The Neal Casal Music Foundation is auctioning a mandolin owned by the late guitarist and songwriter Neal Casal beginning today, December 14, at 12 p.m. PT. Proceeds from the auction will help in the nonprofit foundation’s mission of providing instruments and lessons for students in the New York and New Jersey area where Neal grew up and will also benefit music mental health organizations including MusiCares and Backline.
The mandolin up for auction is a Washburn M1S given to Casal when he was 22 as a gift from his manager Gary Waldman. Neal would write his song “Valley Of The Fallen” on the instrument, which has been fitted with a new bridge and strings.
Hear Neal’s mandolin in action on “Valley Of The Fallen” — remixed by Grammy Award-winning engineer Jim Scott — as well as played by Casal’s Cardinals collaborator John Graboff along with the complete backstory on the mandolin from Gary Waldman in the video below:
