Neal Morgan

Neal Morgan (born March 7, 1979) is an American drummer, arranger of drums and percussion, and singer-songwriter.[1][2][3][4][5] Morgan is best known as the drummer for Joanna Newsom[6] and Bill Callahan.

Morgan began drumming for Joanna Newsom in 2006 for the touring cycle in support of her second album Ys. In a 2007 interview, Newsom said of Morgan "I am in awe of him...he elevates literally every musical project he touches."[7] He arranged drums and percussion for the live performance of that material as well as arranging for songs from her debut release, The Milk-Eyed Mender. Morgan contributed singing as well as performing his drum and percussion arrangements on Newsom's 2007 EP Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band.[8] Morgan arranged and performed the drums and percussion on Newsom's third record, the triple album Have One On Me, released in 2010,[9] and accompanied Newsom in live performance for the tour cycle for that record,[10][11] often opening shows with solo sets of drumming and singing.[12]

He arranged and performed drums and percussion for the songs Sapokanikan, Goose Eggs, and Waltz of the 101st Lightborne from Newsom's 2015 LP Divers.[13][14]

Morgan began drumming for Bill Callahan in 2009 at the tail end of Callahan's touring for his second self-titled album Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle. Morgan and Callahan performed as a duo for a tour of the Southern United States in late 2009 and a second tour of Spain, France and Portugal in 2010. Morgan arranged drums and percussion on Callahan's third self-titled record, Apocalypse, released in 2011, and along with guitarist Matt Kinsey accompanied Callahan for the tour cycle in support of that album.[15][16] He was featured in the 2012 Hanly Banks documentary Apocalypse, which followed a 2011 Bill Callahan tour in the United States.[17]

Morgan arranged and performed drums and percussion with Robin Pecknold and Morgan Henderson on the soundtrack for the documentary Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin & The Farm Wives in 2012.[18]

He arranged and performed and was the recording engineer for drums and percussion for Roy Harper's Man Or Myth, a September 23, 2013 release on Bella Union.[19]

Morgan has self-released two solo records composed of only his own drumming and singing, To The Breathing World, 2009 and In The Yard, 2011.[20][21] Both were distributed by Drag City.[22][23] In The Yard featured Philip Guston's painting Evidence, 1970 on the cover. Morgan has lectured on the painter Philip Guston since 2012.[24] He gave four lectures on the west coast of the United States on the occasion of Guston's 100th birthday in June, 2013.[25]

On October 22, 2013, Morgan performed the song Corduroy from Pearl Jam's album Vitalogy with Robin Pecknold and Daniel Rossen on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, as a part of that show's "Pearl Jam Week".[26]

Morgan arranged and performed drums and percussion for composer Brocker Way's score of The Battered Bastards of Baseball, a Netflix Original Documentary released July 11, 2014.[27]

Along with Robin Pecknold and Morgan Henderson, he arranged and performed drums for the score of A Nice Day For A Walk To The End, a film by Sean Pecknold and Matt Daniels, released July 2014.[28]

Morgan and Robin Pecknold scored the Off-Broadway play Wyoming, which was written by Brian Watkins and directed by Danya Taymor. The play was presented at NYC's Theater For The New City from January 15–31, 2015.[29][30]

On May 18, 2016, while answering fan questions on his Instagram account, Pecknold announced that his band Fleet Foxes was working on new material with Morgan as the drummer.[31]