When the world lost Neal Casal I felt like I'd lost a friend. I'd never met or spoken to him, yet it felt like I knew him. In Nottingham, 2006, I saw him play with The Cardinals at Rock City. On stage he seemed so humble, graceful. His guitar playing and vocal harmonies drew me in and transfixed me. I didn't know at this time that he was part of Beechwood Sparks, one of the first bands that got me listening to modern country music after hitting the vintage goldmine of Gene Clark & Gram Parsons.
I wasn't the only one listening. 1000km or so south east of my Sheffield home a young Chris Bartlett was also being inspired by Beechwood Sparks and, in particular, by their pedal steel player. 15 years later Chris, an English-born banlieue parisien, and I would be introduced and form our very own folk rock band, The Necessary Separations, and it's at Chris's house where we recorded three songs for my debut solo LP, Communication Problems. 'Neal' came together in one summer afternoon in 2019. Cedric Dolanc, also from The Necessary Separations, plays drums and Chris plays bass and what we thought was practice take pedal steel that happily ended up making the final cut. Chris would often invite me over when he knew I was feeling a little down and we'd just shut ourselves away in his garage and make music or relax with his family. In a way it was Neal Casal who made it possible for our paths to cross, I imagine we're not the only ones. Thanks for everything Neal, this one's for you.
Nick.
credits
from Communication Problems,
released November 5, 2021
Cedric Dolanc – Drums
Chris Bartlett – Bass, pedal steel, backing vocals
Recorded by Chris Bartlett
