Neal Tiemann (born December 22, 1982) is an American musician, currently the lead guitarist and songwriter of the rock band the

Midwest Kings Midwest Kings (aka MWK) is a touring band based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, whose most notable member is David Cook, winner of the seventh season of American Idol. Described as a "regional touring band", the Midwest Kings play throughout the midwest, inc ...

(MWK). He is a former rhythm guitarist for heavy metal band

DevilDriver DevilDriver is an American heavy metal band from Santa Barbara, California, formed in 2002, consisting of vocalist Dez Fafara, lead guitarist Mike Spreitzer, drummer Davier Pérez, bassist Jon Miller and rhythm guitarist Alex Lee. The band was ...

, and served as the lead guitarist for

David Cook David Cook may refer to: Entertainment * David Cook (game designer) (active since 1980s), American game designer for TSR * David Cook (singer) (born 1982), winner of the seventh season of ''American Idol'' * David Cook (writer) (1940–2015), Briti ...

's band The Anthemic from 2008 to 2011. He spent most of 2009 on the Declaration Tour with Cook and served as the tour's music director. Tiemann played guitar on Cook's major label debut album ''

'' (2008) as well as his independently released ''

Analog Heart ''Analog Heart'' is the debut solo studio album by American singer-songwriter David Cook. All songs on the album were written by him. Though originally released as an independent record on May 6, 2006, ''Analog Heart'' sales jumped during Cook's a ...

'' (2006). He has also played on

Burn Halo Burn Halo is an American hard rock band originating from Orange County, California and Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was formed by James Hart, lead singer of Orange County metalcore band Eighteen Visions although he left in 2016 and rejoined Eighteen Vis ...

's 2009 '' self-titled album'' and Bryan Jewett's album ''A Brief Look at the New You''. Tiemann and the rest of The Anthemic worked on Cook's second album, ''

This Loud Morning ''This Loud Morning'' is the second major-label studio album, third overall by American singer-songwriter David Cook. It was released on June 28, 2011, by RCA Records. Executive produced by Matt Serletic, the album featured tracks written and co ...

'' (2011). In January 2020, he was recruited as a touring lead guitarist for premiere

deathcore Deathcore is an extreme metal subgenre that combines death metal with metalcore. The genre consists of death metal guitar riffs, blast beats, and metalcore breakdowns. While there are some precursors to the concept of death metal fused with met ...

band Carnifex, later officially joining in 2022.

Early career: 2001–2008

– ''

'' *Bryan Jewett – ''A Brief Look at the New You''

2008–present

*Midwest Kings *To Have Heroes *

Caroline's Spine Caroline's Spine is an alternative rock band based in Phoenix, Arizona. The group's touring schedule in the mid-1990s landed them a record deal with Hollywood Records. They have released several studio albums and shared billings with such band ...

– '' Work It Out'' *David Cook – ''

'', ''

'' *

– ''

'' *

Uncle Kracker Matthew Shafer (born June 6, 1974), also known by his stage name Uncle Kracker, is an American singer and musician. He was previously a turntablist for Kid Rock's backing group Twisted Brown Trucker and since 1999 has recorded as a solo artist. ...

– '' Happy Hour''

Equipment

Tiemann is seen playing

Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gi ...

guitars exclusively. He can be seen playing

Gibson RD The Gibson RD series solid body electric guitars were launched in 1977. Distinguished by its active electronics (RD is the abbreviation for "research and development"), they were designed to appeal to those interested in synthesizers as well as gu ...

guitars such as an ebony with EMG pickups, a natural, and a silverburst. He also uses

Gibson Les Paul The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typi ...

guitars such as a sunburst and an ebony with 3 pickups and with gold hardware. He can also be seen with a black

Gibson Explorer The Gibson Explorer is a type of electric guitar model by Gibson guitars, released in 1958. The Explorer offered a radical, "futuristic" body design, much like its siblings: the Flying V, which was released the same year, and the Moderne, which ...

with EMG pickups and a Gibson Hummingbird in heritage cherry sunburst finish.

Appearances

On Tour

From January 18–25, 2009, Tiemann traveled with bandmates

(guitar and lead vocals),

Andy Skib Andy Skib (born November 9, 1985, San Diego, California) is the lead singer of the rock band Midwest Kings (MWK). He spent most of 2009 on the Declaration Tour with ''American Idol'' season seven winner David Cook. Skib has previously co-writ ...

(rhythm guitar, keyboards, backup vocals), Kyle Peek (drums, backing vocals), and Joey Clement (bass guitar) to the Middle East to complete a

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

Tour. The band visited seven bases on their trip to Kuwait and Iraq and played songs from ''

'' as well as crowd-pleasing covers including

Tenacious D Tenacious D is an American comedy rock duo formed in Los Angeles, California in 1994. It was founded by actors Jack Black and Kyle Gass, who were members of The Actors' Gang theater company at the time. The duo's name is derived from "tenacio ...

Fuck Her Gently "Fuck Her Gently" is a 2001 Tenacious D song. It is the sixth track on their self-titled album. Synopsis The vulgarity of the lyrics is contrasted by the low-key acoustic ballad style of the song. The singer contends that he is speaking "for ...

and

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...

's "

Hot for Teacher "Hot for Teacher" is a song by the American rock band Van Halen, taken from their sixth studio album, ''1984''. The song was written by band members Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony and David Lee Roth, and produced by Ted Temple ...

". In mid-February 2009, Tiemann embarked on a nationwide tour serving as Musical Director and Lead guitarist for The Declaration Tour to support the platinum-selling, major-label debut

. The tour began at Club Downunder in Tallahassee, Florida on February 13, 2009 and was originally set to end in Tulsa, Oklahoma on April 25, 2009. The tour was extended through the fall and came to a close on December 1, 2009 at The Fillmore in Charlotte, North Carolina after 154 shows. In mid-May 2009, Tiemann and bandmates took a short break from the North American leg of the Declaration Tour to travel to

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

in the Philippines. Tiemann made numerous appearances on Filipino television with

leading up to a one night concert playing to upwards of 40,000 attendees at the

SM Mall of Asia SM Mall of Asia, also abbreviated as SM MoA, or simply Mall of Asia or MoA, is a large shopping mall in the Philippines, located at Bay City, Pasay, Philippines, within the SM Central Business Park, a reclaimed area within Manila Bay, and the ...

on May 16, 2009.

Music videos

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Songwriting

* *Co-Written with

* **Co-Written with Justin Briggs * ***Co-Written with Zac Maloy * ^ Co-Written with

* ^^ Co-Written with James Hart

References

External links

NealTiemann.com

Tour Dates (via Official David Cook website)

MWK Myspace

Gibson Guitars
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tiemann, Neal 1982 births Living people American alternative rock musicians American rock guitarists American male guitarists American rock songwriters American rock singers Singer-songwriters from Texas People from Dallas Musicians from Tulsa, Oklahoma Singer-songwriters from California Singer-songwriters from Oklahoma Guitarists from Los Angeles Guitarists from Oklahoma Guitarists from Texas 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century American guitarists American male singer-songwriters