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Aug 2011:
- New music video: Quicksand (David Bowie cover)
- September 1st NYC show added to calendar
Dream Journal
July 20 2010: Burp Springsteen
I'm at my parents' house, watching TV downstairs. Bruce Springsteen is on, performing a song on acoustic (possibly with band.) I notice his voice is extremely rough like gravel - basically, as he sings notes, one simultaneously hears an ongoing guttural noise behind it. I say, "it's sounds like he's burping while he's singing..." And just at that moment, I catch the tune and lyrics that he's ...
bio
Neil Cavanagh was raised in Queens and Long Island, and his first radio airplay came with a local rock band at age 13. Later, he went to NYU to study classical music composition, then to Boston to learn film scoring at Berklee College of Music. While in college, he took bass lessons from session legend Jerry Jemmott (Aretha Franklin, B.B. King), studied the tabla with Pandit Ramsamooj, and sat in with bands on piano or drums.
Following college, Neil returned to New York, where his chops and diverse musical vocabulary led him into a variety of situations, including sessions at The Hit Factory with pop legend Michael Jackson. Neil also quickly developed a reputation for wildly diverse solo shows that blended beautiful acoustic songs with offbeat arrangements and hypnotic improvisations.
Neil Cavanagh's album Short Flight To A Distant Star was released on September 11, 2007 through the Kindred Rhythm Music Group (KRMG), an eclectic Manhattan based label group that released vocalist Roberta Gambarini's Grammy Nominated debut album, and jazz legend Jack DeJohnette's first new age project (which was also Grammy Nominated). KRMG distributed the album to all of the major digital retailers, and to traditional retail through its agreement with Koch Entertainment Distribution.
On Short Flight To A Distant Star, Neil played all of the instruments (vocals, guitar, bass, keys, drums, harmonica, etc.), he handled all of the production and most of the engineering (along with friends Pat Woodward and Michael Valerio), and he wrote and arranged all but one song ("The Kiss" by the late Judee Sill, a haunting, classically inspired folk singer from the 70s). The recording began at The Hit Factory in New York, and was completed in Los Angeles, where Neil was nominated in the Best Adult Contemporary Artist category in the 2007 L.A. Music Awards. He was also been nominated for Best Male Singer in the Long Island Press in both 2008 and 2009.
As of 2011, the album is currently out of stock at all retailers and also no longer available online in digital form. All remaining copies are held by the artist and will be sold at select live performances only.
calendar
Upcoming performances
Thu Sep 1 2011 8:30pm
The Underground
955 West End Ave
New York NY
212.531.4759
Past performances
Wed Mar 30 2011
Cinema Arts Centre,
Huntington, NY
Fri May 29 2010
The Church,
Brooklyn, NY
Wed May 19 2010
LIC Bar
Long Island City, NY
Fri Apr 23 2010
The Church,
Brooklyn, NY
Mon Feb 22 2010
LIC Bar
Long Island City, NY
Fri Dec 4 2009
The Cup
Wantagh, NY
Sat Nov 21 2009
Pisces Café
Babylon, NY
Wed Aug 19 2009
The Living Room
New York, NY
Thu Jul 16 2009
Kenny's Castaways
New York, NY Farm Sanctuary Benefit
Sat May 16 2009
Kleinert/James Arts Center
Woodstock, NY
Sat Oct 25 2008
CMJ Music Marathon @ Alphabet Lounge,
New York, NY
Fri Jul 25 2008
Pisces Café
New York, NY
Sun Feb 17 2008
Air Conditioned
Santa Monica, CA
Sun Jan 13 2008
Air Conditioned
Santa Monica, CA
Sun Dec 29 2007
Pisces Café
Babylon, NY
Sun Dec 2 2007
Air Conditioned
Santa Monica, CA
Sun Nov 4 2007
Air Conditioned
Santa Monica, CA
Thu Sep 20 2007
Hotel Café
Los Angeles, CA West Coast CD Release Party
Fri Jun 15 2007
Pisces Café
Babylon, NY
Thu Jun 14 2007
Rockwood Music Hall
New York, NY
Sat Dec 30 2006
Rockwood Music Hall
New York, NY
Fri Dec 29 2006
Pisces Café
Babylon, NY
press
A Cavanagh Farewell Performance
Sunday May 29th 2005, 8pm at the Pisces Café, Babylon
by M. E. Anders, Aural Fix Magazine July 2005
FAREWELL LONG ISLAND SHOW - marathon performance in the style of the early shows, bringing back the electric guitar, synthesizer, bass drum, other surprises and guests.
An art enthusiast tries to find something eternal in that snapshot of time captured in the medium of their delight. Whether staring deeply into vague images of Monet, floating hypnotically on zephyrs of Mozart, or fighting mythical battles of Homer, the enthusiast is able to, if only for a short time, slip the fetters of cruel reality and run naked in that terrifying savage and exhilarating realm of the imagination.
Recently the patrons of Pisces Café were lucky enough to experience one of those transcendental performances from the mercurial talent Neil Cavanagh. Dubbed "The Suitcase in Hand" performance portending his eminent departure for California, Cavanagh sang played and entertained like it was his last day on Earth and not just his penultimate performance in New York.
With a seemingly hand picked audience of family, friends, and adoring fans, the tiny café played host to a two way love fest until the wee hours of the next morning. The overwhelming consensus: a Neil Cavanagh performance of any length (he played over five hours with nary a break) was way too short.
The set list was virtually irrelevant as Cavanagh tore and twisted even well known standards like "Will the Circle Be Broken" into soulful meandering Cavanaghesque creations that would be hard to describe as anything but original. In between actual originals like a stirring version of his mesmerizing signature "Forgiveness" and a wistful rendition of "Our Day Will Come" the set was peppered with comic sampling of Yes and Zeppelin (to lampoon falsetto and that Plant moan yell respectively.)
The evening was loose and fun and Neil kept the crowd in his vice-like grip even when his understated vocals weren't the only voice heard in the room. One instance was when Neil shredded his guitar as Mark Loebl barked out "Forty Thousand Headmen" in a spontaneous collaboration that can only happen in such intimate confines as Pisces (Mark in his front row seat was as close to the mic as Neil on stage.)
photos
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contact
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