Hiss Golden Messenger announces limited edition vinyl of Sanctuary Songs to benefit Lamplight AVL
- April 11, 2025 -
Hiss Golden Messenger is releasing a 2 x LP vinyl version of Sanctuary Songs. The 18-track live album was recorded on December 1, 2023 — during the Jump for Joy tour — at The Waiting Room in Omaha, NE. This ripping, rocking, and vibing set was captured by long-time Hiss engineer Luc Suér on the Hiss Mobile Recording Unit a few weeks into the tour whilst the band was truly humming. Sanctuary Songs was initially released as a digital album in October 2024, where 100% of the proceeds of the sale of the digital release were donated to Beloved Asheville.
Now, through a partnership with Citizen Vinyl — North Carolina’s first vinyl pressing facility — the project will be available on limited edition double vinyl, with only 500 hand-numbered copies being offered.
This hurricane relief fundraiser brought together some of the vinyl industry’s finest players, who donated their materials and talents to further enhance the project’s fundraising impact.
Lacquer cut were donated by Ryan Smith and Joe Nino-Hernes of Sterling Sound, and stampers were provided by Record Techology, Inc.
The pressing includes beautiful gatefold packaging featuring photos by Anthony Mulcahy and design by Matthew Pfahlert, who both also donated their creative talents to the project. Proceeds from the sales of this pressing will benefit Lamplight AVL.
Citizen Vinyl founder and CEO Gar Ragland served as the project’s executive producer, and vinyl production expenses were covered by a hurricane relief grant from the Virginia Sargeant Reynolds Foundation.
Pre-orders begin on Friday, April 11, with albums shipping in early May. Click HERE to pre-order the album.
Sanctuary Songs is a benefit for recovery efforts in North Carolina (the home of Hiss Golden Messenger’s frontman and songwriter MC Taylor) following the devastation of Hurricane Helene. The storm hit Western North Carolina on September 27, 2024, bringing with it record flooding, landslides, and downed trees. “The imagery and stories coming out of the mountains of North Carolina are shocking. Roads, houses and businesses gone; lives and livelihoods lost,” Taylor wrote in his Kitchen Table Speculator newsletter shortly following the storm. At the time he was on an extended tour up and down the East and West coasts, “but there’s always a little part of my mind, every day, that is stuck on what my friends in the western part of my home state are experiencing,” he said.
Of the tracks on Sanctuary Songs he revealed, “We knew that this performance was special when we stepped off the stage and earmarked it for some kind of release when the tour ended. Once back at home in North Carolina, Chris Boerner mixed and mastered Sanctuary Songs at his studio, and I put it on the shelf, waiting for the right time to send it out into the world.” The release of the digital album last fall benefitted the work of BeLoved Asheville, a grassroots organization working on the frontlines of hurricane recovery.
Six months into recovery and with federal funds drying up, Western N.C. still has a long way to go and much help is needed for the region to once again thrive. Though the newsfeed has moved on from Helene, the storm’s impact remains very real to those who live within its path.
To address that continued need, Hiss Golden Messenger partnered with Citizen Vinyl to press 500 copies of Sanctuary Songs for fans who love the warm analog sound of vinyl deserving of these recordings.Proceeds from the new release, slated for Friday, May 2, will go to Lamplight AVL. A community-driven nonprofit for the arts, Lamplight AVL has been instrumental in supporting Western N.C. artists in the aftermath of Helene. Currently in Phase Three: Art Thrives of their three-part Recover, Remain, & Thrive program, Lamplight is focusing on long-term, stable spaces for Asheville area artists to hone their craft. Knowing there is a great need for affordable studios in the area post-Helene, Lamplight is working to connect artists to these spaces and assist in making them more accessible for local creatives.
