Neal Morgan

Who is Neal Morgan?

Neal Morgan 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. Morgan contributed singing as well as performing his drum and percussion arrangements on Newsom's 2007 EP Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band. Morgan arranged and performed the drums and percussion on Newsom's third record, the triple album Have One On Me, 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.

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.