Download The Gallerist's "lost" Key Studio Session, see them tomorrow at Kung Fu Necktie
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The Gallerist in the studio at WXPN | Photo by John Vettese

A couple years back, a new band called The Gallerist jumped out from the Philadelphia singer-songwriter scene and grabbed our attention with their plaintive, emotion-laden debut A Falling Waltz. The songwriting vehicle of Mike Collins was rounded out as a solid three-piece with John Holback on drums and Kai Carter on bass.

We caught a couple impressive live sets from them: at a SoFAR Philly show in 2012, opening for Laura Marling in 2013. And when the band released its follow-up EP, Twine, last year, we knew we had to get the band in the studio for a Key Session. Except, unfortunately, the timing was not quite right.

When The Gallerist made it over to XPN Studios to record last October, they laid down a twangy and dynamic set mixing old songs with very new songs – “Outlaws” and “Brick on Brick” were not on either EP, and they sound great – but they also let us know that, alas, the band was about to go on indefinite hiatus. Carter had just taken an amazing new job in Portland. How soon is “about to,” I wondered. Next week, the answer came. And unfortunately, with a month’s worth of Key Sessions in the queue ahead of them, the session was temporarily lost to the digital ages.

It was a tough call, Collins told us. He knew that he would continue his songwriting, but since The Gallerist was very specifically the core three of them, it did not feel right for him to call anything new by the same name. And in time, work opportunities led Collins elsewhere as well; he’s about to leave Philadelphia for New Orleans.

But since The Gallerist never had a proper Philadelphia send-off, Carter managed to visit east for this week, and the band is performing its farewell show tomorrow night at Kung Fu Necktie. And for the occasion, we dug into the vaults to dust off their lost Key Session and present it to you for streaming, downloading and celebrating one of the short-lived gems of the local singer-songwriter scene. Check it out below, and get more information on tomorrow’s show with The Sun Flights, New Sweden and August John Lutz II of Levee Drivers at the XPN Concert Calendar.

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