New Circles Around the Sun and a solo Neal Casal release

“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…”

It’s no secret that I’m the world’s #1 Neal Casal fan (argue all you might, he conceded it may be true once) and it’s so bittersweet to help announce the plethora of the news coming from his dear friends doing the amazing work of ensuring his incredible music legacy is carried on and never forgotten.

Neal Casal News

First of all, the Neal Casal Music Foundation has announced the release of No One Above You, an archival collection of recordings made between 1991 and 1998, the New Jersey years, the Doghaus years, the Fuzz Folk years. I haven’t heard anything yet but I know it’s going to break me down. I love early era Neal music because his voice is so pure, he’s exploring genres, he’s experimenting, his lyrics are so tender and true. Neal’s best friend and trusted manager Gary Waldman produced the album along with our hero Jon Graboff; and subtle embellishments from Neal’s longtime bandmates and dear friends John Ginty, Dan Fadel, Angie McKenna, Jeff Hill, and Graboff are a most welcome addition.

Accompanying the record is a photo book filled with images of Neal and his then-wife Christy Coleman during the overlapping timeframe, a memoir of their love story. I recall reading in an interview that she was the one to first give Neal a camera and encourage the gifted photographer he subsequently became. Fun fact, the cover of Field Recordings features an old photo of Christy and her sister on a horse named Buster (always read the liner notes, folks).

There is a sick bundle available with awesome t-shirts, the colored and 180g black vinyl, the photobook, and a CD containing bonus tracks available at the NCMF store. And of course, the Foundation’s mission is a most worthy cause to donate to – funding important causes like Backline (who provides mental healthcare to musicians, whose services I have personally utilized), MusicCares; and gets instruments into the hands of students in New York and New Jersey.

Circles Around the Sun News

But wait, there’s more! 10 years ago, Neal gathered his friends Adam MacDougall, Dan Horne, and Mark Levy at the behest of Justin Kreutzmann to write a score for the intermission of the Grateful Dead’s Fare Thee Well tour. If you’re a reader of this website, or listened to the Highway Butterfly: The Stories of Neal Casal podcast you know the story – people loved it so much, they released this 13+ hour one-take jam sesh as a record and became a touring band.

Well, hold onto your butts because they are now releasing Interludes for the Dead: Volume 2, which was recently recorded at Dan Horne’s UHF studios to debut as set break music today for Dead and Company’s historic Golden Gate Park shows. Pre-order the record and hear the first two singles on Bandcamp.

Neal’s wish for CATS was that they would continue on as a band. After a steady rotation of guest guitarists, they found John Lee Shannon, or rather, Neal brought him to them posthumously. Neal met John while they were working on Zephaniah OHora’s brilliant album Listening to the Music and they clicked instantaneously. Neal was set to produce John’s excellent solo record In & Of before he passed. So, Shannon’s membership in the band is also such a lovely bittersweet full circle moment. He fits the band seamlessly and I know he does Neal proud playing in the band.

Also, I’m stoked for new CATS always but before I read the press release I thought it was some bonus unreleased CATS material, but if that’s what you’re aching for, you can find the complete collection on Bandcamp.

Some meanderings from Petal Motel

So, today is Jerry’s birthday. I used this photo by Jay Blakesberg, taken at Neal’s last performance at the LOCK’N festival because it reminds me of this photo of Jerry.

People love to draw parallels because so many came to know Neal and his music through Grateful Dead adjacency; the tragic, all too early loss of someone so kind who weaved such beauty with a few notes; but I’m so glad that the Neal Casal Music Foundation is preserving his legacy as so much more than a master shredder and highlighting his incredible contributions to folk music, the Americana genre as it was then being defined, his lyricism, his sensitivity, and his overall artistry.

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. 

In addition to Neal’s incredible musical legacy is so important, let’s remember the presence he had and the kindness he showed everyone. In this lonely world today, let’s all try to be more like him. Let’s take time to listen to and see each other.

So, thank you Gary, thank you Michele, thank you Alyssa, thank you Adam, Dan, Mark, and John, for keeping Neal at the forefront of our minds.