Michael Chapman / Hiss Golden Messenger

Event information

Michael Chapman rose to prominence at the height of the UK’s folk rock scene in the early 1970s. He was championed by John Peel and Charles Shaar Murray, appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test and had Mick Ronson on lead guitar on his classic ‘Fully Qualified Survivor’ album, one of several releases for the Harvest label.
Chapman has recently enjoyed a renewed appeal and a new audience amongst lovers of folk and guitar playing on both sides of the Atlantic. He was rediscovered and championed by artists such as No Neck Blues Band and Jack Rose, both of whom he toured the US with, and now that the UK has finally caught up he is in regular demand amongst more leftfield audiences.

2011 was a very busy year for Chapman, with Lights In The Attic's deluxe vinyl re-issue of Fully Qualified Survivor and Tompkins Square's 2cd set Trainsong: Guitar Compositions 1967-2010, as well as his first 'noise' album The Resurrection And Revenge Of The Clayton Peacock for Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace! label (soon to be re-issued on cd by Blast First Petite).

He also toured the UK in the company of William Tyler and played some European dates with Steve Gunn, cementing his place in the affections of an audience mostly several decades his junior and a series of new releases and live shows for 2012 will no doubt build on that.

Chapman has never really considered himself a folk artist as such, his dextrous style arguably owing more to ragtime, rock and jazz, and his live gravel-voiced acid proclamations and exquisite playing are not to be missed.


Hiss Golden Messenger is the recording name of Michael C. Taylor, a Californian songwriter whose work is spun from the very brightest threads of the Cosmic American Tapestry.
Like lost classics pulled through the slipstream, elements of country, folk, blues and gospel all shine bright through a sound described by David Bowie as 'mystical country, an eerie yellowing photograph'.
Deeply lyrical meditations tell of sin, sacrifice and redemption in the wilderness beyond the cabin walls - timeless themes drawn into songs performed with compelling emotional resonance and inimitable charm.

Taylor is an artist of rare talent and an authentic voice of soulful honesty that will strike a chord with anyone willing to peer up through the air and beyond the sky. 2012 sees the cd re-issue of the beautiful full-band album Poor Moon on Tompkins Square (following its vinyl release in 2011), plus some more solo shows this side of the Atlantic, including an appearance at Kilkenny Roots Festival in May.


Red River Dialect

Luscious, stripped down, authentic folk-rock. David Morris and Simon Drinkwater will be playing as a duo to keep in vibe with the evening. Make sure you arrive in plenty of time to see these play because you're in for a real treat.