It’s a rare privilege to become friends with a musical hero, and it’s happened to me twice. Forgive me if I sound like I’m name-dropping on this one, but I’ve known Kerry Livgren, guitarist, keyboardist, and principal songwriter for the band Kansas in its heyday, for about 40 years. Admittedly, Kerry became more of a hero after we got to know each other — before that I just knew him as "that guy from Kansas."
The other musical hero of mine with whom I’ve become friends is a man who is criminally lesser known. I wish I could say that Bill Mallonee and his band Vigilantes of Love — VoL for short — was a phenomenal success. But the band was part of the Athens, Ga., music scene in the ‘90s and had what you might call a cult following in several places throughout the world.
I became friends with Bill about 15 years ago. We connected on Facebook, and I booked him to play at a local coffee shop. I spent hours interviewing him for an article that never materialized (during my pre-PJ Media days), and he once invited me to play drums with the late aughts version of VoL when the drummer was late for a show (if I knew how to play drums, I would’ve gladly accepted).
It always felt like VoL was on the verge of making it big. The band developed a big following among the burgeoning Americana scene in the late ‘90s, and a Christian music label released a compilation album in 1996, even though Bill said he never felt comfortable in that scene (despite successful shows at a few Christian music festivals). I’ll never forget hearing 99X, Atlanta’s legendary alt-rock station, playing their songs occasionally.
VoL regularly released terrific albums throughout the decade, but the band’s final album of the ‘90s is an unadulterated — and underappreciated — masterpiece. Everything about “Audible Sigh” suggests excellence: alt-country legend Buddy Miller behind the board as co-producer with Mallonee, Miller’s wife Julie (herself a superstar vocalist in alt-country and Christian circles) on backing vocals, a guest appearance from Emmylou Harris, the band’s expert playing, and Mallonee’s intelligent and heartfelt songwriting.
All of those elements combine for an album that’s more than the sum of its parts. “Audible Sigh” kicks off with “Goes Without Saying.” Mallonee sings about trying to find hope in the midst of failure and discouragement. Even though “the cloth of life is torn” and “faded,” it’s “something you can wrap yourself in.” It's an upbeat way to kick off the proceedings.
Much of “Audible Sigh” deals with matters of the soul, even though you won’t confuse the album with what was playing on Christian radio at the time. Remember, this was around the same time that Christian radio stations were refusing to play songs like Waterdeep’s tender ballad “Sweet River Roll” over the band’s use of the word “bimbo.”
Instead, the songs on “Audible Sigh” address faith more subtly. “Solar System,” “Black Cloud O’er Me,” and “Extreme North of the Compass” explore spiritual dryness and searching, while on “Any Side of Anywhere,” Mallonee admits that the “stage is a confessional” for a professional musician.
Mallonee and VoL explore human relationships with his insightful lyrical pen. “She Walks on Roses” tells of the unattainable woman, and “Now As the Train Pulls Away” laments a relationship that has fallen apart.
“Nothing Like a Train” appreciates the love of family — “those that won’t leave you alone” — and includes tributes to Mallonee’s sons and then-wife. Come to think of it, Mallonee beautifully uses the metaphor of a train to describe separation in both train songs, and they match the train wreck album cover well.
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In the live video below, which features his second wife, Muriah Rose, on backing vocals, he changes the lyric that references his first wife.
Two of the songs on “Audible Sigh” have historical bases. “Hard Luck & Heart Attack” takes its inspiration from Jack Kerouac, but the centerpiece of the album is the haunting “Resplendent.” The epic Dust Bowl ballad features Harris on harmony vocals, and Mallonee’s narrator compares suffering through the Great Depression with the plagues of Egypt and wonders if the travails of that era are God’s punishment. It’s haunting and unforgettable.
One of the genius features of Mallonee’s songwriting is that I go back and forth between wondering if he’s writing about a specific relationship or something more universal. “Starry Eyed” is one example of that phenomenon.
Unfortunately, no album is 100% perfect, and “Audible Sigh” is no exception. There aren’t any bad songs per se, but I’m not crazy about “Extreme North of the Compass” or “Hard Luck & Heart Attack.” Your mileage may vary, and not enjoying those songs doesn’t stop me from coming back to this album time and time again.
“Audible Sigh” garnered Mallonee and VoL more notice than they ever had before, but it didn’t translate into sustained success. The band toured the UK and got a terrific live record out of that trip, but unfortunately, none of it meant album sales.
VoL had one more chance to make the big time with their next album, the Brit-pop-influenced and almost as brilliant “Summershine,” but a release date just before 9/11/2001 scuttled that album’s chances. Mallonee moved to New Mexico a few years ago and had some health and financial scares, but he’s still making music (and is considering coming back to the South, this time to North Carolina).
To get an idea of how shamefully underappreciated “Audible Sigh” is, you can’t stream it on Apple Music or Spotify. You can, however, listen to the album on YouTube, and you can listen to individual tracks and purchase the 21-track special edition of “Audible Sigh” on Mallonee’s Bandcamp site, where you can also purchase any of his other dozens of releases. You won’t regret it.
