'American Disaster' is a five-song calling card from a man who has learnt much about the craft of singer-songwriting in his years on the road with a band. He sings it like he means it (which counts for a lot) and he can write a song that I think Willie Nelson would be happy to call his own. Two songs, even: 'Footsteps' and 'Lay Me Down' both have that characteristic neatness and balance that is the hallmark of somebody truly prepared to work at their craft.
Lou doesn't sound like Willie Nelson, though. His style is at the folk end of modern Americana: very committed, vocally, and prepared to extract a wide range from his acoustic guitar - picking gently and tunefully for one song and then bashing the heck out of it for the next.
He gets some very classy support on American Disaster, from Jack Hale on cello and all production and engineering duties, Stuart Duncan on fiddle and Al Perkins on pedal steel; coupled with Lou's strong, warm singing, there's a very solid, un-flashy feel to this collection. His songs are about real experiences, not easy cliches, and lines come through that resonate with our own experiences; there's an essentially downbeat air to these songs, of things coming to an end rather than of bright new tomorrows but there's also a sense of the resilience that comes with experience of life and that serves you well once the blithe optimism of youth starts to falter.
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The quality of these songs suggest Lou Vargo will be around for the long haul and I hope the good reception this collection has been getting will give him the impetus to record a full length album; he's got a distinctive voice and style of considerable quality that I believe should make him a fixture on the Americana circuit.
(John Davy www.nessmp3.com/music/biscuitsandgravy)
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