Artist description Michelle is a singer/songwriter based in NYC. She has played at various political/art/jam band music festivals on the East Coast, in the last five years, and at many New York City club venues. She speaks with a vulnerably powerful voice straight from the heart. She has just released her first full length CD, "Fire In My Belly and Blue Sky to Get Me By," A CD much like her live shows full of in the moment laugher and beautifully uncensored emotional turns.

Music Style Folk Rock

Musical Influences Ani DiFranco, Michelle Shocked, Bob Dylan, The Grateful Dead

Similar Artists A mix of Ani DiFranco, Joni Mitchell and Fiona Apple

Artist History In NYC Michelle has opened for Railroad Earth at the Village Underground and has also played at Arlene Grocery, CBGB's 313 Gallery, The Elbow Room, The Baggott Inn, The Triad Lounge and many others. She has played at music festivals in New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and West Virginia. Recently, Michelle created quite a stir performing for the Fairfax Chapter of The Women's League of Voters for which she made the front page of the Metro Section of The Washington Post. For more information about performances please contact Michelle at vargom@webtv.net.

Group Members Mostly solo, sometimes with Harry Greenberger

Instruments guitar, keyboard, djembe drum, mandolin

Albums Fire In My Belly and a Blue Sky To Get Me By, 2002, and single, Come As You Are, 2000

Press Reviews Women Voters Group Reflects on Its Role Winifred Hamilton (dressed in a period hat to attend the Women's Suffrage Tea, a League of Women Voters event to celebrate the 82nd anniversary of the 19th amendment which gave women the right to vote. (Juana Arias - The Washington Post) By Michael Laris Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, August 26, 2002; Page B01 There were plenty of big hats, hobble skirts, rousing speeches and proper finger sandwiches at the Women's Suffrage Tea held yesterday at a Tysons Corner hotel. There was also a passionate, highly political and, at times, profane 27-year-old folk singer from New York, who performed with her dog, Maceo, at her feet. Move over, Susan B. Anthony. Michelle Vargo is in the house. And not everyone's happy about it. With the fall political season gearing up, the League of Women Voters' Fairfax chapter organized the event to mark the 82nd anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave American women the right to vote. The period garb was meant to be a reminder of women's long struggle for equality, organizers said. But it was Vargo, wearing a brown, sleeveless suede top and tight black pants, who prompted the most discussion -- and encapsulated the league's struggle to remain relevant in a political world that has changed radically since the group was founded more than 80 years ago. In an era when the voter information that is the league's hallmark is often easily accessible on the Internet, and when many working women have less time for such groups, attracting new blood has become a real challenge. "We are aging as a group each year because, to date, we aren't bringing in as many of the younger women as we want to," said Kay Maxwell, president of the league's national organization. The nonpartisan group, which sponsors debates, registers voters, lobbies for electoral reform and provides information in thousands of races across the country, has teamed up with groups such as Rock the Vote and put information on the Web to get younger women involved, Maxwell said. Some who attended yesterday's tea enjoyed the scones, heavy cream and memories more than they did Vargo's bongo playing and protest songs. Some in the audience began to squirm when the singer announced, "You are all a bunch of liberal women, so I guess I can say I don't like our president at all." The league is staunchly nonpartisan and does not endorse candidates or political parties. A few participants left, and some who stayed were critical. "I don't think it was appropriate for this audience," said Mildred Brown, 74. "Her music was too modern and too New York. You've got to go with the age of the crowd." Later, Vargo said she thought her performance went well and called the league an inspiration. "I was a little worried about the age gap, but I feel like everyone was very supportive," she said. "There are such strong women here. It was really moving. It's not, like, an old issue in many ways. It is really relevant to me still." Noora Al-Saadawi, 7, seemed to be having a good time. "It's really neat. I'm learning something I didn't know before," she said, raising her voice over the guitar strumming. Noora was sitting next to her grandmother, Kay McQuie, who said women still have a long way to go and the league is a great organization to help them get there. "There is still no Equal Rights Amendment passed, and there's still a glass ceiling, and there's still something I call a sticky floor in many areas of business and endeavor," McQuie said. When asked what she took away from the afternoon's events, Noora was stumped. Her mom, Julie, whispered in her ear: "Women had to work hard for the right to vote." Noora, who donned a big hat in honor of the occasion, repeated as she was supposed to. But then she came up with her own answer: "The hats are very itchy." Dottie O'Rourke, who was wearing a period purple, gold and white "Votes for Women" sash and a silk hobble skirt, designed to impede walking to make women look more "feminine," couldn't imagine wearing such a get-up every day. "I may as well have bound feet," she said, adding that many of the suffragists who demonstrated outside the White House were mobbed, then jailed at the notorious Occoquan workhouse, which became the Lorton Correctional Complex. "The idea that voting was a hard-fought-for right is something we constantly remind people of." Annelies Richmond, 30, said she was in awe at the women in the room and those who came before. "My mom's in the league. These women here have fought for the rights we take for granted today," she said. Her mother, Gail Richmond, 57, a nurse from Fairfax, thought of the idea of asking Vargo to come from New York to perform. "I think the young people were in tune with her," Gail Richmond said. "Some of the older people didn't seem to like the political slant. But this is a suffrage tea. It's what it's all about." © 2002 The Washington Post Company

Additional Info Buy CD at 66th St. Tower Records, NYC, NYCD (81st and Amsterdam NYC) or email vargom@webtv.net

Location New York City, NY - USA

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