Article Contributed by Calabro Music Media
Published on 2026-10-16
Neal Casal’s “Down With A Friend,” the second single released in advance of the forthcoming archival collection Book Of Stories (Home Recordings 1998–2003), is out today. Due November 6 via the Neal Casal Music Foundation/Blackwing Music/Royal Potato Family, the album features 12 previously unreleased songs by the late, beloved singer-songwriter.
“Down With A Friend” is characteristic of the songs Neal was writing in the mid-to-late ’90s, a beautiful vocal melody over a simple acoustic guitar chord progression. He added a lo-fi Mellotron sound dialed up from a Casio keyboard and double-tracked his vocals, resulting in this resonant recording,” says Gary Waldman, Casal’s manager and longtime friend. “Neal was inspired around this time by a book called The Journey Is The Destination: The Journals of Dan Eldon, an amazing collection of photography and collages by a young English photojournalist who was tragically murdered alongside three other journalists in Somalia in 1993, at the age of 22. It spurred Neal’s interest in photography and documenting his own travels. The idea of ‘my own book of stories,’ which he sings in the lyric, resonated with him, and that concept landed in this song.”
"DOWN WITH A FRIEND" | LISTEN & SHARE
Book Of Stories (Home Recordings 1998–2003) was compiled by Waldman, with assistance from bassist and former Casal bandmate Jeff Hill, from an extensive archive of recordings Casal made before his passing in 2019. The collection traces its origins to 1997, when producer Jim Scott, who helmed Casal’s seminal albums Fade Away Diamond Time (1995) and Anytime Tomorrow (1999), gifted him an Otari 8-track analog tape recorder along with essential microphones and recording gear. Over many long nights in Hope, New Jersey, between 1998 and 2000, and later in Los Angeles, where he relocated in 2001 to join Beachwood Sparks, Casal taught himself the art of home recording. During this period, he captured the intimate, fully realized solo songs that comprise this new archival release.
Book Of Stories (Home Recordings 1998–2003)
Track Listing
1. Muscatine (Listen/Share Here)
2. Down With A Friend
3. Leave My Loving Cup Behind
4. Words and Music
5. Dark and Dangerous Days
6. In My Mind
7. Joe Don’t Let Your Music Kill You
8. Something You Should Know
9. Where Does the Time Go
10. It’s Got Me Down
11. How Many Times
12. Good News
Available November 6, 2026 on Vinyl, CD and Digital formats via Neal Casal Music Foundation/Blackwing Music/Royal Potato Family. Pre-order available HERE.
