Our Song of the Day comes from TK & The Holy Know-Nothings, a name that’s new to me but won’t be too many in Portland, Oregon where their songwriter and lead vocalist Taylor Kingman is a regular at the LaurelThirst, its oldest independent music venue. They also have great principles, it’s described as a misfit stronghold–a sanctuary for the same kind of spirit that sustained local punk legends Dead Moon and outsider folk hero Michael Hurley. Rejecting the influence of fleeting scenes, foodies and encroaching developers; it’s stayed in tune with its muddy patrons who’ve carved out lives as blue-collar artists for generations.
A glance at the venue’s Facebook page reveals more: “Taylor Kingman, Jay Cobb Anderson and Brad Parsons had SO much fun last night at their songwriter round at the LaurelThirst, that tonight they are doing the same kinda big jam again, but this time going ELECTRIC and adding Lewi Longmire on bass, Ned Folkerth on drums, and Steve Swatkins on keys!” Hell, I wish this was my local! Some of those names feature in his latest and perhaps most beloved project…
Affectionately dubbed “psychedelic doom boogie,” the group was born out of Kingman’s desire to create a loose, groove-heavy bar band that never sacrifices the importance of good, honest songwriting. Doing so required pulling together a supergroup of local friends, neighbours, and fellow LaurelThirst royalty, including drummer Tyler Thompson and multi-instrumentalists Jay Cobb Anderson (lead guitar, harmonica), Michael Hurley’s guitarist Lewi Longmire (bass, guitar, pedal steel, flugelhorn) and Sydney Nash (keys, bass, slide guitar, cornet).”
Here they are performing Tunnel of a Dream from their debut album Arguably OK. Taylor tells us “This song is a kaleidoscopic time loop tracing the journey from comfort’s starry-eyed, womb-wrapped bliss to curiosity’s waking consequence and death’s merciful opening into the maze of the mind.” Bring it on…
TK & The Holy Know-Nothings cites Doug Sahm, The Holy Modal Rounders, The Flatlanders, Dan Reeder, and Jeffrey Frederick & the Clamtones as strong influences. For Kingman, though, it’s Terry Allen’s 1979 art country gem Lubbock (on everything) that’s most affected his songwriting. Like Allen, Kingman writes with delicacy about indelicate things. The songs on Arguably OK are about dead ends, addiction, self-sabotaged relationships, drug trips gone bad (or good? or both?), and, above all, holding out for the real thing. His lyrics are tightly crafted and profoundly paradoxical; simultaneously self-deprecating and unapologetic, clever and crass, irreverent and tender; and sometimes riotously funny. Each song takes you somewhere unexpected, every phrase crafted with the same signature combination of dirtbag revelry and haltingly poignant poetry. He brings all of himself to these songs–the honest, unglorified truth.
Arguably OK is as wild and expansive as the eastern Oregon landscape; and its songs are as complex and idiosyncratic as the sort of outsiders who find family in bars like The Range Rider and LaurelThirst.
TK & The Holy Know-Nothings Tour Dates
5/13 – Salem, OR – Governor’s Cup
5/14 – Applegate, OR – Applegate Lodge
5/15 – Redding, CA – The Dip *
5/16 – San Francisco – CA, Bottom of the Hill *
5/18 – San Rafael, CA – Terrapin Crossroads *
5/19 – Knights Ferry, CA – Knights Ferry Saloon *
5/21 – Hood River, OR – The Ruins *
5/22 – Seattle, WA – Tractor Tavern *
5/23 – Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios (Record Release Party) *
*w/ Izaak Opatz
TK & The Holy Know-Nothings – Website – Facebook – Instagram – Twitter
Photo Credit: Forest Cox