Interview by Paolo Vites, Febraury 2009

Q:Are all the songs written for roots and wings brand new, or some of them go back in the years


A:Most of the songs were written within the past two or three years, but four of them were written a very long time ago. "Turn For The Worse" was written in 1995 just after "Fade Away Diamond Time" was released. "Superhighway" and "Pray Me Home" were written in the summer of 1994, and "Keep The Peace" was written in 1993. I've tried many times to record these songs before, but could never get the correct versions until now. It's a strange feeling, it's as if i wrote these songs before i was actually mature enough to sing them, and i had to wait many years until i could sing them in the right way. These particular songs have been a lesson in patience for me.

Q:What the title of the album – roots and wings – is about?

A:It's about the constant struggle i (and most people) have been the need for transience and the need for permanance. In other words, trying to find a balance between the need to travel and the need to have a home life. It's an ongoing battle that i've realized i can never win. So this record is about learning to be comfortable within the struggle itself. It's about making peace with my past, living definitively in the present, looking forward to the future, and trying to form some kind of balance within all of these things.


Q:Roots and Wings seems like a perfect mix of all your previous musical epxeriences, from pure acoustic folk, or country songs, to more experimental 60s pop… do you agree?

A:I agree completely, as it's exactly what i was hoping to accomplish with this record. . 2008 marked 20 years in music for me, and this record was a way to combine everything i've ever learned about songwriting, singing, playing, and producing into one record. For me, it's the best piece of work i've ever done, as i feel like i got everything right with this one, especially the songwriting. It was done in a very natural way, with musicians who are my good friends, in a great recording environment. Every detail is right, I'm really proud of it.

Q:Who is with you? The musicians? Where it was recorded?

A:It was recorded mostly at a studio in New Jersey called Mixolydian. It's the same place where i recorded "Rain, Wind, And Speed" back in 96'. I produced it myself, and had an amazing engineer named Don Sternaker, who owns Mixolydian, help me with the sounds and mixing. I also did overdubs at studios in Los Angeles and Brooklyn as well.
There is a wide range of musicians on the record, all of them good friends. I really wanted it to be both a California and New York record and worked hard to make that happen.
Here is a partial list of the musicians i worked with here:

Dan Fadel - drums (he plays on my solo records and in Hazy Malaze)
Jeff Hill - bass - (also on solo records and Hazy Malaze)
Jon Graboff - pedal steel (he's in the Cardinals)
Greg Leisz -pedal steel (legendary California steel player)
Farmer Dave Scher - organ, vocals (Beachwood Sparks, All Night Radio, Jenny Lewis)
John Ginty - organ - (plays on all of my early records and with Citizen Cope)
Angie Mckenna - vocals - (sings on my early records)
Jenni Muldaur - vocals ( Maria's daughter, great singer)
Andy Goessling -mandolin, flute, banjo (plays in Railroad Earth, also plays banjo on "Rain, Wind, and Speed")
Glenn Patscha - organ - (plays in a great band called Ollabelle with Amy Helm)
Johnathan Rice -vocals - (makes great solo records and plays with Jenny Lewis)
Darren Rademaker - vocals - (plays in a great LA band called The Tyde)

Q:Back to Haunt You makes me think of certain acoustic grateful dead songs American beauty era

A:I cannot deny the influence of "American Beauty" era Dead, it's one of my favorite records of all time.

Q:Traveling Lighter might be at the moment my favorite song – can you tell me how this particoular song came out and what is about

A:The song is about growing up, and the discovery that growing up doesn't have to be so bad! It's also about the end of a very long period of darkness and depression in my life. It's about moving from darkness into light, finding belief in myself, and
finding a certain enjoyment in life that i never had before. I think it's one of the very best melodies i've ever written, and it came about in a really beautiful way.
I was out in Montauk on a solo surfing trip, and i started writing the song in this little cabin where i was staying. I came up with the first half of the song, but got stuck and couldn't finish the rest..So i decided to take a break and
went out surfing. A couple hours later, while sitting on a surfboard in the middle of the ocean, the rest of the song began playing in my head and i finished there in the water, with no guitar in my hands. I went back to the cabin and picked up my guitar to see if what i had in my head was correct, and i discovered that it was totally accurate, and didn't need to be changed at all. I was really blown away by that.


