Taylor Kingman’s frequent performances at venues like the Laurelthirst have garnered him a strong local following, made all the more powerful when he’s backed by his band, the Holy Know-Nothings. The group’s debut LP, Arguably OK, possesses a gruff kind of poise, thanks to Kingman’s smart, relentlessly honest songwriting. Throughout the record, Kingman’s strengths as a songwriter transform otherwise traditional country scorchers into something more rebellious, fragmented, and poetic. Take “Desert Rose,” where Kingman & Co. let the melody melt into a trippy breakdown before piecing the whole thing back together again. And although the myth of the outlaw poet has waned in the new century, songwriters like Kingman prove that same gritty spirit is still around, just waiting for someone to embody it. Catch them playing all this new material in the New Year at the glorious Mississippi Studios.

by Ryan J. Prado