Hat Check Girl is in reality a duo of singers and players who write the majority of their own songs. Peter Gallway and Annie Gallup deliver a set of sparse, quietly intimate duets. This is their fifth album and it shows the interplay between the two is drawn from respect and the refinement of their talents. Gallup adds lap steel, dobro and 6 string banjo to the duo’s staple of acoustic and electric guitars. Both have an individual vocal presence that both work together and in their own right.
They are seasoned performers who both have a long history individually as well as together, and are making the kind of music that is free from outside direction. They are the producers of the album too, which means they have complete freedom with their music. However this means that there will be those for whom this stripped down folk music will not appeal. It is a niche without doubt and something that is a difficult sell unless you have encountered their music either live or on record. That shouldn’t take away from this, or their other albums; rather it means that they need to find their own audience, something that is both easier and harder these days.
Their albums can be heard on CD Baby and this new album is in a simpler setting than previous albums. It is perfectly suited to playing at the aforementioned hour of the title. Hat Check Girl will doubtless welcome your head space for their music whatever time your care to offer it.