Sgt. Splendor is fueled by chemistry, curiosity, and serious musicianship. Vargas delivers vocals with clarity, bite, and an unflinching sense of timing, while McFadden’s shape-shifting guitar work draws from gritty rock, funk, blues, and flamenco. That approach has landed them on festival stages such as BottleRock, MEMPHO, High Sierra, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, and Olympia Funk Fest, as well as tours and shared bills with Samantha Fish, Fantastic Negrito, Joan Baez, The Nth Power, Tab Benoit, and Mike Dillon’s Punkadelick.
Before joining forces, the duo behind Sgt. Splendor were already formidable solo artists, Kate Vargas chalking up acclaim at outlets like NPR, HuffPost, American Songwriter, Rolling Stone and Vice (including praise from the “Dean of American Rock Critics” Robert Christgau); and Eric McFadden amassing an impressive resume including stints on guitar with George Clinton & the P-Funk All Stars, Anders Osbourne, Karl Denson, Stockholm Syndrome, and Eric Burdon & The Animals, plus a slew of solo albums, and session work with everyone from Jackson Browne to The Clash’s Joe Strummer.
