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.

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]

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.^[13][14] He was featured in the 2012 Hanly Banks documentary Apocalypse, which followed a 2011 Bill Callahan tour in the United States.^[15]

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.^[16]

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.^[17]

He arranged and performed drums and percussion on selected songs from Alela Diane's records To Be Still About Leaving.

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.^[18][19] Both were distributed by Drag City.^[20][21] In The Yard featured Philip Guston's painting Evidence, 1970 on the cover. Morgan gave four lectures on the west coast of the United States on the occasion of Guston's 100th birthday in June, 2013.^[22]

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".^[23]

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.^[24]

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.^[25]

Morgan and Robin Pecknold scored the Off-Broadway play Wyoming, which was written by Brian Watkins and directed by Danya Taymor. The play will be presented at NYC's Theater For The New City from January 15-31, 2015.^[26][27]

He lives in Portland, Oregon.

References