Q:Hereby the Sea is another great song, with that george harrison feeling

A:I wrote that while in Japan a couple of years ago. I was in this very far away city called Toyama, it was New Year's Eve, freezing cold, and i felt so lonely being away from all of my friends back home. I wrote that song in ten minutes on my friend's old Martin guitar, sitting next to a fire, drinking whiskey..

Q:The Cold and the Darkness or Keep the Peace: I think these days no one is playing and recording acoustic guitars like you do – you always did. How cool is for you the good sound of an acoustic guitar?

A:I've been in love with the sound of the acoustic guitar since the first time i heard "After The Gold Rush", and i always will be. It's a place that i always return to, and i can always find inspiration there. I've never done it to be fashionable, this is a part of who i am.
It's a timeless sound, a classic feeling, and there are still depths there that remain unexplored for me. "Roots And Wings" is deliberately and unapologetically, a love letter to the acoustic guitar..

Q:In most of your songs there is always a special kind of sadness, a melanchonia… a special touch that only the great musicians are able to express without sounding fake despressed people like it happens most of the time… what do you think

A:That is one of the finest compliments i could ever receive as a musician. Thank you for listening closely, and thank you for paying attention to the subtle things that i aspire to.


Q:You are performing and recording from years now with ryan adams – did you two ever written some songs together or planned to do it? How s to play with him? And how is to record with him? Do you give him some input and the fact to play with him in someway influenced your way to write and record (I should say no, since this is a 100% neal casal album)?

A:I absolutely love playing with Ryan and the Cardinals. He's a great songwriter and musician, a good friend, and is so inspiring to be around. We've written some songs together and there will certainly be more in the future.
However, my time with the Cardinals had very little impact on Roots And Wings, this was 100% a Casal album. As you mentioned before, with this record i was building on 15 years of solo record making.


Q:Once you said about your european record deals, “No-one’ll touch me in America, I don’t really know why, but that doesn’t really concern me that much.” Is still like that?

A:It's more like that now than it ever was, but it concerns me less now than it did then. Seriously, what American label wants to sign a 40 year old singer songwriter? NONE! But it doesn't matter to me because i've survived all of these years without them, and i'm making the best music of my life, so who gives a fuck about them? They're all losing their jobs anyway, and i'm still working, so i getting the last laugh on all of those fuckers who rejected me!

Q:I think that the album you did with shannon mcnally was an excellent one – are you still in touch with her? Her last album was great

A:"Ran On Pure Lightning" is one of my favorite records i've ever worked on. Shannon's song "Pale Moon" is a classic, and i'm real proud to have worked on such a great song.
I haven't talked to Shannon in a long time, but i hear that she had a baby and is doing great. She lives in Mississippi with her husband Wallace, who is a great drummer and a great guy.


Q:Is that true that you were asked to be part of the Black Crowes? And how it was to play with Lucinda Williams?

A:I was asked to play in the Black Crowes, did some rehearsals and a recording session with them, but then we all decided to go in different directions. Chris is a friend though, and we still hang out sometimes whenever i'm in California.
As you'd expect, playing with Lucinda was amazing, an unforgettable experience. There were times when she sings where it's just awe inspiring, it gives me chills just thinking about those memories.

Q:Did you listen to some music, some albums recently that you liked in a particoular way?

A:I listen to music constantly, and love to discover new and old things, it's one of my passions in life.
Some records i'm checking out recently.

The Acorn - Glory Hope Mountain -- gorgeous record by this Canadian band
Black Keys - Attack And Release - great record, every song
Vetiver - A Thing Of The Past - one of the best covers records ever made
AA Bondy - American Heart - great solo record by former Verbena frontman