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Taylor Kingman of TK & the Holy Know-Nothings on Hard-Boiled Eggs and Beautiful Chaos

Tuesday, October 27, 2020 By Mayer Danzig

Tell us about your tour vehicle.

Never been mine. I’ve yet to reach the reliable vehicle stage of my life. Luckily, there’s vans aplenty amongst musicians. We’ve been lucky enough to borrow/rent for the time being.

How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?

Given the chance, I like stocking up at co-op for road snacks. My go-to get-up-and-go food at any convenience store is a hard-boiled egg though. Hasn’t done me wrong yet.

How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?

With this band, about once a week. ‘Bout 7 bucks.

Where do you rehearse?

We got two spaces. One is a basement and one is a warehouse. Warehouse gets used more often because Syd’s shit is there and he has a lot of shit. Crazier shit happened in the two previous spaces we practiced. Drunken shenanigans. One space was in my living room. When you walked in the house, you had to go through our practice space. Some beautiful chaos lived there.

What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?

Hmm.. can’t remember. I just remember that it was about a girlfriend I didn’t have because that’s what I thought songs were about when I was 12.

Describe your first gig.

My first gig was probably an open mic in Beavercreek, OR. It was rad. A bar connected to a grocery store in a small town.

What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?

My last day job was delivering food to people. Favorite day job was working at a music shop.

How has your music-related income changed over the past 5-10 years? What do you expect it to look like 5-10 years from now?

I have paid my bills through music for the past 4-5 years. I make enough to keep living the way I want and that’s as far as I think. “Keepin one gig ahead of a day job,” as Fred Cole would say.

What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?

No one has it fully figured out, especially the one’s who claim to.

For the past several years, there’s a good chance you’d find TK & The Holy Know-Nothings songwriter and lead vocalist Taylor Kingman onstage at the LaurelThirst. Portland’s oldest independent venue has long been a lifeblood for artists like Kingman. It’s a sort of 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. It’s here that Kingman earned the respect of his community.

TK & The Holy Know-Nothings is perhaps Kingman’s 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, neighbors, and fellow LaurelThirst royalty, including drummer Tyler Thompson and multi-instrumentalists Jay Cobb Anderson (lead guitar, harmonica), Lewi Longmire (bass, guitar, pedal steel, flugelhorn) and Sydney Nash (keys, bass, slide guitar, cornet).

The group has just released a new EP titled Pickled Heat. Connect with the group online and (eventually) on the road.

Filed Under: Americana, Interviews, Why It Matters Tagged With: TK & the Holy Know-Nothings

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