The Sun Rises Here

In summer of 1997, we headed back out to California and recorded and mixed this album in 8 days at Master Control Studios in Burbank with Jeff Robinson recording. Once again with John Ginty on keys, Don Heffington on drums, Greg Leisz on all kinds of stringed instruments but this time with Hutch Hutchinson on bass because Bob Glaub was off on tour somewhere. The opening track ‘Today I’m Gonna Bleed’ features a harmony vocal from Tonya Lamm of the band Hazeldine. ‘On The Mend’ is a floaty, dreamy ballad with dobro guitar by Greg Leisz. Ray Foley is a film maker and fan of Neal’s who started filming footage of Neal right before we recorded this album and we’ve just unearthed a video he made for the song ‘Reason’ that you can now find on Neal’s YouTube channel. Featuring Neal driving around western New Jersey in his 60’s Chevy and ending with a poignant chat between Neal and his beloved dad, Ray Casal. ‘Dandelion Wine’ is Neal’s best New Jersey version of bluegrass and has become a staple of fellow NJ band Railroad Earth’s live set for the last 10 years. ‘Real Country Dark’ became a favorite at Neal’s live shows for years and ‘Best To Bonnie’ is another one of the waltzes that he was so great at. The last hidden track, called ‘Untitled’ here, is a snippet of Neal, John Ginty and Greg Leisz jamming on the soul classic ‘Dark End Of The Street’ and starts after 60 seconds of silence on the track and is worth waiting for.