I have ever shared words between two songs. Finally, this version of ‘Southern Grammar’ shows off the HGM road band, which includes SCOTT HIRSCH, PHIL COOK, MATT MCCAUGHAN, MATT DOUGLAS, and ALEXANDRA SAUSER-MONNIG, who are all friends and inspirations. The fine, fine crew at WXPN in Philadelphia engineered the recording of this song and graciously agreed to let us use it for this record.”—M.C. Taylor