The Losing End Again - Music

Neal Casal Denville New Jersey USA November 2 1968 – August 26 2019 Was An American Guitarist Singer Songwriter And Photographer. First Rising To Prominence As Lead Guitarist With Rickey Medlocke's Blackfoot From 1988-1993 Casal Is Well Known As A Member Of Ryan Adams & The Cardinals With Whom He Recorded Three Studio Albums And Of Whom He Was A Member From 2005 Until 2009. Neal Casal Released Eleven Albums As A Solo Artist. He Played In Several Groups Including Hazy Malaze Chris Robinson Brotherhood Hard Working Americans The Skiffle Players And Circles Around The Sun Casal Began Work On Early Solo Demos From 1990 To 1993 At Studios In Los Angeles New York And New Jersey. During This Period He Teamed Up With His Manager Gary Waldman Keyboard Player John Ginty And Vocalist Angie McKenna. After Signing A Publishing Deal With Warner/Chappell Music He Forged A Long Standing Professional Relationship With Producer/engineer Jim Scott. In 1994 Casal Signed With Zoo Entertainment And Recorded His Debut Album At Palacio Del Rio 1 Formally Owned By James Stewart And Dean Martin In Santa Ynez California With Producer Jim Scott. The Album Featured Musicians Don Heffington Bob Glaub Greg Leisz. Casal Released Fade Away Diamond Time In September 1994 That To Critical Acclaim And Supported By A US Tour With His Band. Casal Parted Ways With Zoo Records In 1996 And Recorded Rain Wind And Speed Released By Buy Or Die Records. In 1997 Casal Signed With The Glitterhouse Records Label And Went On To Release Five Albums Including Field Recordings And The Sun Rises Here. In 1998 Casal Released The Self-Produced Album Basement Dreams Named Americana Album Of The Year In Mojo Magazine. During The Spring Of 1999 Casal Teamed Up With Six String Drag Front Man Kenny Roby And Toured Europe Later That Summer Recording The Live Album Black River Sides. Casal Released His Sixth Solo Album Anytime Tomorrow In 2000 Produced By Jim Scott. Anytime Tomorrow Was The Last Album To Be Released By Glitterhouse In 2000 And Prompted An Extensive European Tour Into Early 2001. In 2002 Casal Co-Wrote Produced And Released The EP Ran On Pure Lightning Collaborating With Shannon McNally And Other Musicians Which Included Benmont Tench Greg Leisz And Brent Rademaker. Around This Time Casal Also Started Playing With Bassist Jeff Hill And Drummer Dan Fadel Forming Hazy Malaze. Railroad Earth’s 2002 Album Bird In A House Featured A Cover Version Of Casal’s Song “Dandelion Wine”. Shortly After Signing To Paris-Based Fargo Records In 2003 Fargo Released The Compilation Album Maybe California Resulting In A European Tour And Casal's First Solo Tour Of Japan. The Following Year Fargo Released Two Compilation Albums Leaving Traces A Selection Of Casal’s Original Songs From 1994–2004 And Return In Kind A Compilation Of Covers And He Began Recording His Eighth Solo Album. Casal Joined Ryan Adams And The Cardinals In 2005. In December Of That Year He Embarked On His Third Japanese Tour Which Featured His First Photography Exhibition And Upon His Return Released No Wish To Reminisce In Early 2006. The Album Produced By Michael Deming Beachwood Sparks Lilys Took His Music In A Different Direction From His Previous Work With A More Layered Psychedelic Production. All Directions A Compilation Album Of Live And Unreleased Songs Was Released In 2007. In 2009 Casal Teamed Up With Engineer Don Sternecker And Recorded And Produced Roots And Wings. The Album Included Musicians Jon Graboff Greg Leisz Johnathan Rice Jeff Hill Dan Fadel And Andy Goessling. Casal Began Recording