Meg Duffy

Duffy is originally from Amsterdam, New York, and first started playing guitar at 17, although they had played drums since 5th grade.[3] After graduating from high school, Duffy attended Schenectady County Community College for guitar performance.[3] After graduating from college they briefly relocated to Albany, New York, prior to joining Morby's band in Los Angeles, California.[3] Duffy uses non-binary gender-neutral pronouns.[4]

Duffy is an accomplished session musician and is credited on a number of albums. Most recently they played on William Tyler's instrumental album Goes West.[5] Duffy played a distinctive slide guitar solo on "Holding On" off The War on Drugs' Grammy winning album A Deeper Understanding.[6] Duffy contributed guitar, slide guitar, and bass on the albums Fading Lines (2016) and European Heartbreak (2018) by Dutch artist Amber Arcades.[7][8] Duffy played slide guitar on "Seven Words," a 2016 track from the album Front Row Seat to Earth by Weyes Blood.[9] Duffy appeared on Mega Bog's albums Happy Together (2017) and Dolphine (2019).[10][11] Duffy was a regular member of indie rock musician Kevin Morby's live band from 2015 to 2018, and played guitar, piano, and bass on his 2017 album City Music.[12]

Duffy is the founder, primary songwriter, and only permanent member of the Los Angeles-based band Hand Habits.[14] Their first release as Hand Habits was a 2012 split record titled Small Shifts (included as part of the pinky demos).[15] On September 25, 2015, Hand Habits released double EPs titled This Sounds Like Nothing Tonight and This Sounds Like Nothing Before.[16][17] Their first full length record Wildly Idle (Humble Before the Void) was released by Woodsist Records in 2017.[18] Wildy Idle was self-produced by Duffy and recorded partially in Saugerties, New York and partially at their home in Highland Park.[13] Kevin Morby said about the album: "Wildly Idle feels incredibly intimate, like a secret between her and the listener. It hits soft, like warm water, and before you know it it is all around you – a bath, and Meg's whisper has made its way inside you." [19] In reviewing the album for Pitchfork, Quinn Moreland wrote: "Duffy sings of romances come and gone without ever sounding jaded or spiteful; future love promises a mystery, a sensuality that’s open like the road." [18]

On March 1, 2019 Hand Habits released their second studio album, placeholder.[20] Duffy stated that the songs on placeholder "are about accountability and forgiveness .... These are all real stories. I don't fictionalize much."[2]

In January 2021, Hand Habits announced their upcoming Dirt EP, set for a February 19 release.[21]