Various Artists

Highway Butterfly – The Songs of Neal Casal (3 CDs, 5 LPs)

Royal Potato Family

Neal Casal never got his due as a complete artist and certainly as a songwriter until now. Spread across 5 LPs and 3 CDs from a stunning list of artists are 41 of the late Casal’s songs in this collection entitled Highway Butterfly. The names alone (which we’ll get to shortly) will likely attract roots music fans but it’s not so much these performances, but the strength of Casal’s songs that will leave the strongest impression. Honoring Casal’s memory was a genuine labor of love for everyone involved. The project was co-produced by Widespread Panic’s Dave Schools and multiple Grammy Award-winning recording engineer/producer Jim Scott, while the project was the brainchild of Gary Waldman, Neal’s close friend and longtime manager for thirty years (almost unheard of in the music biz), who became the guardian of his legacy after his death in 2019. Casal was the epitome of the term triple threat – singer, songwriter, and guitarist. In face in the latter part of his career he was so highly sought after as a guitarist, that it likely overshadowed awareness of his songwriting talents.

This passage from the liner notes written by Jim Cardillo provides more insight – “There’s no shortage of adjectives when people speak of Neil. However, traits like kind, gentle, generous, professional and creative are usually the first that come to mind. That gentleness that originally drew people in, breathed between the lines of “Feel No Pain” – With only love to guide you on your way/Every day/And when it’s over/You will feel no pain” …Perhaps age has been the most favorable critic of Neal’s songwriting. Some of these sons were written over twenty-five years ago, yet they possess a humble quality of timelessness…Neal learned early on from producer Jim Scott that less was more. There was beauty to be found in the space and the organic approach to instrumentation would always endure.”

 As one peruses the songs and the lyrics in the booklet, it is easy to see Casal’s tortured soul and unflagging resilience and optimism as many of the themes move from darkness to light. Consider “You Don’t See Me Crying,” “The Cold and the Darkness,” “So Far Astray,” “The Losing End Again,” and “I Will Weep No More” as just a few examples. “For years we were always trying to get people to cover his songs, and we just never had much luck,” explains Waldman. “But the songs are so good—why aren’t they being interpreted by other artists? And now you hear this record, and it really works. I’m thrilled with it; I think it’s beautiful, and it’s a great testament to how many cool songs he wrote.” Schools recalls, “As soon as word got out about the project, the wheels started rolling fast,” “People were calling us up, friends of Neal’s, other artists who had only brushed up against him, and saying they wanted to be part of it. We had intended to have it be around 18 songs, but it just kept exploding.”

 At the end of this piece, we will provide a list of tracks by artists but here is just a partial list to whet your appetite. The elite status of these artists alone is testimony to the craft of Casal’s songs. They include Susan Tedeschi & Derek Trucks, Bob Weir, Hiss Golden Messenger, Fruit Bats, Steve Earle & The Dukes, Jonathan Wilson, Vetiver, Shooter Jennings, Beachwood Sparks, Jaime Wyatt, Marcus King, J Mascis, Dori Freeman, Warren Haynes, Phil Lesh & The Terrapin Family Band, Cass McCombs, Leslie Mendelson, Johnathan Rice, Billy Strings, Kenny Roby, Norah Jones’ Puss N Boots and Aaron Lee Tasjan among many others. Curiously though, Shannon McNally, who made 2005’s Ran On Pure Lightning with Casal, does not appear.

Importantly, this is a non-profit endeavor. All proceeds from sales will benefit the Neal Casal Music Foundation, 501c3 non-profit formed in 2020, which provides musical instruments and lessons to students in New Jersey and New York state schools where Casal was born and raised, while also donating proceeds to mental health organizations that support musicians, including MusiCares and Backline.

