Nearly three years after his suicide, the prolific productivity of Neal Casal continues to manifest itself. The latest example arrived on Friday with “No Hard Feelings”, a newly unearthed collaboration with Johnny Irion. The singer-songwriter recently discovered an old demo of the song the late Circles Around The Sun guitarist recorded back in 2011.
According to Irion, the story began on a sunny day in Montecito, CA almost 11 years ago when he was visiting his uncle Thom Steinbeck, son of John. While there, Irion and Casal sat down to write the song that would ultimately become “No Hard Feelings”. Just as the bones were coming together, Neal broke for the shore telling Johnny, “I’m gonna go surfing and then send you a demo.” Sure enough, two hours later Johnny received the basic track of Neal and his guitar.
Fast forward a decade to when Neal’s neighbor and mastering engineer JJ Golden (who remastered 2021’s reissue of Casal’s 1995 debut Fade Away Diamond Time) happened upon the demo. After Golden cleaned up the track, Irion passed it along to Patrick Sansone (Wilco) who agreed the song needed a treatment similar to The Beatles‘ 1995 single “Free As A Bird”, which incorporated a previously recorded John Lennon demo into new tracking by the rest of the band. Together, Irion, Sansone, Jonathon Wilson (drums), and Neal’s old Cardinals bandmate Jon Graboff (pedal steel) completed the recording, available now.
“I was fortunate enough to have worked with Neal Casal over the last twenty years, whether he was playing guitar on a Sarah Lee & Johnny record or my last solo album or taking photographs,” Irion said. “Neal always seemed to be everywhere, playing the ideal guitar part or setting up the perfect photograph or sharing an amazing song. ‘No Hard Feelings’ is from a moment in time when I think Neal and I were both in super creative spaces. He had just joined the Chris Robinson Brotherhood and the future was wide open. Only a handful of years later, I was there for the ‘paddle out’ after he passed to celebrate his life on the beach he surfed in Ventura. I still cry for my bud. In his memory, we keep going, we honor and we share this moving performance he left behind.”
“No Hard Feelings” arrives during Mental Health Awareness Month from the Neal Casal Music Foundation, a 501c3 formed in 2020 to provide instruments and education to public schools where Neal grew up in New Jersey and New York state as well as connect music industry professionals with mental health resources. For this single, the Foundation partnered with Sounds of Saving (SoS) whose mission is to “leverage a connection to music as a direct path to greater mental wellbeing and to hopefulness during crisis in order to decrease suicide, especially for underserved communities.”
“SoS is grateful to work with Johnny Irion and The Neal Casal Music Foundation on the release of this beautiful song. When Johnny shared the personal connection he felt to Neal, we knew we needed to find a way to work together,” SoS co-founder Nick Greto said. “Neal was, of course, not alone in his mental health struggles. We are in the throes of a complex and dire crisis that is affecting all Americans, especially young people. While suicidal ideation continues to be a rising public health problem, most people who survive attempts go on to live their lives, thus making it even more crucial that we collectively work to help people before and during crisis. Furthermore, over 50% of musicians suffer from depression. So in the spirit of furthering our mission, we are honored to be the recipients of a portion of the proceeds from the release.”
Listen to the newly unearthed Neal Casal and Johnny Irion collaboration “No Hard Feelings” via the player below or on your preferred streaming platform.
Neal Casal, Johnny Irion – “No Hard Feelings”
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