His Tenth Solo Album In March 2010 With Producer Thom Monahan. While Casal Toured Europe Fargo Re-Released The Albums Basement Dreams And Rain Wind And Speed. On March 6 It Was Announced That Casal Had Joined The Chris Robinson Brotherhood. Casal's Tenth Studio Album Sweeten The Distance Was Released In November 2011. In 2013 Casal Joined Hard Working Americans Alongside Todd Snider Dave Schools Chad Staehly And Duane Trucks. The Supergroup's Debut Album Hard Working Americans Was Recorded At Bob Weir's TRI Studios In 2013 And Released On January 21 2014. In 2015 Casal Along With Adam MacDougall Dan Horne And Mark Levy Recorded Five Hours Of Music As Circles Around The Sun That Was Played As The Pre-Show And Set Break Music At The Grateful Dead's Fare Thee Well Concerts In Santa Clara And Chicago. These Compositions Were Released Later That Year As The Album Interludes For The Dead. Circles Around The Sun Made Its Live Debut At The 2016 Lockn' Festival At Oak Ridge Farm In Arrington Virginia. In 2018 CATS Released Their Second Album Let It Wander. In 2016 Casal Joined Three Other Beachwood Sparks Alums Farmer Dave Scher Dan Horne And Aaron Sperske And Songwriter Cass McCombs To Form The Skiffle Players. Their Debut Album Skifflin Was Released That Year Followed By The Piffle Sayers EP And Skiff In 2018. In The Summer Of 2002 While Touring With Shannon McNally Casal Formed Hazy Malaze With Fellow Band Members Dan Fadel And Jeff Hill. Their Debut Album Hazy Malaze Was Recorded And Mixed At Village Recorders In Los Angeles In Eleven Days. Later That Year They Toured Opening For Robert Randolph And The Family Band And During 2003 Continued To Tour The US While Beginning Work On Their Second Album Blackout Love. In 2005 Hazy Malaze Released Their Second Album Blackout Love Supported By A French Tour. In 2009 Hazy Malaze Released Their Third Album Connections. Casal Joined Ryan Adams & The Cardinals In 2005 Shortly After The Release Of Jacksonville City Nights Replacing J.P. Bowerstock And Toured The US In The Summer Of 2006 Followed By A UK And European Tour In The Autumn. In 2007 The Ryan Adams Album Easy Tiger Was Released And Went To Number Seven. On Billboard Album Chart Resulting In A Yearlong World Tour And The Album's Producer Jamie Candiloro Added To The Lineup On Piano. Candiloro Also Produced The Follow The Lights EP Released In October 2007 And Reaching Number 40 On The US Billboard 200 Chart. In 2008 Ryan Adams & The Cardinals Released Cardinology Recorded At Electric Lady Studios In New York And Produced By Tom Schick. The Album Reached Number 11 On Billboard Album Chart And Number 14 On Rolling Stone’s Best Albums Of 2008 List. Rolling Stone Magazine Also Placed "Magick" At #13 On The 100 Best Singles Of 2008 List. In January 2009 Adams Announced That He Was Leaving The Cardinals After Their Final Show On March 20 2009 At The Fox Theatre In Atlanta. The Band Has Been On Indefinite Hiatus Ever Since. In December 2010 Ryan Adams & The Cardinals Released Their Final Album III/IV A Compilation Of Unreleased Material. The Album Was Recorded In 2006 During The Same Sessions That Yielded Easy Tiger. On April 16 Ryan Adams Released Class Mythology Which Is An EP Of Unreleased Tracks Recorded With The Cardinals During The Cardinology Period. In An Interview With American Songwriter Casal Described His Experience With The Group Positively. "It Really Was A Great Lineup... For A Couple Years There Man We Were On Fire. We Really Were. We Were Playing Some Amazing Shows And Running Through Ryan’s Entire Catalog Just Burning Those Songs To The Ground. We Really Felt Confident For Awhile Sic . We Had A Lot Of Synergy We Were All Really Connected And Everyone Believed In It. We Were Firing On All Cylinders. It Was A Great Thing To Be A Part Of." Casal Contributed Guitar Work On Tift Merritt’s 2005 Album Tambourine Featuring Mike Campbell Which Was Nominated For A Country Album Of The Year And Three Americana Music Awards. Casal Played On Gin Wigmore’s 2009 Album Holy Smoke Produced By Mike Elizondo Which Won Four Of The Six New Zealand Music Awards It Was Nominated For And Went Quadruple Platinum. Willie Nelson's 2007 Album Songbird Produced By Ryan Adams And Released By Lost Highway Records. Adams Along With The Cardinals Performed On The Album’s Eleven Tracks Featuring Casal On Guitar And Piano. Songbird Peaked At #87 On The Billboard 200 On November 18 2006. In 2004 Casal Provided Photos For Tift Merritt’s Second Record Tambourine. In 2007 Casal Shot The Album Cover Photos For The Ryan Adams Album Easy Tiger And The Ryan Adams And The Cardinals EP Follow The Lights. 37 In 2008 He Provided Photos For The Ryan Adams And The Cardinals Album Cardinology. Casal Provided Photographs For The Final Album Of Ryan Adams And The Cardinals Cardinals III/IV Which Was Released In 2010. In January 2008 Casal Exhibited His Photography At The Bauhaus Gallery In Tokyo. Casal Shot The Album Cover And All Photos For The Artwork For Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion’s 2011 Album Bright Examples. Casal Shot The Album Cover For Courtney Jaye's The Exotic Sounds Of Courtney Jaye Released On January 10 2010. In 2010 Casal Provided Photographs For Danny And The Champions Of The World Album Streets Of Our Time. Casal Provided Never Before Seen Photographs For The Ryan Adams And The Cardinals EP Class Mythology Released In April 2011. Casal’s Photographs Have Appeared In Publications Such As Mojo Rolling Stone Spin Harp USA Today. In 2016 Casal Photographs Appeared On The Front And Back Covers Of The Hard Working Americans Record "Rest In Chaos" Director Ray Foley Made A Documentary About Casal' Influences And Inspirations During The Making Of His Sixth Album In 2001 Entitled Neal Casal Anytime Tomorrow. In 2009 Two Hazy Malaze Songs Were Featured On Private Practice Season Three Episode Seven “The Hard Part” And Casal’s Single “The Losing End Again” Appeared In Fringe Season Two Episode Seventeen “Olivia. In The Lab. With The Revolver.”. Casal Was Owen Wilson And Vince Vaughn's Voice Coach For The 2004 Movie Starsky & Hutch And Played Guitar On Owen Wilson's Performance Of "Don't Give Up On Us Baby" Which Was Also Featured On The Soundtrack. Sang The Lead Vocals On “The Game” On “The Music Of Jason Crigler” Released On Rudy Records. Casal Co-Wrote And Sang Backing Vocals On “The Truest Kind” On The Album Danny And The Champions Of The World. In 2011 Casal Worked As Garrett Hedlund’s Guitar Instructor For The Movie Country Strong And Also Appears In The Film As Gwyneth Paltrow’s Guitar Player. In March 2010 Abrams Image Published Casals First Book Of Photography A View Of Other Windows. The Book Is A Photographic Documentary Of Life Playing And Touring With Ryan Adams And The Cardinals. Discography Solo
Studio Albums Fade Away Diamond Time 1995 Rain Wind And Speed 1996 Field Recordings 1997 The Sun Rises Here 1998 Basement Dreams 1999 Black River Sides With Kenny Roby 1999 Anytime Tomorrow 2000 Return In Kind 2004 No Wish To Reminisce 2006 Roots And Wings 2009 Sweeten The Distance 2011 Compilations
An Introduction To Neal Casal - Maybe California 2003 Leaving Traces 2004 All Directions 2008 With Shannon McNally
