Cause And Effect Cause And Effect 
Long verses with thoughtful payoffs. Seattle-based Annie Gallup has been entering songwriting contests; placing high if not yet winning. Maybe her writing's too personal, too subtle, or too lengthy to be earning the top recognition it deserves. Indeed, Gallup admits her narrative reminiscences -- fully developed, intently marrying scenes and emotions, and brimming with delicious rhymes -- were "not particularly written with recording in mind." Thus their intimate charm, like happening upon a novelist's diary.
Take this verse from "Grandma's Best China," a gentle fingerpicker."Under Grandma's roof was a world unto itself with round corners, where everything was pretty/I'd breathe in its sweet scents; it was beyond my life's experience, this unchecked delight in femininity/What will I ever love better than the deep mysteries of her corner cupboard/Under lock and key, in alluring secrecy those treasures spoke to me like a lover." "So Easy," "For the Money," and others offer equally fetching treatments.
September/October 1994
Annie Gallup Cause and Effect [Flyaway Hair CD CDF1O5] It's relatively rare to find an original voice among singer-songwriters, but Seattle resident Annie Gallup fits the bill. Gallup's pipes blend the throaty smoothness of early Joni Mitchell with a distinctive inflective twang that is closer to Lucinda Williams. An unlikely combination perhaps, but the effect is captivating. Cause and Effect is Gallup's first CD, following a cassette release a couple of years back, and consists of a dozen originals. Gallup plays fine fingerstyle guitar, and is accompanied on most tracks by extra instrumentation, usually bass, drums, and viola. On "You Can Run" Gallup goes on a vocal roller-coaster, rushing her lines then slamming to a halt, and the effect is breathtakingly disconcerting. Gallup shows similar vocal derring-do on "Steak and Eggs for Breakfast," a playfully dangerous love song. "Dancing With a Stranger" is a quiet, haunting portrait of a brief encounter on a dance floor with a soldier. "There Are Rules" explores no less weighty a topic than the effect that discovering society's mores has on the molding on one's innate personality. "If I Loved You" is a litany of what would logically follow the title's premise, featuring just Gallup and her guitar. "Grandma's Best China" features a vocal crescendo in the chorus that has the same effect on me as fingernails on a blackboard. All in all, Cause And Effect is an album that's captivating and stimulating, if a bit hard to pigeonhole. (MP)
October/November 1994
Like Andrew Calhoun and Dar Wiliiams, Annie Gallup enjoys painting word pictures that suggest the thoughts and emotions that she is trying to express. This poetic and sometimes obtuse tradition is not new to folk music or culture. It is a thread that finds origins in the beat poets of the fifties and sixties; was picked up by serious conscious raising song writers of the sixties and seventies, and continues through the eighties and nineties as self-awareness. You can look for yourself by listening to Annie.
"For Money" is a powerful indictment of those whose money has allowed them to remove themselves from the world that surrounds them, exploit others, and place themselves in a position of privilege. Gallup conjures warm pastel reminiscences of childhood memories with "Grandma's Best China" a reflection on the one of those special people who shape our child's eye view of the world.
Just another night spent encountering one of those nameless, faceless members of the opposite sex that drift through one's youthful evenings, that's "Dancing With A Stranger." A small moment of little consequence to either, a meaningless encounter - no gain, no loss, no consequence.
"You Can Run" contains some nice dobro work by Orville Johnson and tasty jew's harp playing by Gordon Frazier. It a good example of how well this album is put together. "Steak and Eggs for Breakfast" is a silly romp that's more fun than expected from Gallup. In "About Freedon," Annie lets loose with a hot driving almost commercial road song that takes some rather interesting twists, finally doubling back on itself.
This album is the result of a great deal of hard work by many talented musicians and production people. Musically, "Cause and Effect" has everything that a great album should have; its producers and engineers did a wonderful job of recording and mixing some of the finest musicians around. As nice as the production and backup is, it lacks the spontaneity and sizzle of her live performance.
"Cause and Effect" is a first rate project; the kind of album that Nashville or LA would produce if it had the soul to pull it off. It's a feeling person's album; layers of emotion and irony finely sealed within and upon one another like an exquisite piece of laquerware. Get "Cause and Effect" and see for yourself. The album is available on Flyaway Hair, in Seattle, WA (206) 932-8306.
(Mark Horn) 2/21/95
ANNIE GALLUP Cause And Effect Singer/ songwriter who's voice is incredibly beautiful and simple. Her songs are folky with a slint hint into the country realm (especially the bass playing), which isn't the end of the world for someone with a uniqueness to manufacture such songs of honesty and beauty.
October 1994
Annie Gallup: Cause And Effect CD
Annie Gallup's love of words has pushed her songwriting beyond craft into the realm of art. Using solid guitar work, a polished vocal delivery, and arrangements ranging from stark to produced New Folk, she delivers twelve songs that will take you places both light and dark at the same moment. "Grandma's Best China," which earned an invitation to Telluride'94, has a chorus that delights the ear, but the story disturbs the heart. The other eleven are equally strong. Then contemplate the placement: "As If You Were There" captures nostalgia, it's followed by "All Those Fools" a damning look at loving in the present tense. The album is thoughtfully produced visually and musically. Melodies will keep you company for days ("Fight the Devil"). But the real glory belongs to the words. She hits her mark so many times that one must say Annie Gallup is Cause, and the Effect is wonder. Annie opens for Brooks Williams when he plays Seattle in September.
(Michael Rioers) Acoustic Music Vol. 19 No. 8, August 1994
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