| High Hat | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | 6 String Drag |
| Cover: | High Hat (6 String Drag album).jpg |
| Released: | 1997 |
| Studio: | Room & Board |
| Label: | E-Squared[1] |
| Producer: | the twangtrust |
| Prev Title: | 6 String Drag |
| Prev Year: | 1994 |
| Next Title: | The JAG Sessions – Rare & Unreleased 1996-1998 |
| Next Year: | 2014 |
High Hat is the second album by the American band 6 String Drag, released in 1997.[2] [3] The album cover was created by drummer Ray Duffey.[4]
The band broke up the next year, before reuniting in the 2010s.[5]
Recorded in Nashville, the album was produced by Steve Earle and Ray Kennedy, under their twangtrust production name.[6] [7] [8] The band spent five weeks in the studio, over two sessions in late 1996 and early 1997.[9]
The songs were written or cowritten by frontman Kenny Roby.[10] "Over & Over" incorporates elements of Dixieland music. "Ghost" was recorded live, in one take.[9] Earle guested on "I Can't Remember".[11]
The Chicago Reader determined that "the tunes are catchy and the execution is succinct, and while singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter Kenny Roby has yet to develop a distinct musical personality, he’s got the raw material to do so: his nasal croon carries him from fragile ballads into full-tilt rockers and his hooks sink in."[12] The Washington City Paper concluded: "Like the Bottle Rockets, 6 String Drag plays country-tinged rock not only for the meaning but for the fun of it. In a Son Volt world, that’s a big deal; better to err on the side of the lightweight, as High Hat occasionally does, than to romanticize 12-pack-sodden gloom."[13]
The Orlando Sentinel labeled "Elaine" "a pretty pop tune vaguely reminiscent of both Roy Orbison and the Everlys." Stereo Review stated that "6 String Drag fits into the alt-rock category but moves away from boring melodies, cryptic lyrics. and half-dead vocals to fuse a rootsrock/country fest of infectious hooks and literate writing that is not just winning but inspiring."[14] The State deemed it "a gritty, rough-around-the-edges record that crackles with instrumental spontaneity and hearty singing." The St. Paul Pioneer Press praised the "endearing Junior Brown-goofiness."
AllMusic wrote that "6 String Drag expands their sound to include the influences of Dixieland and Stax/Volt-era soul; combined with their already impressive grasp of country and rock, High Hat is an exciting crazy-quilt of styles." Reviewing the 2018 reissue, Goldmine called High Hat "one of alt-country’s cornerstone albums."[15]