JULIAN NEEL
Gallery Show
(Cloak Fern Records)
Add date: 3.4.2025
Release date: 2.28.2025
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Julian Neel is an Austin, TX-based multi-instrumentalist musician, and songwriter. Originally from Lubbock, he grew up around the living room song circles of Texas legends like Joe Ely and The Flatlanders. After spending 2016-2019 on the road with acts like Molly Burch and Ryan Sambol (prev: The Strange Boys), his debut album Call the Mountain was released in 2020. When not touring the U.S. and Europe with these acts, he was back home with his band, opening shows for Bedouine, Jess Williamson, CocoRosie, and occasionally touring Texas, the Southwest, and California.
In 2021, Neel stepped away from recording and touring while co-managing the popular Austin natural wine bar, Lolo, but he continued writing throughout that period. In 2024, he returned to the studio to record his sophomore release, Gallery Show. The EP plays like an arthouse film set in a small town somewhere between the Texas panhandle and the Gulf Coast. If you’ve ever wondered what the soundtrack to Twin Peaks would have sounded like if it was produced by Ry Cooder & Harry Nilson, this isn’t far off. Growth, loss, and boundaries are all explored like tumbleweeds on the beach. The camera zooms in and slowly pans through the ocean spray while dust devil melodies fall like rain on a swelling tide. Neel plays the narrator introducing us to a kaleidoscopic cast of characters, dreamlike affirmations, conversations with birds, lyrical sketches, and mantras.
In the opening title track, we meet a painter living by the sea who finds more beauty in their inner world than their surroundings. In “Mermaid of the Rodeo”, Neel paints his maternal grandmother in costume, waving from the float of a parade, crystallized in time. “First Dancer” is an abstract narration of the German modern dance classic Cafe Muller by Pina Bausch, and posits that motion is the closest thing to feeling free. The remaining tracks serve as a collection of sonic postcards to friends - both human and animal - recounting everything from setting expectations to bird call mnemonics.
Sitting somewhere between an EP and LP at six tracks and just shy of 24 minutes, Gallery Show is currently set to be self-released in February of 2025. The studio band includes Mat Davidson (Twain), Connor Gallaher (Tim Heidecker, Sylvie, Weyes Blood), Jesse Woods (Chaparelle), Jason Chronis (Voxtrot, Tele Novella), and Dailey Toliver (tour guitarist for Devendra Banhart & Tucker Zimmerman). A music video for the title track was shot on 16mm film in September 2024 by director Vanessa Pla.
Currently, Neel is writing songs for a new album and rehearsing for the release of Gallery Show with eyes on entering 2025 as a full-time musician. Neel will be joined by a fresh new live band that includes Rob Barbato (prod: Bleached, Kevin Morby, and La Sera) among other Austin talent. Known to carry a 35mm camera, Neel has captured album covers and promo photos for several artists including Molly Burch, Natalie Jane Hill, Cross Record, Tele Novella, and many more.