Chris Berardo & The DesBerardos “Ignoring All the Warning Signs” (Lamon 2007)

Classic American music played with heart and soul

Connecticut is not the first place you’d associate with classic American music, but it’s where you’d find Chris Berardo and his rather fine band playing exactly that. This, their third album, takes bits of folk, bits of country, bits of bluegrass, bits of country and bits of rock puts them into a blender and what comes out is pureed essence of all of that, but with enough gritty bits to keep it interesting. There are also lot’s of “aha” moments when you hear a lead line that recalls Jackson Browne circa “Take It Easy”, a gentle swing that hints at mid-period Poco, a snatch of mandolin that reminds you of the Burritos and so on.

Berardo, who writes most of the songs, is a romantic of the road, where beer, cars and girls are the staging posts of life’s journey. But, despite the occasional descent into cliché (“One Silver Rider”, despite a great tune, is a step too far into that lone rider mythology) he knows the harsh realities behind that fantasy, never more so than on “Save My Life” where he has “a little whiskey in my coat” and is just looking for someone to “save my life, and I’ll be on my way”. He also writes a beautiful melody and chorus line (“Forty Years” is sublime”, “So Good, So Far” almost as good), and the entire album oozes hooks and singalongs. There’s also what appears to be the now obligatory post-9/11 song, which here is no better than it ought to be, and a final hidden track, a loose live-in-the-studio demo of “Forty Years”.

Overall then, “…Warning Signs” is Americana in its truest sense. It embodies the heart and soul of the country, and despite a dip or three Berardo does as good a job as anyone of both keeping the flame alive and moving it forward.

Date review added:  Sunday, January 28, 2007
Reviewer:  Jeremy Searle
Reviewers Rating:
Related web link:  Chris Berardo website