Neal Morgan
Neal Morgan (born March 7, 1979) is an American drummer, arranger of drums and percussion, and singer-songwriter.[1][2][3][4][5] Morgan is best known as the drummer for Joanna Newsom[6] and Bill Callahan.
Neal Morgan | |
---|---|
Born | March 7, 1979 |
Instruments | drums |
Years active | 2006–present |
Morgan began drumming for Joanna Newsom in 2006 for the touring cycle in support of her second album Ys. In a 2007 interview, Newsom said of Morgan "I am in awe of him...he elevates literally every musical project he touches."[7] He arranged drums and percussion for the live performance of that material as well as arranging for songs from her debut release, The Milk-Eyed Mender. Morgan contributed singing as well as performing his drum and percussion arrangements on Newsom's 2007 EP Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band.[8] Morgan arranged and performed the drums and percussion on Newsom's third record, the triple album Have One On Me, released in 2010,[9] and accompanied Newsom in live performance for the tour cycle for that record,[10][11] often opening shows with solo sets of drumming and singing.[12]
He arranged and performed drums and percussion for the songs Sapokanikan, Goose Eggs, and Waltz of the 101st Lightborne from Newsom's 2015 LP Divers.[13][14]
Morgan began drumming for Bill Callahan in 2009 at the tail end of Callahan's touring for his second self-titled album Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle. Morgan and Callahan performed as a duo for a tour of the Southern United States in late 2009 and a second tour of Spain, France and Portugal in 2010. Morgan arranged drums and percussion on Callahan's third self-titled record, Apocalypse, released in 2011, and along with guitarist Matt Kinsey accompanied Callahan for the tour cycle in support of that album.[15][16] He was featured in the 2012 Hanly Banks documentary Apocalypse, which followed a 2011 Bill Callahan tour in the United States.[17]
Morgan arranged and performed drums and percussion with Robin Pecknold and Morgan Henderson on the soundtrack for the documentary Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin & The Farm Wives in 2012.[18]
He arranged and performed and was the recording engineer for drums and percussion for Roy Harper's Man Or Myth, a September 23, 2013 release on Bella Union.[19]
Morgan has self-released two solo records composed of only his own drumming and singing, To The Breathing World, 2009 and In The Yard, 2011.[20][21] Both were distributed by Drag City.[22][23] In The Yard featured Philip Guston's painting Evidence, 1970 on the cover. Morgan has lectured on the painter Philip Guston since 2012.[24] He gave four lectures on the west coast of the United States on the occasion of Guston's 100th birthday in June, 2013.[25]
On October 22, 2013, Morgan performed the song Corduroy from Pearl Jam's album Vitalogy with Robin Pecknold and Daniel Rossen on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, as a part of that show's "Pearl Jam Week".[26]
Morgan arranged and performed drums and percussion for composer Brocker Way's score of The Battered Bastards of Baseball, a Netflix Original Documentary released July 11, 2014.[27]
Along with Robin Pecknold and Morgan Henderson, he arranged and performed drums for the score of A Nice Day For A Walk To The End, a film by Sean Pecknold and Matt Daniels, released July 2014.[28]
Morgan and Robin Pecknold scored the Off-Broadway play Wyoming, which was written by Brian Watkins and directed by Danya Taymor. The play was presented at NYC's Theater For The New City from January 15–31, 2015.[29][30]
On May 18, 2016, while answering fan questions on his Instagram account, Pecknold announced that his band Fleet Foxes was working on new material with Morgan as the drummer.[31]
References
- "Neal Morgan: Sunday, Feb. 5, Holocene". Wweek.com. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
- Benson, Thor. "A Different Drum | Music". Portland Mercury. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
- Kun, Josh (2012-01-23). "BOMBLOG: Mixtape: Neal Morgan by Gary Canino". Bombsite.com. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
- "Drumming in the Garage with Neal Morgan". Thebomberjacket.com. 2012-05-29. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
- "Feels Like Home #47: Neal Morgan". Into The Woods.Tv. 2012-05-19. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
- https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/magazine/07Newsom-t.html?pagewanted=all
- "Dusted Features [ Vision Creation Newsom! ]". Dustedmagazine.com. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
- "Joanna Newsom: Joanna Newsom & the Ys Street Band EP | Album Reviews". Pitchfork. 2007-04-23. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
- "Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me". Uncut.co.uk. 1969-07-05. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
- "Live Review: Joanna Newsom and Robin Pecknold @ The Moore 8/4". Blog.kexp.org. 2010-08-09. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
- "Matson on Music | Concert review: Joanna Newsom and Robin Pecknold at The Moore 08/04/10 | Seattle Times Newspaper". Seattletimes.com. 2010-08-05. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
- "Virtuosic Joanna Newsom Charms at Carnegie Hall | SPIN | Live | We Were There". SPIN. 2010-11-24. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky9Ro9pP2gc
- http://consequenceofsound.net/2015/10/album-review-joanna-newsom-divers/
- "Bill Callahan @ Barbican, London | Live Reviews". musicOMH. 2011-05-09. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
- Skinner, James (2011-06-06). "Review / Bill Callahan @ Sala Bikini, Barcelona, 23/05/11 / Gigs // Drowned In Sound". Drownedinsound.com. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
- Shannon, Jeff (2012-09-06). "'Apocalypse: A Bill Callahan Tour Film': Musician is still a mystery | Movies". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
- "Feb 9, 2012 | Flora Recording & Playback". Florarecording.com. 2012-02-09. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
- "Roy Harper to release "Man And Myth" on". Bella Union. 2013-07-04. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
- Warfield, Russell (2012-01-31). "Neal Morgan - In the Yard / Releases / Releases // Drowned In Sound". Drownedinsound.com. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
- "Music Blog: Exclusive: Stream Neal Morgan's New Album". opbmusic. Archived from the original on 2012-05-18. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
- "Neal Morgan - To The Breathing World". Drag City. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
- "Neal Morgan - In The Yard". Drag City. 2009-05-21. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
- http://psuvanguard.com/catherines-article-on-philip-guston/
- Stumptown Coffee Roasters. "A Conversation with Drummer Neal Morgan - Stumptown Coffee Roasters". Stumptowncoffee.com. Archived from the original on 2015-06-01. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
- https://www.spin.com/2013/10/robin-pecknold-pearl-jam-corduroy-jimmy-fallon-video/
- http://brockerway.bandcamp.com/releases
- http://anicedayforawalktotheend.com/
- http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2015/01/fleet_foxes_rob.html
- https://www.nme.com/news/fleet-foxes/82151
- https://instagram.com/p/BFiBvIRr-kq/