| Neal Casal (Morristown, New Jersey) Neal Casal is a musician who lives just outside New York in
New Jersey. Casal's sound is a throwback to that distinct early '70s blend of blue-eyed
soul and laid-back rock n roll, with a dash of rootsy country twang tossed in for good
measure. He is a 28-year old singer/writer/guitarist who spent his childhood playing
guitar to "Exile On Main Street". He was fronting his first band at the age of
17, while writing and demoing songs on his home 4-track and in the cramped basement of a
neighbor, dead-sure of his direction.
In 1991, a tape of Casal's songs found its way to
Jim Cardillo at Warner/Chapell Music, who signed the unknown Casal to a publishing deal.
Thus Casal had the luxury of bypassing the mire of a day job to focus on his songwriting.
By this time Neal was incorporating the then unfashionable sonic textures of his
influences into his sound, unaware that in other parts of the country bands like The
Jayhawks and Uncle Tupelo were travelling a parallel course.
Some demos recorded with Jim Scott (engineer for Petty's "Wildflowers") led to a
deal with BMG/Zoo and the sessions for "Fade away Diamond Time". Joining him
were organ/piano player John Ginty, steel guitarist Fooch Fischetti and singer Angie
McKenna from Casal's band, along with the crack rhythm section of Bob Glaub (CSNY, John
Lennon, Jackson Browne) and Don Heffington (Lone Justice, Jayhawks, Victoria
Williams).
The record was released in late 1995 to high
critical acclaim. However, internal changes at Zoo Records left the record completely
unpromoted and right before Christmas 1995 Neal received a call in a club in Nashville
that the tour was over and that he no longer had a label. They are currently talking to
various major companies and there will be somebody real soon who will spend the neccessary
promotional bucks.
Between shopping him around Neal and his manager
Gary Waldman took matters in their own hands, rented a nearby studio and recorded
"Rain, Wind and Speed" in 5 days. Two days for Neal's vocals and guitar, one day
for some subtle mandolin/banjo overdubs, slight washes of Hammond organ and pedal
steel-licks. Two days to mix the whole thing down.
The resulting record is what the press calls
"One of the best new songwriters of the year" (Washington Post) or
"Stunning" (L.A. Weekly), "A breath of fresh air" (Gavin Report),
"A marvellous blend of emotional depth and purity" (Songwriter's Monthly) and
"Rootsy, honest and heartfelt" (Car Audio and Electronics).
One listen and one notices that Neal Casal is a new
star on the horizon, a mature songwriter who has tha ability to fill the niche between Tom
Petty and Pete Droge.
Discography
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