A music-obsessed, retired San Francisco lawyer, and author of the rock & roll memoir Jittery White Guy Music (available on Amazon)... picking a random album or song in his collection every day or so and sharing a few thoughts.
The late Neal Casal left behind a wonderful, and tragically underappreciated, recorded legacy, loads of albums packed with melodic Americana and thoughtful singer-songwriter ballads and gentle rockers (on top of countless contributions to others' works, plus side projects like the psychedelic jam band Circles Around The Sun). My favorite album of his, and something of an outlier, is 2000's Anytime Tomorrow (2001 in the US), a much more fully-produced package which adds some upbeat, jangly power pop to the mix, some shades of Matthew Sweet emerging from the stew.
That record's "Willow Jane" sounds like the track that should have propelled him into greater recognition, chiming country rock that's instantly infectious and just so resoundingly joyful. Kinda like if the Eagles... weren't the Eagles.
Live version with Ryan Adams (with whom Casal frequently collaborated):Covered by Britton Buchanan:
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