By the age of 16, Dan Neal had already written a hit single, performed up and down the west coast and his band was counting the days until they could bolt from Oregon to LA. That’s when he quit, choosing college over a musical career path. His band thought he was nuts. What they didn’t understand is that Dan was determined to launch a comeback---he just didn’t know when. As years passed, Dan nurtured his musical passions steadily and stealthily while working at his day job. Musically, although he labored in obscurity, Dan’s singer/songwriter chops continued to evolve as he drew inspiration and creative energy from his own life experience. Finally in 2004, he headed to LA to record his debut CD “When the Big Pictures Fades” and based on critical reaction, his patience seems to have served him well.
Dan comes by his writing talent honestly. His late brother Steve, to whom “When the Big Picture Fades” is lovingly dedicated, remains a nationally recognized writer, journalist and historian with a legacy that includes three Pulitzer Prize nominations, a NY Times Book of the Month and a bundle of accolades from across the US cultural spectrum----Bill Clinton to Ronald Reagan to Gloria Steinem. Dan’s song “Next Plane To Chicago” is about Steve’s untimely death.
Small wonder then that Dan’s songs have been described as a “grown man’s prayer” and that his lyrics have drawn favorable comparisons with a host of acclaimed songwriters including John Hiatt, Warren Zevon, Jackson Browne and even Bob Dylan. Dan, for his part humbled by such comparisons, keeps sharpening his craft. Guitar picking and reading are among Dan’s ritualistic activities, and it is clear in studying Dan’s lyrics that his attention rarely drifts from topics of emotional, literary or cultural interest. Sometimes Dan’s creative side makes poignant use of this knowledge; other times, the lyrical discussion heads down a twisted path with no shortage of sardonic humor – one writer calls it “rock with a smirk.”
When Dan finally decided the time was right to record his songs, he turned to one of his old bandmates, Gary White, for help. Immersed in the LA music scene for many years with acts as diverse as Dwight Yoakum, Ozzie Osborne and James Brown on his resume and loads of studio experience, including production, Gary White represented an obvious choice to Dan for this project. Gary played a demo of Dan’s material to his friends with 3-time Grammy winner Lucinda Williams band who reacted positively. Arrangements were made to record the project at Radio Recorders in Hollywood where Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra recorded many of their hits. While Dan’s voice bears no resemblance to The King and there’s nothing Sinatraesque in Dan’s musical palette, careful listening reveals an important truth about Dan and his songwriting -- he’s got something to say. And he says it with a voice that is comfortable and familiar with a certain warm expressiveness which allows the songs to open up. One reviewer compared Dan’s voice to “Richard Thompson, Tom Petty or a young Elvis Costello”. The tasteful backing of the Lucinda Williams band and Dan’s delivery of these well-crafted, thoughtful tunes create a very listenable and worthwhile song collection.
When Dan performs live, audiences appreciate his energy and wit. Like all good performers, he has a knack for inciting raucous fun with songs like “Koi Pond” and “Gene Pool”, then shifting the mood when he reveals his contemplative, emotionally vulnerable side with songs such as “This Time I’ll Be Gone” or his title cut “When the Big Picture Fades”. His songs of celebration and loss, his stories of endearing miscreants and his gift for creating songs which pleasantly tug at the thinking part of one’s brain combine to make him a unique and ultimately quite memorable performer.
With another album’s worth of excellent songs ready to record for his follow-up CD project, a growing presence on the radio with 50+ stations nationally giving him spins and tour plans in the making, Dan Neal is clearly heading in the right direction.