If you’re only vaguely familiar with Casal, or, like this writer, came to him mid-career and late, realize that Casal released 14 albums under his own name during a career spanning a quarter century. And all of that happened before he was an integral member of Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, the interconnected Beachwood Sparks and GospelbeacH, Hard Working Americans, The Skiffle Players, Hazy Malaze and Circles Around the Sun. Some of the recordings were with the original studio band from his first album, Fade Away Diamond Time. In addition to 41 performances of Neal Casal songs by 130 participating musicians, the box set includes LP sleeves with rare and previously unpublished photos of Casal, a 48-page booklet presenting song lyrics, Casal’s own iconic work as a photographer and an essay by early career champion Jim Cardillo.

Listeners will gravitate to their own favorite artists but you’ll need to check these for sure – “Free to Go” (Warren Haynes), “December” (Todd Sheaffer), “Fell on Hard Times” (Angie McKenna), “Traveling After Dark” (Aaron Lee Tasjan), “Need Shelter” (Jamie Wyatt), “Sweeten the Distance” (Dori Freeman with Teddy Thompson), ‘Time Down the Wind” (Hiss Golden Messenger), “Feel No Pain” (Leslie Mendelson), and “Day in the Sun” (Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks).  Amazingly though, this is not a potpourri of songs scattered across the three CDs that one need filter through. Because the songs are so strong, just about all have merit.

To many, like this writer, this will prove to be a revelation that Casal had a catalog filled with so many gems. Perhaps the best testament is from Waldman. “I really wish I could drive around and listen to this record with Neal, because he would just be shocked by it. I think it would blow his mind because he never would have imagined it. It’s really that good.”

Enough said. Dig in.

Highway Butterfly: The Songs Of Neal Casal Track Listing:

1. Traveling After Dark – Aaron Lee Tasjan
2. Need Shelter – Jaime Wyatt
3. You Don’t See Me Crying – Beachwood Sparks w/ GospelbeacH
4. No One Above You – Marcus King w/ Eric Krasno
5. Feathers For Bakersfield – Fruit Bats
6. All The Luck In the World – Billy Strings w/ Circles Around The Sun
7. Sweeten The Distance – Dori Freeman w/ Teddy Thompson
8. Time Down The Wind – Hiss Golden Messenger
9. Me & Queen Sylvia – Johnathan Rice
10. Wisest Of The Wise – Mapache
11. Freeway To The Canyon – Phil Lesh & The Terrapin Family Band
12. Feel No Pain – Leslie Mendelson
13. Detroit Or Buffalo – Jonathan Wilson w/ Hannah Cohen
14. Day In The Sun – Susan Tedeschi & Derek Trucks
15. Bird With No Name – Jimmy Herring w/ Circles Around The Sun
16. Maybe California – Shooter Jennings
17. White Fence Round House – Vetiver
18. December – Todd Sheaffer
19. Grand Island – Courtney Jaye
20. Superhighway – Oteil Burbridge, Nick Johnson, Steve Kimock, John Morgan Kimock & Duane Trucks
21. Willow Jane – Britton Buchanan
22. Too Much To Ask – Kenny Roby w/ Amy Helm
23. Time And Trouble – Bob Weir w/ Jay Lane & Dave Schools
24. Death Of A Dream – J Mascis
25. The Cold and The Darkness – Tim Heidecker
26. Free To Go – Warren Haynes
27. So Far Astray – Rachel Dean
28. Highway Butterfly – Steve Earle & The Dukes
29. Angel And You’re Mine – Victoria Reed
30. Pray Me Home – Jason Crosby
31. Lost Satellite – Lauren Barth
32. The Losing End Again – Jesse Aycock
33. These Days With You – Puss N Boots
34. Cold Waves – Tim Bluhm, Kyle Field
35. Best To Bonnie – Zephaniah Ohora w/ Hazeldine
36. Let It All Begin – The Mattson 2
37. You’ll Miss It When It’s Gone – Cass McCombs, Ross James, Joe Russo, Farmer Dave Scher & Dave Schools
38. Fell On Hard Times – Angie McKenna
39. Raining Straight Down – The Allman Betts Band
40. Soul Gets Lost – Hazy Malaze w/ Jena Kraus
41. I Will Weep No More – Robbi Robb

• Jim Hynes

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