Lou Vargo: Sunday Night Serenade

[John (Biscuits and Gravy) Davy]

There were five tracks on Lou Vargo's 2007 disc, American Disaster and two years later he has crafted six songs to present to us on Sunday Night Serenade. Not prolific, then, but he says himself that his songs take a long while to gestate and that many get rejected along the way. American Disaster was very well received and opened a lot of doors for him, but I'd say that this new one is a finer achievement.

The tone is sober and reflective as these songs look back at times of loss and mundane human failings, skewer the emotions involved and recreate that feeling of being bruised by life just perfectly. Lou's vocals suit the job well; the bruised tone is there in his voice but he's warm and sincere too. Integrity is the word that springs to mind; I feel aware that the man is doing his utmost to be honest and truthful.

Last time around, Lou had some stellar support from some of Nashville's finest (Al Perkins, for one); the names this time aren't so familiar, but it is peerless music that follows American Disaster's recipe: the playing is elegant, soulful and tuneful but never, ever in danger of trampling over the main man delivering his lyric. There's no point in highlighting any one of these players because they all do a great job; the organ sets the mood but one of the pleasures here is to listen to what each of these guys is doing and it's all bang on the money. This is a gem, one of those collections of songs that burrows itself into your consciousness and demand to be heard when the mood is upon you.
John Davy

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