In 2011, Newtown resident and finance industry expert Hayden Bates set out to bring a broader range of world-class artists in to play in the intimate Edmond Town Hall Theatre, in part to raise funds to improve the classic Main Street venue.The Bee at the time that, "It's a ton of work for a solo volunteer endeavor, though, and as much as I love it, I feel I need to take a break."this town."Heart Like a Levee, which is being released on October 7.Heart Like a Levee are immediate, dealing with themes that include leaving and returning, belief and trust, guilt, honesty, and life on the road.Indy Weekly.

Over the course of nearly a dozen shows, Mr Bates was successful in raising more than $25,000 that helped underwrite new energy-sipping LED lighting for the stage, a new sound system, and most importantly, a contemporary commercial video system that has helped ensure the town hall's famous $2 movies continue to play in the venue.

But following an October 2015 show, Bates announced he was taking a hiatus from promoting the concert series.

He told

Calling his departure "an indefinite hiatus," Mr Bates also left the door open to return for an ETH Concert Series encore, if the mood and the availability of just the right act availed itself.

"The biggest struggle with the series has been getting butts in the seats," Bates said. "It'd be a lot easier to market these types of shows in a city as opposed to a small town, but then again, I created this series for

His final show featured the music of Hiss Golden Messenger, an act that draws in equal parts from the deep wells of traditional/vernacular southern song and early 1970s country-rock. And that will be the act that is returning for a special Live at ETH presentation being planned for late autumn.

Fronted by rootsy plaintive folk rock of singer-songwriter MC Taylor, the material of Hiss Golden Messenger is distinguished by a conjuring of spiritual (often Biblical) concerns and characters - as well as a taut lyricism informed by writers as disparate as Ronnie Lane, Lew Welch, and Wendell Berry. Their songs are often called the most exquisitely crafted and eloquent of this generation.

The late David Bowie once stated that the sound of Hiss Golden Messenger is that of "mystical country, like an eerie, yellowing photograph."

With opening support from Phil Cook and MorganEve Swain's "The Huntress," Hiss Golden Messenger will take the town hall stage on Saturday, November 12. Doors will open at 6:30, with music to start at 7 pm. Tickets are $20 and are available online now at edmondtownhall.org/liveateth.

Hiss Golden Messenger will be on the road promoting its next album

According to an advance, the songs on

Taylor says: "I wrote these songs during a time of transition and doubt. The process was raw, but also joyous. I spent a lot of time with these words and chords in all types of weather. In the end I learned more about myself making this record than any in the past, and that's one important way for me to gauge whether an album was worth making."

The first single off the new album, "Biloxi," has the golden glint of classic Allman Brothers, with Taylor's warm, confiding voice rolling over waves of piano and acoustic guitar, according to a review from

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