Neal Casal : Solo Records 1995-2012
“When you look back at the body of your work you see everything, to express a full life, and not just one part of a life. That’s the goal…”
n.c., 2004 or 2005? unknown
Thank you to everyone who has generously agreed to tell stories and share memories about their time with Neal. Everyone of his friends and colleagues have been just as warm and friendly as Neal was.
This was a dream of an undertaking and I’m a little sad it’s finished – but there’s always so much more music that Neal was a part of, whether it’s band projects, session work, or the many artists he inspired who continue to make records and write songs about him. My hope is that everyone who will read these notes in the future will maybe have a deeper understanding and greater appreciation of the music. Neal lived a lot and knew everyone and there are so many stories to be told. Dan Fadel really emphasized how when Hazy Malaze was around, they were all really obsessed with documenting everything – so I suppose this is a further extension of that.
If you missed anything, here’s the list!
Fade Away Diamond Time with Don Heffington
Rain, Wind and Speed with Robbi Robb
Field Recordings
The Sun Rises Here with Greg Leisz
Basement Dreams with Joe Wilkinson
Black River Sides with Kenny Roby
Anytime Tomorrow with Jim Cardillo
Ran On Pure Lightning with Shannon McNally and Brent Rademaker
Return In Kind
No Wish to Reminisce with Gary Waldman
Roots and Wings with Jon Graboff and Don Sternecker
Sweeten the Distance with Jeff Hill
Everything I do is on the more languid side of things. Fluid and elegant and poetic is what I aspire to in all levels of my life. There’s important place for those kind of aesthetics in our world. Especially in light of all the things we’re seeing right now.
n.c., October, 2016
I invite you to read a really beautiful letter my friend Christine wrote that’s much more elegant and personal than anything I could ever hope to come up with. Her letter is just so heartfelt and written so lovingly, we were corresponding when this project took off and the part about the really interesting and strange comparison of Neal’s self portraits and Robert Cornelius’s just blew my mind. Please check it out. As my friend Shannon has said, Neal said the thing he liked most about himself was how he brought people together.
Again, giant thanks to everyone who has contributed time and stories, read, gave suggestions, and shared these great stories. Finally, I also urge you to donate to the Neal Casal Music Foundation. The mission is to provide musical instruments to young people and mental health services to musicians.
I don’t think that this is it – Neal was too prolific to be summarized over the course of a few weeks. Keep an eye and an ear out – there’s still so much to hear and learn from.
