Wikipedia

Neal Morgan

For those of a similar name, see Neil Morgan (disambiguation).

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 (1979-03-07) March 7, 1979 (age 45)
Instrumentdrums
Years active2006–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

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  1. ^ "Neal Morgan: Sunday, Feb. 5, Holocene". Wweek.com. February 2012. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
  2. ^ Benson, Thor. "A Different Drum | Music". Portland Mercury. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
  3. ^ Kun, Josh (2012-01-23). "BOMBLOG: Mixtape: Neal Morgan by Gary Canino". Bombsite.com. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
  4. ^ "Drumming in the Garage with Neal Morgan". Thebomberjacket.com. 2012-05-29. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
  5. ^ "Feels Like Home #47: Neal Morgan". Into The Woods.Tv. 2012-05-19. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
  6. ^ Rosen, Jody (3 March 2010). "Joanna Newsom, the Changeling". The New York Times.
  7. ^ "Dusted Features [ Vision Creation Newsom! ]". Dustedmagazine.com. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
  8. ^ "Joanna Newsom: Joanna Newsom & the Ys Street Band EP | Album Reviews". Pitchfork. 2007-04-23. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
  9. ^ "Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me". Uncut.co.uk. 1969-07-05. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
  10. ^ "Live Review: Joanna Newsom and Robin Pecknold @ The Moore 8/4". Blog.kexp.org. 2010-08-09. Archived from the original on 2015-09-12. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
  11. ^ "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.
  12. ^ "Virtuosic Joanna Newsom Charms at Carnegie Hall | SPIN | Live | We Were There". SPIN. 2010-11-24. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
  13. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Joanna Newsom "Sapokanikan" (Official Video). YouTube.
  14. ^ "Album Review: Joanna Newsom - Divers". 26 October 2015.
  15. ^ "Bill Callahan @ Barbican, London | Live Reviews". musicOMH. 2011-05-09. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
  16. ^ Skinner, James (2011-06-06). "Review / Bill Callahan @ Sala Bikini, Barcelona, 23/05/11 / Gigs // Drowned In Sound". Drownedinsound.com. Archived from the original on 2013-04-06. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
  17. ^ Shannon, Jeff (2012-09-06). "'Apocalypse: A Bill Callahan Tour Film': Musician is still a mystery | Movies". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
  18. ^ "Feb 9, 2012 | Flora Recording & Playback". Florarecording.com. 2012-02-09. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
  19. ^ "Roy Harper to release "Man And Myth" on". Bella Union. 2013-07-04. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
  20. ^ Warfield, Russell (2012-01-31). "Neal Morgan - In the Yard / Releases / Releases // Drowned In Sound". Drownedinsound.com. Archived from the original on 2014-08-17. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
  21. ^ "Music Blog: Exclusive: Stream Neal Morgan's New Album". opbmusic. Archived from the original on 2012-05-18. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
  22. ^ "Neal Morgan - To The Breathing World". Drag City. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
  23. ^ "Neal Morgan - In The Yard". Drag City. 2009-05-21. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
  24. ^ "Neal Morgan ignites enthusiasm for hero-artist Philip Guston".
  25. ^ 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.
  26. ^ "Why Robin Pecknold's Clean-Cut Pearl Jam 'Fallon' Cover Speaks Volumes". 23 October 2013.
  27. ^ "Wild Wild Country (Original Score), by Brocker Way".
  28. ^ http://anicedayforawalktotheend.com/
  29. ^ "Fleet Foxes' Robin Pecknold & Neal Morgan scored new Off-Broadway play 'Wyoming,' which runs this month". 8 January 2015.
  30. ^ "NME News Fleet Foxes frontman Robin Pecknold scores off-Broadway play 'Wyoming' | NME.COM". NME. Archived from the original on 2015-01-12.
  31. ^ "Instagram".
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