Ran On Pure Lightning EP 2002 With Hazy Malaze
Hazy Malaze 2003 Blackout Love 2004 Connections 2009 With Ryan Adams And The Cardinals
Easy Tiger 2007 Follow The Lights 2007 Cardinology 2008 III/IV 2010 Class Mythology 2011 With Chris Robinson Brotherhood
Big Moon Ritual 2012 The Magic Door 2012 Betty's SF Blends Vol 1 2013 Phosphorescent Harvest 2014 Try Rock N' Roll EP 2014 Betty's Blends Vol 2 Best From The West
Anyway You Love We Know How You Feel 2016 If You Lived Here You Would Be Home By Now 2016 Betty's Blends Vol 3 Self Rising Southern Blends 2017 Barefoot In The Head 2017 Raven's Reels Vol 1 2018 Servants Of The Sun 2019 With Hard Working Americans
Hard Working Americans 2014 Rest In Chaos 2016 We're All In This Together 2017 Album Collaborations
Blackfoot - Medicine Man 1991 - Guitar Vocals
James Iha — Let It Come Down 1998 — Guitar And Harmonies 49 Angie Mckenna - Looking East - Production Guitar Piano Vocals 1999 A Christmas To Remember — Cora Jones 1998 — Various Artists Compilation Casal's Original Song Vocals Guitar And Percussion
Bill Kelly - Jumbo - Guitar - 2000 Lucinda Williams — Caravan Of Dreams 2001 — Guitar 50 Amy Allison - Sad Girl - Guitar - 2001 Duncan Sheik — Daylight 51 2002 — Sang Harmonies
Ileen - Bride Pt.2 - Guitar 2002 Dayna Manning — Shades 2002 — Guitar
Robert Randolph And The Family Band — Unclassified 52 2004 — Sang Harmonies
Tift Merritt — Tambourine 2004 — Guitar And Harmonies
Mia Doi Todd — Manzanita 53 2005 — Guitar
Emily Loizeau - L'Autre Bout Du Monde - Guitar 2005 Willie Nelson — Songbird 2006 — Guitar
Minnie Driver — Seastories 54 2007 — Guitar
The Music Of Jason Crigler - Guitar - 2008 Danny And The Champions Of The World - Harmonies 2008 Clarence Bucaro - Til Spring - Guitar 2009 Gin Wigmore — Holy Smoke 55 2009 — Guitar
Mark Olson — Many Colored Kite 56 2010 — Guitar And Bass
Sarah Lee Guthrie And Johnny Irion — Bright Examples 57 2011 — Guitar And Piano
Bryan Greenberg — We Don't Have Forever 58 2011 — Guitar And Bass
Levi Strom - The Lone Wolf - Piano 2011 Music Is Love - A Singer Songwriter's Tribute To The Music Of CSN&Y 2012 Amanda Shires — Carrying Lightning 59 2011 — Guitar And Harmonies
Ryan Adams — Ashes & Fire 2011 — Backing Vocals Acoustic Guitar
Vetiver The Errant Charm - 2011
Levi Strom - The Lone Wolf - Piano 2011 James Iha — Look To The Sky 2012 — Vocals/harmonies
Fruit Bats - Tripper 2012 - Guitar
Dan Grimm Average Savage 2014 - Guitar
Matt Waldon Learn To Love 2014 - Guitar
Mark Olson - Good-Bye Lizelle 2014 - Guitar Bass
Vetiver Complete Strangers 2015 - Guitar
Gospelbeach Pacific Surf Line 2015 - Guitar Vocals
J.E. Borgen Roots Down Deep 2016 - Guitar
The Tyde - Darren 4 2016 - Guitar
The Orchard The Great Unknown 2017 - Guitar Harmonica
Jeff Grimes More Than Memory 2017 - Guitar
Danielle Hicks And The Resistance Honey 2017 - Guitar
Dori Freeman Letters Never Read 2017 - Guitar
Johnny Irion Driving Friend 2018 - Guitar
Emma Scott It Was Worth It 2018 - Harmonies
Fruit Bats Gold Past Life 2019 - Guitar
Little Wings Ropes 2019 - Guitar Song Collaborations
Zoolander Soundtrack — Rufus Wainwright Song "He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother" 60 2001 — Guitar
The Sun Records Tribute Album — Good Rockin' Tonight The Legacy Of Sun Records 61 — Sheryl Crow Song “Who Will The Next Fool Be” 2001 — Guitar
Starsky & Hutch Soundtrack — Song "Don't Give Up On Us Baby" 2004 — Guitar
Shelby Starner Single — “Don’t Let Them” 1999 Badly Drawn Boy Single — “Spitting In The Wind” 2001 “More Townes Van Zant” By The Great Unknown 2010 read less