Since appearing on eTown in 2018, MC Taylor has been a prolific songwriter.

“I went looking for peace,” says songwriter MC Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger about his album Quietly Blowing It, appearing 2021, on Merge Records. “It’s not exactly a record about the state of the world—or my world—in 2020, but more a retrospective of the past five years of my life, painted in sort of impressionistic hues. Maybe I had the presence of mind when I was writing Quietly Blowing It to know that this was the time to go as deep as I needed to in order to make a record like this. And I got the time required in order to do that.” He pauses and laughs ruefully. “I got way more time than I needed, actually.

Then in 2023, he released Jump for Joy. “I knew that I wanted this record to be full of joy,” he says, “because if we’re standing at some kind of finish line of human civilization—and I’m not saying that we are, but some days it sure feels that way—then I want to go out dancing. That’s what I wanted Jump for Joy to feel like: Dancing at the end of time. Laughing in the face of catastrophe.”

Jump for Joy was composed in the brief snatches of time Taylor found in 2022, a year in which Hiss Golden Messenger was on the road more or less constantly. The album captures the dance of a Hiss Golden Messenger live show in part because Taylor was riding a wave of energy that necessitated a different outlet than 2021’s Quietly Blowing It, which was written and arranged in the sanctuary of his 8’ x 10’ home studio before recording with a Hiss band that’d been forced to stop touring.

“I’ve spent a lot of time on the interior,” Taylor explains, “and I was on a quest to find another way to sing about vulnerability and tenderness and the search that felt more outward facing.”

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and Country Rock pioneer, Chris Hillman has never stopped making music, but these last few years have seen the music, the milestones, and the special events happening at an exceptional pace. Recently, Chris joined the lineup of SiriusXM’s Dwight Yoakam and The BakersfieldBeat (Ch. 349) with his weekly show, Chris Hillman’s Burrito Stand.

Since its launch in 2022, the Burrito Stand’s stellar lineup of guests has included Dwight Yoakam, Bernie Leadon, Herb Pedersen, Roger McGuinn, Al Perkins, JD Souther, Richie Furay, John Jorgenson, Jay Dee Maness, Marty Stuart, Bernie Taupin, John McEuen, Henry Diltz, Rodney Dillard, Steve Duncan, Kenny Vaughan, Harry Stinson and Chris Scruggs, and more to come.

In October of 2022 Hillman and The Desert Rose Band reunited for a final concert (their first in ten years) which was the grand finale to an outstanding event to launch the Country Music Hall of Fame’s acclaimed Western Edge exhibit celebrating “The Roots and Reverberations of Los Angeles Country-Rock.”

The Western Edge does justice to every decade of Hillman’s career as part of this multiyear presentation that covers the ‘60s through the ‘80s and the artists that changed the sounds of rock and country music. It traces the impact of artists such as The Byrds, and The Flying Burrito Brothers to Buffalo Springfield, The Desert Rose Band, the Eagles, Emmylou Harris, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and Linda Ronstadt, along with the later L.A. roots music of the Blasters, Lone Justice, Los Lobos, and Dwight Yoakam, among others. The collective exhibit showcases video interviews, classic stage wear, notable instruments, artifacts, and much more. A highlight includes the Nudie suits created by famed designer Manuel and featured on the cover of The Flying Burrito Brothers’ 1969 landmark debut album, The Gilded Palace of Sin, marking the first time the suits (Chris Hillman’s, Gram Parsons’ and Sneaky Pete’s) have been displayed together since their original appearances.

The Byrds became part of yet another prestigious Nashville exhibit when the legendary Ryman Auditorium opened Rock Hall at the Ryman, in November of 2022, showcasing the landmark venue’s impressive mark on the history of rock & roll. Now open to the public, the Rock Hall at the Ryman exhibit showcases instruments, stage costumes, and personal artifacts from more than 100 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees who have performed on the Ryman stage. In addition to The Byrds, the exhibit features James Brown, Eric Clapton, Foo Fighters, Joan Jett, Dolly Parton, and many others, as well as icons such as Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, and Hank Williams.

Herb began his career in Berkeley, California in the early 60’s playing 5 string banjo and acoustic guitar with people like David Grisman, Butch Waller, David Nelson, and Jerry Garcia. Herb has done well in adding his talents to the recordings of many folk and country music artists of today.

For the last thirty years, Herb Pedersen has lived in southern California, and participated in select music groups, either in recording, or traveling on the road doing concerts. His recording discography is like a who’s who of the singer/songwriter scene, so prevalent in the 70s and 80s. His own groups, like The Desert Rose Band, and The Laurel Canyon Ramblers, show why Herb is so respected in the industry.

Artists like Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Vince Gill, Johnny Rivers, Dan Fogelberg, James Taylor, Gordon Lightfoot, Jennifer Warnes, John Prine and Jesse Winchester have used Herb’s talents in the past, and in all probability will continue to do so …From Carnegie Hall to the Ryman auditorium, Herb’s been on the scene enjoying every minute of it.

Dr. Lacovara is author of Why Dinosaurs Matter (2017, Simon & Schuster), winner of a 2018 Nautilus Book Award. In it, hetakes his readers on a journey—back to when dinosaurs roamed the Earth—to discover fundamental truths about our own humanity. Lacovara reveals dinosaurs to be widespread, persistent, and innovative creatures that achieved feats unparalleled by any other species. Dr. Jane Goodall calls it, “a dinosaur book with a difference. In lyrical prose he shows how an understanding of the past helps to understand the present.”Mythbusters Adam Savage says that, “few nonfiction writers wield words with more poetic and potent affection for their subject.” And the BBC’s Professor Alice Roberts calls the work, “majestic, awe-inspiring–and deeply humbling.”

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