NOLAN NEAL BIO
Stumbling Upon a Star: Nolan Neal
It’s not
every day that you meet a singer/songwriter who is actually from
Nashville, Tennessee…..especially one as unique as Nolan Neal. This
prolific artist is perhaps best described by a fan, who saw him
sitting on a waist-high brick wall one September evening in 2001 on
Nashville’s famous 2nd Avenue, strumming his guitar and belting out
a song. “He was beginning to draw a crowd, so we took a seat next to
him. I remember thinking how he reminded me of John Lennon, with a
voice better than Creed's lead singer. We sat and listened to him
play his guitar and sing for about two hours. His music is like a
soul trip, his voice is the kind that gets under your skin. He can
play a guitar like no one I've heard in real life and his music and
voice are full of emotion. Before we left he gave me his
autograph...which I received on a Bible handout someone had dropped
in his guitar case, and I now keep in a safe place.”
With a father who was a professional drummer and a mother who sang
for a living, Neal was naturally drawn to music at an early age,
singing in church as a little boy. As a teenager, Nolan played his
original songs in coffee shops and pizza joints, and at eighteen
landed his first big gig opening for Eddie Money in Gatlinburg,
Tennessee, playing for 10,000 people. In between shows, Nashville’s
2nd Avenue was his stage, playing music for tourists and anyone who
would listen. As luck would have it, a music producer heard Neal one
day and made some phone calls. As a result, Neal found himself in
Los Angeles signed to Hollywood Records in 2000. But in spite of his
best intentions and dreams of super stardom, budgets were soon cut
and hopes of a successful record dashed. For the next several years
Neal traveled across the United States performing and writing with
band members from Tonic, Cold, Saliva and ShineDown. A fateful
introduction by one of these musicians to Evan Lamberg, VP of EMI
New York, led to a publishing deal in the fall of 2006. When Lamberg
sent Neal’s music to the head of Virgin Records, Jason Flom, Neal
was signed on the spot without so much as an audition, and found
himself in the company of artists like Kid Rock, Matchbox 20, Jewel
and Hootie And The Blowfish. After his record was made, however,
label politics and fate forced Neal once again out of a deal and
back onto his Nashville stage, 2nd Avenue.
It was after another fateful introduction in 2009 that Neal came to
meet Nashville songwriter and producer, Dave Gibson, President and
Chief Creative Officer of Savannah Music Group, Inc. Gibson, who has
five number one Billboard-charting songs to his credit, along with
an ACM Award with the Gibson/Miller Band, spotted Neal’s talent in
an instant. “Maybe once in a blue moon does an artist/writer come
along like him. He’s one of the most talented people I’ve met in the
music industry in thirty years,” says Gibson.
Apparently many people agree. The same fan who saw Neal perform that
September evening in 2001 on 2nd Avenue sums things up perfectly.
“We went about our merry way, and we talked about him all night, in
awe of the raw talent we had just witnessed. This guy's hot, he's
talented, and he will be huge one of these days. He's also a very
nice guy…. you should keep an eye open for him. At least give him a
listen, for me...you guys would do it for me wouldn't ya?”
<< top
|
