Home Jambase Remembering Neal Casal: Performing On ‘Rockpalast’ In 2004

Remembering Neal Casal: Performing On ‘Rockpalast’ In 2004

August 26, 2022

Acclaimed guitarist Neal Casal sadly died by suicide at age 50 on this date in 2019. Casal was admired by fans and fellow musicians alike, having built an impressive resume upon the many collaborations crafted over his all too short career.

While Casal’s collaborative contributions to bands like Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Circles Around The Sun, Hard Working Americans, Beachwood Sparks and Hazy Malaze are undoubtedly integral aspects of his body of work, Casal’s solo efforts are equally impressive components of his lasting legacy.

Between 1995 and 2011 Casal recorded and released 12 solo albums, starting with 1995’s Fade Away Diamond Time and continuing through 2011’s Sweeten The Distance. Casal also released two additional duo albums: 1999’s Black River Sides with Kenny Roby and 2004’s Ran On Pure Lightning with Shannon McNally.

In 2004, Casal led a solo performance that was broadcast on the longrunning German television program Rockpalast. The taping featured Casal on guitar and lead vocals, Jeff Hill on bass, Dan Fadal on drums and Mike Shapiro on keyboards.

The session recorded at Harmonie in Bonn, Germany began with “Real Country Dark” off 1998’s The Sun Rises. The 11-song set featured several tracks from Casal’s 2000 solo album, Anytime Tomorrow, including “Eddy & Diamonds,” “Camarillo,” “Oceanview,” “Just Getting By,” and “Too Much Too Ask.” Casal also played “You Don’t See Me Crying” which would appear on 2006’s No Wish To Reminisce.

Casal led a cover of Taj Mahal’s classic “Corrina” and a trio of songs that were recorded by Hazy Malaze, including the reggae-tinged “Need Somebody,” the rocking “Satisfy The Jones” and the emphatic “What If Today Was Tomorrow.”

The Rockpalast episode interspersed an interview with Casal. In the aftermath of Casal’s tragic death, the exchanges seem all the more insightful and heartbreaking. In one of the interview segments, Casal answered a question with this poignant response:

“I’m just into it, I’m just totally into music and art and photography – it’s all just one thing. I still get the feeling that I had when I heard Exile and when I heard other records. When I got chills. I just love it. I love words, I love everything about music. I love the people – generally, I love the people surrounded with music. I made the best friends of my life in music.
I think musicians in general are cool people. I just want to be part of this world, you know? I don’t want to do anything else. So hopefully I just can keep it going …
“Yes, I have so many fears it’s incredible. I’m one of the most insecure people in the world. I’m working on it. I’m trying to get rid of my fears, you know? Sometimes I’m afraid to go onstage and play for people. I get really nervous about that.
“Oh yeah, there are lots of things I’m afraid of. I don’t know – we could talk for awhile about that.”

Along with Casal’s music, his legacy endures through the Neal Casal Music Foundation non-profit organization supporting music instruction in New Jersey and New York state schools where Neal was born and raised. The foundation today announced a partnership with Backline for the establishment of a clinical fellowship program to support and further develop the organization’s mission of providing mental health and wellness resources to the music industry and its families.

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Backline & Neal Casal Music Foundation Launch Neal Casal Fellowship
The Neal Casal Fellowship 2022 – 2023 has been launched by Backline and the Neal Casal Music Foundation to support mental health and wellness.