NEIL SURREAL Keyboards, accordian, vocals, dancing, harp. My gypsy. I would love for that show… what the hell is it called…something like “Who am I?” or something like that where they trace your families roots. I think Sarah Jessica Parker was on it and found out her great, great grandmother was a witch in Salem. Yeah that show. Well I can tell you what they would find out about Neil Surreal if they did a show on him. He is descendant to gypsies. The good kind. The violin playing, traveling kind. He was also probably related to nobility. And probably had lost relatives in Armenia that grew really good red wine. Neil is magical. I love him. He is the cherry on top of our bands hot fudge pie. He is the perfect person to have a late night conversation with if you are on the road or to jam with in a flat while eating Christmas Gumbo. He is the type of musician who is always playing. He will go to dinner with a harmonica in his pocket and blow a ditty while waiting for a table in New Orleans. I have seen him write down musical cues on paper plates and then tape said plates to his keyboard. Who does that? I’ll tell you who. Neil Surreal. The mad paper plate genius. When you listen to our last album and suddenly there is a song that sounds completely delicious it is because of a heavenly key part put down by Neil. Or maybe a lilting accordion part. Or maybe a chucking harmonica so deep in the pocket you can’t stand it. When we go into a studio I always have a soul moan when he plays. It’s as if the songs were waiting just for him.
Photo by Joel Milton