Full Artist Bio
Reese Neal is an independent singer-songwriter from
Fayetteville, Arkansas.

With an acoustic guitar and occasional harmonica, Neal
regularly performs his own brand of folk-rock tunes in various
coffee shops, bars, and other venues across the state.

During the week, he spends his time teaching English
language arts at a local junior high school, while still managing
to enjoy time at home with his bride, hone his skills as a
musician, and write his own material.   

To date, Neal has independently recorded and released four
full-length albums:  
Parting Shots & Such (2001)
thisclose (2005)
Traces of Me (2006)
Lighten Up My Load (2007)

He is currently working on writing and arranging material
for his next project, which he hopes to record and release in
2010.

Unlike a number of performing musicians, Neal did not grow up
with an instrument in his hand. Instead, he pursued a passion
for sports by spending his time playing baseball, football, and
basketball, as well as running track. Although he recalls seeing
his dad’s guitar in the corner at home when he was young and
his mom seated often at the piano, he never really had much
interest in learning how to play either. The only real lessons he
ever had were a couple of months of piano in fifth grade, and
his interest in the piano was as brief as a fifth grade romance.  
Literally, when the "relationship" ended, so did the music.

Years later, after a couple of sports-related surgeries and some
time on his hands, Neal discovered a new passion. After
hearing a live band perform the old Doc Watson song,
"Tennessee Stud," Neal decided he would pick up a guitar and
learn to play. In fact, the guitar he picked up was the very same
one he had walked past so many times while growing up.  

During his freshman year of college, he began learning how to
play guitar by practicing and playing with friends. He had been
writing poetry a little since high school, so as his guitar playing
progressed, it was only natural that he put the two together.
After a couple of years, he began booking gigs in local coffee
shops, relying on cover songs to carry him through a set so he
could try out a few of his originals.

These days, he lets his originals do the work, using his
interpretation of cover songs merely as familiar accents to the
show. And as those who have been to a show will most readily
admit, Reese Neal is certainly rapidly becoming one of the mid-
south’s most versatile and noteworthy performers.








© 2009 www.reeseneal.com
Reese Neal