Neal Morgan (born March 7, 1979) is an American drummer, arranger of drums and percussion, and singer-songwriter. Morgan is best known as the drummer for Joanna Newsom 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." 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 ''The Milk-Eyed Mender'' is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Joanna Newsom, released on March 23, 2004, by Drag City. Background Newsom wrote all the songs on the album except for "Three Little Babes", a traditional Appalach ...

. Morgan contributed singing as well as performing his drum and percussion arrangements on Newsom's 2007 EP

Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band ''Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band'' is an EP by Joanna Newsom, first released on April 9, 2007, via Drag City. The EP was recorded and mixed over three days at The Plant Studios after Joanna had cancelled three consecutive shows due to ...

. Morgan arranged and performed the drums and percussion on Newsom's third record, the triple album

Have One On Me ''Have One on Me'' is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Joanna Newsom, released on February 23, 2010 via Drag City as the official follow-up to the harpist's highly acclaimed second studio release, 2006's '' Ys''. It is a tri ...

, released in 2010, and accompanied Newsom in live performance for the tour cycle for that record, often opening shows with solo sets of drumming and singing. 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 Diver or divers may refer to: *Diving (sport), the sport of performing acrobatics while jumping or falling into water *Practitioner of underwater diving, including: **scuba diving, **freediving, **surface-supplied diving, **saturation diving, a ...

. 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. He was featured in the 2012 Hanly Banks documentary Apocalypse, which followed a 2011 Bill Callahan tour in the United States. Morgan arranged and performed drums and percussion with

Robin Pecknold Robin Noel Pecknold (born March 30, 1986) is an American singer-songwriter, who serves as the principal songwriter and vocalist for indie folk band Fleet Foxes, with whom he has recorded four studio albums. He is known for his distinct bariteno ...

and

Morgan Henderson The Blood Brothers was an American post-hardcore band which formed in 1997. The group was based in Seattle's Eastside suburbs and released five full-length albums before their 2007 breakup, as well as numerous side projects on behalf of the mem ...

on the soundtrack for the documentary Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin & The Farm Wives in 2012. 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. 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. Both were distributed by Drag City. In The Yard featured

Philip Guston Philip Guston (born Phillip Goldstein, June 27, 1913 – June 7, 1980), was a Canadian American painter, printmaker, muralist and draftsman. Early in his five decade career, muralist David Siquieros described him as one of "the most promising ...

's painting Evidence, 1970 on the cover. Morgan has lectured on the painter Philip Guston since 2012. He gave four lectures on the west coast of the United States on the occasion of Guston's 100th birthday in June, 2013. On October 22, 2013, Morgan performed the song Corduroy from Pearl Jam's album

Vitalogy ''Vitalogy'' is the third studio album by American rock band Pearl Jam, released on November 22, 1994, on Epic Records. Pearl Jam wrote and recorded ''Vitalogy'' while touring behind its previous album '' Vs.'' (1993). The music on the record is ...

with

and

Daniel Rossen Daniel Raphael Rossen (born August 5, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the indie rock band Grizzly Bear, with whom he has recorded four studio albums. Ross ...

on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, as a part of that show's "Pearl Jam Week". 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. Along with

and

, 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. Morgan and

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. On May 18, 2016, while answering fan questions on his Instagram account, Pecknold announced that his band

Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes is an American indie folk band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 2006. The band consists of Robin Pecknold (vocals, guitar), Skyler Skjelset (guitar, mandolin, backing vocals), Casey Wescott (keyboards, mandolin, backing vocals), ...

was working on new material with Morgan as the drummer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Neal 1979 births Living people Musicians from Portland, Oregon 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 21st-century American drummers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians