Deanna Varagona Trio – The Goodbyes Have All Been Taken, Hello
Deanna Varagona’s friends, fans and musical collaborators include Lambchop, Paul Burch, Chris Mills, Vic Chesnutt, Giant Sand, Yo La Tengo, Alejandro Escovedo, Pete Krebs, Pinetop Seven, John Wesley Harding and Neutral Milk Hotel — and that’s just a partial list. That her own profile is far closer to anonymous than ubiquitous is a shame, because this album — just her second long-player and first in three years — is as strong a collection of acoustic folk-rock as you’re likely to find.
Varagona’s lyrics are tightly written but jammed with revelatory images; her voice is a haunting, rangy instrument that conveys loneliness, sorrow and desire with matchless conviction. Given such a strong foundation, the songs don’t need much embellishment, and Varagona’s veteran rhythm section (Jim Earley, drums, and Joe Ferguson, bass) wisely lays back. Abetted by a few guests (including Kelly Hogan, who duets on the Hazel Dickens tune “My Better Years”), the trio moves easily from intense introspection to loose-limbed shuffles and back to graceful twang; they’re never better than on “Folding The Clothes”, a tale of longing underlined by glittering mandolin, sad, sawing fiddle, and Earley’s sandy-throated harmonies.
Beginning with “Dag Rag” — an original that could’ve been cribbed from a battered Bessie Smith 78 — the disc’s latter third draws deeply on Varagona’s lifelong love of gospel and the blues. She digs into these songs, howling and growling and wailing a world of hard-won wisdom straight from her seen-it-all soul.